Pavlostysia wunderlichi, Popov, 2008

Popov, Yuri A., 2008, Pavlostysia wunderlichi gen. nov. and sp. nov., the first fossil spider-web bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha: Plokiophilidae) from the Baltic Eocene amber, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (2), pp. 497-502 : 499-501

Pavlostysia wunderlichi sp. nov.

( Figs. 1-2 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, Baltic amber, No. BB MP HE 1 , light yellowish medium-sized piece of amber (27 x 19 mm) of irregularly quadrangular shape. Only the dorsal face of the specimen is clearly visible; the antennae and legs are complete and the rostrum, antennae and legs are spread. The holotype is deposited in the collection of Ernst Heiss , Tiroler Landesmuseum, Innsbruck, Austria.

Description. Male. Macropterous, very small (total length 1.25 mm), moderately elongate suboval species, with very long and conspicuously slender legs.

Head elongate, 1.65 times as long as wide across eyes, with well-developed postocular region and two posteriorly directed long setae, situated near behind eyes. Antenniferous tubercles very small, situated close to anterior margins of eyes. antennal segment 2 almost 1.5 times as long as segment 1, segment 4 longest. Eyes small, coarsely faceted, more closely approaching each other on ventral side of head. Vertex greatly convex, reaching postocular part of head behind eyes posteriorly. Rostrum reaching most probably abdominal segment 3, all visible rostral segments thin and straight, tapering to acute apex.

Pronotum slightly convex, 1.35 times as wide as long, lateral margins weakly emarginated and slightly converging anteriorly, posterior margin almost two times as wide as anterior one; anterior part of pronotum with pair of obscure, low, small, ovoid, widely separated calli. Scutellum small, glabrous, almost equilateral, somewhat convex. Hemelytra of macropterous form distinctly surpassing abdomen; costal margin weakly convex and almost parallel, costal fracture angled anteromedially. Femora and tibia thin, straight, stick-shaped, without special structures; tarsi very thin, three-segmented, segments 1 extremely short, hardly recognizable, longest and ventrally well visible on hind tarsi, segments 2 and 3 almost equal in size.

Measurements (all in mm). Body length (from apex of head to apices of hemelytra) 1.25, width 0.34; head: length 0.28, width (diatone) 0.17; preocular part 0.17, ocular + postocular part 0.11; maximum width between eyes 0.14; antenna length 0.61, lengths of antennal segments 1-4 equal to 0.09: 0.14: 0.17: 0.2; lengths of rostral segments 2-4 equal to 0.09: 0.14: 0.31; pronotum: maximum length 0.23, length of collar 0.05, length of pronotal lobe 0.18, medial length of pronotal lobe 0.13, width across collar 0.17, maximum width 0.31; scutellum: length 0.11, width 0.13; hemelytron: length 0.74, width 0.23; fore leg: length of femur 0.28, tibia 0.33, tarsus 0.21; middle leg: length of femur 0.29, tibia 0.37, tarsus 0.17; hind leg: length of femur 0.35, tibia 0.53, tarsus 0.24.

Etymology. This new species is named after the eminent German arachnologist Jörg Wunderlich (Straubenhardt), who delivered this inclusion to the collection of Ernst Heiss.

Figures

Figs. 1-2. Pavlostysia wunderlichi gen. nov. and sp. nov., holotype, male habitus in dorsal view. 1 – photograph of amber inclusion (photo by D. E. Shcherbakov); 2 – reconstruction.