Lasiacantha karamanensis Çerçi & Koçak, 2021

Çerçý, Bariş, Gorczyca, Jacek & Koçak, Özgür, 2021, Description of New Miridae and Tingidae Species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) and New Records from Southern Turkey, Zootaxa 4949 (2), pp. 312-332 : 324-327

Lasiacantha karamanensis Çerçi & Koçak sp. n.

( Fig. 34–35 )

Material examined: HOLOTYPE: 1 ♀, Turkey, Karaman, Kazancı , 09. 07. 2020, Ö. Koçak leg., B. Çerçi det. ( LEMT). Holotype glued on a white cardboard, labels as following: “Kazancı// 09. 07. 2020 // Lasiacantha sp. n. ” [handwriting on a white card bord] .

ETYMOLOGY: The new species is named after the province, Karaman, where it was collected.

DIAGNOSIS: Head with five thick, apically rounded stout spines, second antennal segment with setiferous tubercles. Anterior of pronotum without any elevated ampulla, lateral margins strongly concave, paranota directed upwards laterally. Costal area broad, bears mostly two irregular rows of polygonal areolae. Setae along the margins of pronotum, hemelytra, pronotal carina and tibiae thin, long and erected, arise from more or less distinct tubercles. Thorax, pronotum, hemelytra and abdomen covered with short, very thick and apically curved pale setae.

COLORATION: Pale yellowish brown with dark brown to black patterns. First, second and third antennal segments reddish brown, latter becomes progressively paler in apical half, fourth antennal segment dark brown to black. Head dark brown to black, stout projections and buccal plates yellowish brown. Pronotum yellowish brown, carinae and paranotum with irregular black markings, calli black. Hemelytra light brown, costal area yellowish brown, with irregular patches of dark brown to black markings in discoidal area and nerves separating areolae of costal area. Femora reddish brown, tibiae in basal one third reddish brown, rest light brown. Thorax and abdomen dark brown to black.

VESTITURE: Consists of short, thick and apically curved pale setae and comparatively long, thin and erected pale setae that project from more or less distinct tubercles. Former present densely on surfaces of first two antennal segments, head, pronotum, hemelytra, thorax and abdomen. Latter present sparsely along edges of pronotum, hemelytra, tibiae and surfaces of second and third antennal segments.

STRUCTURE: Size, 3.6 mm. Oblong-oval, 2.7x as long as maximal width of pronotum. Head transverse, 0.63x as long as wide, armed with five thick, apically rounded stout spines, bucculae noticeably elongated posteriorly, with two rows of diffuse areolae. Antennal segments thick and short, 0.74x as long as length of pronotum, second antennal segment 1.17x as long as width of head, first and second antennal segments slightly thicker than rest, length ratio of antennal segments 18: 13: 55: 28. Pronotum with small sparsely distributed circular areolae and three longitudinal carinae with similar height, which bear single row of areolae, pronotum anteriorly without elevated ampulla, lateral margins of pronotum strongly concave, paranotum consist of two rows of polygonal areolae. Thoracic sternae narrow and straight, without areolae. Hemelytra sub-parallel sided, medially enlarged, maximal width 1.42x as wide as basal width, with small but densely distributed circular areolae, costal area with two to three rows of irregular shaped polygonal areolae. Femora, tibiae and tarsi stout, tibiae as thick as second antennal segment, tarsal segments cylindrical.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: The genus Lasiacantha Stål, 1873 was first described as a subgenus to accommodate Lasiacantha hedenborgii ( Stål, 1873) and Lasiacantha odontostoma ( Stål, 1873) . Later Stål (1874) raised Lasiacantha to the genus level. Stål (1873) mentioned a diagnostic feature of this genus as the lateral margins of pronotum and hemelytra being dentate with distinct spines that carry setae. Péricart (1983) further added the following diagnostic features to this genus: setiferous tubercles of hemelytra, pronotum, carinae and principle nerves of dorsum are variable in size, from long spines to sometimes obsolete, dorsum bearing a second more or less dense soft pubescence, legs and antennae with small setiferous tubercles, head with five more or less long spines, buccal plates elongated posteriorly and pronotum most of the times with an elevated ampulla anteriorly, but absent in some species. Göllner-Scheiding (2005) added two more diagnostic features of this genus, namely, paranotum partially bent upwards and three longitudinal carinae on pronotal surface. Finally, Symonds & Cassis (2013) mentioned the following additional characteristic features: patchy to mottled dorsal coloration, enlarged costal area (at least two areolae wide) in macropterous forms which is subposteriorly constricted and broad semicircular paranotum, although the latter is not established in many species of this genus. Göllner-Scheiding (2005), Cassis & Symonds (2011) and Symonds & Cassis (2013) mention several other characteristic features of this genus which are largely variable, up to the point of being absent in many species, hence we did not include them here. But these variable characteristic features raise strong question marks about the monophyly of this genus ( Cassis & Symonds 2011).

The new species is included in Lasiacantha as it shows almost all the characteristic features of this genus, especially the setiferous tubercles of pronotum, hemelytra, antennae and legs. The characters of this new species which are not seen in most of the species of Lasiacantha , such as the non-elevated ampulla of the pronotum and narrow and concave paranotum of pronotum, can nevertheless be seen in several species of this genus, e. g. L. hedenborgii Stål and L. gambiana Drake , respectively ( Péricart 1983; Göllner-Scheiding 2005). The new species differs from all species of this genus present in Palaearctic Region by the combination of: lack of an ampulla of pronotum and longitudinal carinae of pronotum being only one areola high along their entire length. All Palaearctic species of this genus, except L. hedenborgii and L. beithovedensis Linnavuori , have an elevated ampulla of pronotum and these two species, which also lack an elevated ampulla of pronotum, have raised carinae on pronotum, which are many areolae high at their widest part ( Péricart 1983). Although some of the characteristic features of this species can be found separately in different species, e. g. narrow and concave paranotum in L. beithovedensis , lack of ampulla of pronotum in L. hedenborgii ( Péricart 1983) , the short, thick and apically curved pale setae is unique to this species. This type of setae cannot be seen in any of the species of Lasiacantha described so far. Interestingly, this type of setae is not present in any of the Tingidae species known from Western Palaearctic region, as well ( Péricart 1983). Consequently, its unique pubescence allows this species to be easily distinguished from any other Tingidae species known from this region.

Figures

FIG. 34—Lasiacantha karamanensis Çerçi & Koçak sp. n., holotype, female, dorsal habitus (Scale bar = 1 mm).

FIG. 35A–D—Lasiacantha karamanensis Çerçi & Koçak sp. n., holotype, female, 35A—Lateral perspective, (Scale bar = 1 mm), 35B—Head, pronotum and foreleg, (Scale bar = 0.1 mm), 35C—proximal half of hemelytra, (Scale bar = 0.1 mm), 35D—distal half of hemelytra (Scale bar 0.1 = mm).