Felisacus nigrescens Carvalho, 1981

Namyatova, Anna A. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2016, Revision And Phylogeny Of The Fern-Inhabiting Genus Felisacus Distant (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Bryocorinae) Anna A. Namyatova And Gerasimos Cassis, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2016 (403), pp. 1-169 : 129-130

Felisacus nigrescens Carvalho

Figures 6 , 9E , 13A, B , 15D, 20

Felisacus nigrescens Carvalho, 1981: 63 (original description).

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the following combination of characters: cylindrical antennal segment I (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 8A), transverse depression on head extending laterally, dorsal surface of head mostly brown; pronotum brown to dark brown; marking along inner margin of corium brown, widened, not reaching R+M; inner part of clavus brown; cuneus colorless or whitish with brown marking along inner margin; body length in male 4.4–4.7, in female 4.4–4.8; cuneus ca. 3× as long as base; medial part of right paramere as wide as basal part, as long as basal and apical parts combined, and with margins straight (fig. 13A); vesica with six spicules, including spicule A (fig. 9E).

REDESCRIPTION: Male. Total length 4.4–4.7. COLORATION (fig. 6): Head: Pale brown to brown, longitudinal sulcus dark brown; anterior side yellow to pale brown, sometimes with reddish tinge; clypeus yellow to pale brown basally and brown apically, sometimes with reddish marking, tubercles around antennal fossa pale brown; lateral sides and buccula pale brown, mandibular and maxillary plates whitish yellow to yellow. Eye brown with reddish tinge or dark brown. Labium: Uniformly yellow. Antenna: Segments I dark brown; segment II brown to dark brown, sometimes pale brown apically, segments III–IV brown, segment III darkened basally. Thorax: Pronotum brown to dark brown, somewhat paler medially; scutellum and mesoscutum yellow to pale brown, sometimes mesoscutum yellow and scutellum pale brown; thoracic pleura brown; scent gland evaporative area yellow with brown margins. Hemelytron: Mostly translucent, colorless; inner part of clavus opaque, brown; outer part of clavus brown apically; marking along inner margin of corium brown widened, not reaching R+M; embolium sometimes opaque, with brown margins; cuneus sometimes opaque, with brown inner part and margins; membrane sometimes with grayish tinge, with brown membrane cell. Legs: Coxa whitish yellow; femora whitish yellow basally and pale brown to brown apically; tibiae pale brown to brown, often paler apically; tarsi yellow to pale brown. Abdomen: Whitish ventrally and laterally and brown dorsally. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Corium smooth, with shallow and scarce punctures. Dorsum and femora clothed with suberect setae subequal to or shorter than antennal segment II diameter; antennal segment I with scarce suberect setae shorter than antennal segment II diameter; abdomen clothed with suberect short simple setae. STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Body ca. 4.4–4.7× as long as pronotum width. Head: Depression, delimiting occipital region, present dorsally and laterally (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 4E); distance between depression and pronotum distinctly shorter than eye diameter; longitudinal sulcus on dorsal surface longer than eye diameter; distance from eye to pronotum slightly longer than eye diameter, not swollen laterally (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 4E); vertex ca. 1.5–1.7× as wide as eye, upraised (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 6D). Labium (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: figs. 6D, 9C): Almost reaching posterior margin of mesosternum; segments I and II combined shorter than half of segment III; strongly reduced; segment I shorter than wide; segment II slightly longer than wide, its dorsal surface elongate posteriorly; segment III slightly longer than ventral side of head; segment IV ca. 1.5× as long as segment III. Antenna: Segment I cylindrical (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 8A), ca. 1.3–1.6× as long as head width, ca. 0.9–1.0× as long as pronotum width; segment II ca. 1.6–1.9× as long as head width, ca. 1.0–1.2× as long as pronotum width; segment III slightly longer than segment II. Thorax: Anterior part of pronotum shorter than posterior part; collar delimited; posterior part slightly upraised; posterior margin of pronotum concave; pronotum ca. 1.3–1.4× as wide as long and ca. 1.4–1.7× as wide as head; mesoscutum exposed. Hemelytron: Area along inner margin of corium flat; inner margin of corium concave (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 13E), outer margin ca. 3× as long as base. Abdomen: Genital capsule rotated left at right angle relative to rest of abdomen. Genitalia: Genital capsule (fig. 15D) ca. 1.5× as long as wide; ventral wall ca. 1.5× as long as dorsal wall, its posterior margin smooth, semioval, without outgrowth(s), not curved; its apex inclined rightward; sides of genital capsule not modified; margins of paramere sockets more or less rounded; distance between paramere sockets ca. 0.7× as long as genital capsule width at base. Right paramere (fig. 13A) distinctly curved in apical half; apex distinctly concave posteriorly; medial part only slighter wider than basal part, bearing setae; outer and inner margins of middle part almost straight; outer angle distinct; inner angle rounded, without setae; basal part of paramere ca. 0.15–0.2× as long as rest of paramere. Left paramere (fig. 13B) L-shaped; apical part not flattened, with tooth on posterior side medially (as in fig. 11G) and without outgrowth on dorsal surface; middle part widened, without swelling or outgrowth; setae only on middle part near outer margin. Aedeagus (general view as in Namyatova and Cassis, in press: fig. 22I) conjunctiva weakly sclerotized; secondary gonopore placed at base of vesica in repose; sclerotization of ductus seminis around secondary gonopore shorter than wide; vesica with six spicules; including spicule A (fig. 9E).

