Gardena insperata P. V. PUTSHKOV, 1988

Rédei, D., 2004, Emesinae From Afghanistan (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 50 (4), pp. 307-317 : 314-316

Gardena insperata P. V. PUTSHKOV, 1988

Material examined: AFGHANISTAN: Nuristan: 25 km north from Barikot , 1200 m , 12–17.

VII. 1963, leg. Kasy & Vartian, 1 male (deposited in the NHMW) .

With nearly 50 species described, Gardena DOHRN, 1860 is among the most species-rich genera in the reduviid subfamily Emesinae ( MALDONADO-CAPRILES 1990) . The genus occurs in all zoogeographical regions, but it is most diverse in the New World and in the Ethiopian Region; only 8 species are known to occur in the Palaearctic Region ( PUTSHKOV & PUTSHKOV 1996). Gardena insperata has been recently described from Tadzhikistan; only the male holotype has hitherto been known. A further male specimen collected in Afghanistan was found in the collection of the NHMW. The species is new to the fauna of Afghanistan.

Considering its external morphology, the specimen examined is in very high accordance with the original description of G. insperata . The ratio between the distance from the first spiniferous process of fore femur to the base of joint and the length of this spiniferous process was given by PUTSHKOV (1988) as an important differentiating character for the closely related species; this value is 2–3 in G. muscicapa (BERGROTH, 1906) and G. cheesmanae WYGODZINSKY, 1958 , but 4.7 in insperata . However, in case of the specimen examined this ratio is only 3.91 (right) and 3.21 (left). It is clear that the different stage of development of the first spiniferous process – independently of its localisation on the joint – can greatly affect the ratio mentioned before (cf. the difference between the two sides of the specimen in this respect). Therefore, the ratio between the distance from the first spiniferous process to the base of joint and the total length of joint (measured on its ventral surface) seems to be more useful character (0.17 in the holotype of G. insperata , 0.15 in the specimen in hand).

The prolongation of the abdominal tergite VII of the male holotype is obliquely ascending, their lateral sides relatively widely and sharply folding up ( PUTSHKOV 1988). These characters are quite different in the specimen in hand: the prolongation of the last tergite is nearly horizontal, their sides only slightly folding up, therefore this prolongation seems far wider, U-shaped in dorsal aspect. It seems quite likely that these differences may be explained by different postmortem changes of shape. The genital capsule and the parameres of the specimen examined are in full accordance with the original description of G. insperata .

Judging by its external characters, the species seems to be very closely related to G. muscicapa . However, the phallus of the specimen examined ( Figs 14–16 ) is sharply different from that of the latter species (as figured by WYGODZINSKY 1966: 256, Figs 74M, N, P) and shows relation to the melinarthrum group (see WYGODZINSKY 1966): dorsal side of phallosoma with extensive sclerotised area; ventral sclerites basally strongly widening, triangular; basal plate elongated, conspicuously broken at base of fused parts of dorsal connectives, its apical and basal parts enclose a sharp angle, its apical part projecting backward.

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Acknowledgement – I would like to express here my sincere gratitude to Dr. HERBERT ZETTEL for his hospitality and kind help during my visit to the Naturhistorishes Museum Wien. My thanks are also due to Dr. TAMÁS VÁSÁRHELYI and Dr. ELŐD KONDOROSY for reading the manuscript and for suggestions.

Figures

Figs 14–16. Gardena insperata P.V. PUTSHKOV, 1988, phallus. 14 = ventral aspect; 15 = lateral aspect; 16 = same, dorsal aspect. Scale: 0.5 mm