Niborskiana, Montemayor, Sara I., 2012

Montemayor, Sara I., 2012, Niborskiana: a new genus to accommodate Tigava gracilis Monte and Tigava notabilis Drake (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae), Zootaxa 3202, pp. 51-57 : 52

Genus Niborskiana n. gen.

( Figs. 1, 2 )

Type species: Tigava notabilis Drake 1922 .

Diagnosis. Antennae same length or shorter than body; scape approximately twice the length of the head; posteroorbital plates present; head with three cephalic spines, occipital spines divergent, short, not reaching the posterior margin of eyes; hood scarcely developed; pronotum tricarinate; paranota carinate; margins of hemelytra strongly constricted posteriorly; discoidal area not reaching half the length of hemelytra; costal area carinate.

Description. Head ( Figs. 3, 4 , 7, 8 ) short, broad, with postero-orbital plates conspicuous and yellowish; with three cephalic spines, frontal spine short, blunt arising from a small tubercle on the head, occipital spines decumbent and divergent, not reaching posterior margin of eyes; eyes higher than long; bucculae broad. Rostrum short, reaching posterior margin of prosternum or anterior margin of mesosternum. Antennae same length or shorter than body length.

Pronotum ( Figs. 3 , 7 ) coarsely punctuate; hood scarcely developed; three pronotal carinae, low and not areolated, median carinae higher than lateral carinae; paranota slender and carinate, wider opposite callus; posterior process with punctures of similar size as those of the pronotal disc, the last puncture sometimes larger. Rostral laminae ( Figs. 5 , 9 ) areolate, mesosternal laminae slightly constricted, metasternal laminae closed behind.

Hemelytra ( Figs. 6 , 10 ) narrow, strongly constricted posteriorly, widened distally, extending considerably beyond the apex of abdomen, margins serrate and glabrous; costal area slender, carinate; subcostal area wider than costal area, sub-vertical, composed of two or three rows of areolae; discoidal area short, not reaching the middle of the hemelytra; sutural area wide, areolae large, becomes larger and more irregular posteriorly; hipocostal ridge with one row of areolae. Legs yellowish, long and slender.

Etymology. This genus is named after Ricardo Niborski, an outstanding human being and hematologist who, with utmost dedication towards his work, saves lives and gives happiness to so many families, among them mine.

Discussion. Niborskiana can be easily recognized by the presence of the postero-orbital plates and the very short and divergent occipital spines. Tigava and Tigavaria are similar in having long, thin bodies, with the antennae including the scape remarkably long, a poorly developed hood and slender hemelytra with the costal and subcostal area narrow. Moreover, Tigava and Tigavaria have occipital spines that surpass the anterior margin of eyes, the head is not produced into a small tubercle, there are no postero-orbital plates, the bucculae are narrower, their costal areas are areolate and the hemelytra are straight or smoothly constricted at the base of the distal third.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus. 1, Niborskiana gracilis (Monte); 2, Niborskiana notabilis (Drake). Scale bar = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 3 – 6. Niborskiana gracilis (Monte) n. comb. 3, Head and pronotum, dorsal view; 4, Head, lateral view; 5, Rostral channel; 6, Hemelytra. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 7 – 10. Niborskiana notabilis (Drake) n. comb. 7, Head and pronotum, dorsal view; 8, Head, lateral view; 9, Rostral channel; 10, Hemelytra. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.