Graphosoma (Graphosomella) inexpectatum Carapezza & Jindra, 2008

Fent, Meral, Dursun, Ahmet & Tezcan, Serdar, 2013, First record of Graphosoma inexpectatum (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae, Podopinae) from Turkey with description of the female, ZooKeys 319, pp. 51-57 : 53-55

Graphosoma (Graphosomella) inexpectatum Carapezza & Jindra, 2008

Material examined.

Gaziantep province: Şehitkamil (Aktoprak), 11.VI.1995, 37°11'00"N, 37°17'00"E, ca 1035 m, 1 ♀, leg. F. Önder; Adana province: Pozantı ( Bürücek Plateau), 2.VII.1995, 37°25'40"N, 34°52'18"E, ca 1300 m, 1 ♀, leg. F. Önder (coll. Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey and Ege University, LEMT, İzmir, Turkey).

Host plants.

The host plants for both specimens were recorded as weeds, so the plant on which specimens were collected is not known exactly.

Description of female

(Fig. 1). Body ovoid, flat, moderately deep punctate and glabrous. Coloration pattern of body with black lines and markings on orange as in most species of Graphosoma . Body 1.75 –1.80× as long as pronotum width. Body is slightly greater than in males (10.3-11.3 mm versus 10.66-10.80 mm) (Fig. 1A).

Head almost subtriangular, lateral sides nearly flat. Head: 1.77-1.99 mm long and 0.76 –0.82× longer than wide across eyes; width across eyes 2.32-2.41 mm, interocular width 1.52-1.65 mm; jugae enclosing and widely exceeding the tylus, slightly diverging apically. Dorsal surface of head deeply punctate. Integument orange, with two black bands tapering and fusing distally. Length of antennomeres I: 0.54-0.62 mm, II: 1.0-1.13 mm, III: 0.64-0.66 mm, IV: 0.7-0.9 mm, V: 0.95-1.06 mm. First and second antennomeres are the shortest and the longest respectively. First antennomere brownish, yellowish distally; IV and V antennomeres dark brown (Fig. 1C). Antennae/Body length: 0.37-0.38. Head ventrally orange, anterior angle of eye with small black subtriangle spot, jugae anteroventrally with transverse black spot (Fig. 1D).

Pronotum transverse, 5.87-6.29 mm wide across lateral angles and 1.92 –2.22× wider than long in the middle. Pronotum anteriorly rather narrower than posteriorly, lateral margins evenly rounded. Dorsal surface of pronotum deeply punctate and orange, anterior part with four longitudinal black bands, the external ones at their posterolateral angles joining two curved black bands running parallel to posterior half of lateral pronotal margin (Fig. 1A).

Scutellum subtriangular, distally widely rounded, 5,4-6,3 mm long and 1.28 –1.34× longer than basally wide; contrary to species of Graphosoma s.str., scutellum does not reach to the end of abdomen and covers only two thirds of abdomen length. Lateral margins of scutellum convex in proximal half. Proximal margin of scutellum medially with a raised semicircular punctureless area between the internal margins of two lateral black bands; lateral margins of semicircular area extend to internal margins of lateral bands. Scutellum orange with four long black bands; lateral bands shorter than median ones, distally almost pointed and extending to half length of scutellum; median bands long but not reaching the apex of scutellum (Fig. 1A).

Hemelytra orange except for a triangular blackish brown spot at the apex of r+m vein, the external margin of exocorium with longitudinal black spot, distal with triangular spot, membran blackish–brown (Fig. 1A).

Paratergites with black spots along distal and proximal margins, spots of adjoining tergites merging to form an almost circular shape (Fig. 1A).

Abdomen maximum width 6.88-6.99 mm and 1.09 –1.17× wider than long, ventrally orange and with irregular black spot. Proximal and distal angles of parasternites with black spots (Fig. 1B).

Rostrum reaching hind coxae; first three segments yellowish, IV dark brown (Fig. 1D). Length of rostral segments I–IV: 1.56, 1.13, 0.82, 0.53 mm.

Legs orange, femora ventrally with two preapical black spots, apex of tibiae black, tarsi black (Fig. 1F).

Female genitalia reddish–brown, with shallow punctures. Eight gonocoxites convex, 9th gonocoxites medially excavated, lateral margins with black lines and centrally with black mark (Fig. 1E).

Comparative notes.

The two female specimens examined in the present study show some differences in morphology and coloration when compared with the holotype of the species whose original description by Carapezza and Jindra (2008) was based on two male specimens. The antennomeres (I to V) of the holotype are 0.6 / 1.06 / 0.53 / 0.73 / 1.06 mm long, hence the shortest segment is III. Antennomeres II and V are of equal length, I is a bit longer than III, and IV is longer than I. Antennomeres of Turkish specimens (I to V) are (0.54-0.62), (1.0-1.13), (0.64-0.66), (0.7-0.9), (0.95-1.06) mm long. First and III antennomeres are the shortest with somewhat equal lengths and II is the longest. The ratio of antennal length to body length is 0.33 in the holotype and 0.37-0.38 in our specimens (Fig. 1C). The bands in the middle of the scutellum of the holotype are wide basally and gradually taper towards the middle of the scutellum and reach the end as thin bands. However, the narrowing after the middle in our specimens is not pronounced and bands are comparatively wide (Fig. 1A). Moreover, the black spots seen on proximal and distal margin of each paratergite are shaped as black bands in the holotype and the distal band of one segment and the proximal band of the next segment join to form a rectangular shape. These black spots on each segment are in semicircular shape in our specimens and form an almost circular shape when joined (Fig. 1A). Since the comparison was carried out between the males from Syria and the females from Turkey, it is impossible to conclude if the differences put into evidence depend on sexual dimorphism or on geographical variations.