Female. Total length 4.4–4.8. COLORATION (fig. 6): Similar to male, but mesoscutum sometimes reddish, legs rarely with reddish tinge; abdomen whitish yellow laterally and ventrally, with reddish segment X, brown dorsally. SUR- FACE AND VESTITURE: As in male. STRUC- TURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Structure as in male; body ca. 4.3–4.9× as long as pronotum width; vertex ca. 1.9–2.1× as wide as eye; antennal segment I ca. 1.4–1.5× as long as head width, ca. 0.8–0.9× as long as pronotum width; segment II ca. 1.7–1.9× as long as head width, ca. 1.0– 1.1× as long as pronotum width; segment IV ca. 0.3× as long as segment III; pronotum ca. 1.3× as wide as long and ca. 1.7× as wide as head. Genitalia (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 23F, G): Dorsal labiate plate wider than distance between apodemes of second valvula; mostly smooth, without distinct striations, with semicircular sclerite and distinct sclerotized rings laterally; lateral oviducts placed almost medially, very close to each other, spermathecal gland placed between lateral oviducts; dorsal labiate plate with distinct tubercles, without membranous lobe medially.

DISTRIBUTION: Papua New Guinea (fig. 20).

HOST PLANTS: Pteris gardneri ( Pteridaceae — large number of specimens; Ptelea sp. (Rutaceae) —single specimen; beating ferns ( Carvalho, 1981).

DISCUSSION: Segment IV is lost in male specimens that we examined. Carvalho (1981) described F. nigrescens on the basis of male and female specimens. We examined the paratypes of both sexes. Based on the coloration and the vesical spicules, Felisacus nigrescens is not similar to any other species of the genus.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: Paratypes: PAPUA NEW

GUINEA: Eastern Highlands: NE Okapa, 6.56475 ° S 145.60089 ° E, 1900 m, 24 Jun 1967 – 25 Jun 1967, G.A. Samuelson, 1♀ (00043247) ( BPBM), 2♀ (00018981, 00018982) ( TAMU). Morobe Province: Wau, 7.3333 ° S 146.71667 ° E, 1750 m, 06 Sep 1965, J. and M. Sedlacek, 13 (00043244) ( BPBM). Additional material: PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Morobe Province: Edie Creek, NE Wau, 7.31666 ° S 146.68333 ° E, 1100 m, 08 Sep 1971, W.C. Gagne, 13 (00043245) ( BPBM). Mt. Missim, 7.1167 ° S 146.9167 ° E, 1600 m, 23 Mar 1978, W.C. Gagne, 1♀ (00045819) Pteris gardneri (Pteridaceae) , 13 (00043246), 2♀ (00043248, 00043249), 2 sex unknown (00043250, 00043251) ( BPBM). Namie Creek, 7.31666 ° N 146.7 ° E, 25 May 1982, P. Grootaert, Ptelea sp. (Rutaceae) , 13 (00018973) ( ISNB).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Habitus of Felisacus species.

FIGURE 9. Vesical spicules of Felisacus species.

FIGURE 13. Parameres of Felisacus species.

FIGURE 20. Distribution of Felisacus species.