Malipatilius pilosus Kondorosy & Schmidt, 2024

Kondorosy, Előd, Kovács, Szilvia & Schmidt, Péter, 2024, A review of Malipatilius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae), with a checklist of Lygaeoidea occurring in the Papuan Subregion, Zootaxa 5477 (2), pp. 147-170 : 164-165

Malipatilius pilosus Kondorosy & Schmidt , sp. nov.

( Figs. 6 , 15, 17)

Type material. Holotype: Papua: Kokoda. / 1200 ft. IX. 1933. / L.E. Cheesman. / B.M. 1933-321 (♂, BMNH).

Description. Colour: Basal part of scape dark brown, apical quarter contrasting pale. Impunctate median of posterior half of pronotum paler than rest of pronotum. Scutellum bicolorous, greatly brown but fuscous basally ( Fig. 6 ).

Surface and vestiture: Punctuation of posterior lobe of pronotum relatively sparse, most of punctures farther from each other than their diameter. Impunctate area between veins R+M and Cu of nearly similar width everywhere. Dorsum with sparse, long, erect, fine pubescence, some setae (mostly on pronotum) nearly as long as eye width. Antenna with semierect and erect setae, semierect setae of scape and pedicel sparser and longer than diameter of scape, those of basiflagellum very dense and much shorter. Legs with dense decumbent pubescence, mostly about as long as diameter of tibia.

Structure: Basiflagellum moderately incrassate. Ostiolar peritreme of metathoracic scent gland apparatus semicircular, first directed towards lateral margin, then almost reaching posterior margin of metepisternum, then directed towards metacoxa (Fig. 15). Evaporatorium covering about half of metepisternum.

Measurements: Total body length: 3.83; head: length 0.59, width 0.71, interocular distance 0.36, eye length 0.25, length of antenniferous tubercle 0.11; length of antennomeres: I 0.45, II 0.76, III 0.74, IV missing, diameter of basiflagellum 0.13; pronotum: length 0.85, maximum width 1.20, width at transversal furrow 0.85, width at anterior margin 0.54; scutellum: length 0.76, width 0.69; length of claval commissure 0.31.

Diagnosis. M. pilosus sp. nov. is similar to the above described Malipatilius species. The most conspicuous and unique feature of the new species, allowing an easy identification, is the long dorsal pubescence (the much smaller M. szentivanyi sp. nov. has similar pubescence only). The scape is hardly longer than half length of head (in other species it is at least 0.67 times as long, only in M. forticornis and in the tiny M. minutus sp. nov. shorter) and shorter than half of pedicel length (0.48 times, while of the other species at least 0.57 times except in M. forticornis and M. minutus sp. nov.). The pedicel is also hardly longer than the basiflagellum (in other species at least 1.1 times longer). The most similar species in the ratios of the antennomeres is M. forticornis , but it is much stouter than M. pilosus sp. nov. with hardly narrowing pronotum and short head (less than 0.7 times as long as wide).

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective pilosus , -a, -um, meaning hairy, and referring to the pubescent dorsum of the species, a unique condition among congeners.

Distribution. M. pilosus sp. nov. is known from the southeastern part of New Guinea only ( Fig. 17 ).

Figures

FIGURE 17. Distribution of Malipatilius species in New Guinea.

FIGURES 5–8. Dorsal view of Malipatilius spp. 5 M. macrops Kondorosy & Schmidt, sp. nov.; 6 M. pilosus Kondorosy & Schmidt, sp. nov.; 7 M. minutus Kondorosy & Schmidt, sp. nov.; 8 M. szentivanyi Kondorosy & Schmidt, sp. nov.