Corixidea graziae Albuquerque & Carvalho-Filho, 2021

Albuquerque, Flavio, De-Souza, Caroline Costa, Favacho, César Augusto Chaves & Carvalho-Filho, Fernando Da Silva, 2021, Minute litter bugs (Heteroptera: Schizopteridae) from the Brazilian Amazon savannas, a poorly sampled biome, Zootaxa 4958 (1), pp. 252-260 : 253-256

Corixidea graziae Albuquerque & Carvalho-Filho , sp. nov.

( Figs 2 , 3A )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1B972F7C-0C9F-4F90-848F-31251436BF8D

Type material: HOLOTYPE ♂ labelled as follow: Macapá , Amapá, Brasil [= Brazil] / Quilombo Mel da Pedreira / área de savana [savanna environment] / 15.VI.2019 / leg. F.S. Carvalho-Filho / Armadilha luminosa [= light trap] ( MPEG).

PARATYPE: 1 ♂, same data as holotype ( MPEG) .

Measurements: Male Holotype. Total length: 1.32 mm; width between eyes: 0.28 mm; pronotum length: 0.26 mm; pronotum width: 0.59 mm; scutellum length: 0.13 mm; abdominal width: 0.61 mm.

Diagnosis. Recognized among species of Corixidea by the uniformly dark coloration, macropterous forewing without a pale band ( Figure 2 ), mediotergite 8 asymmetrical, with process insertion on the left side ( Figure 3A ), process of mediotergite 8 laterally directed, composed of an elongate thin projection with serrated distal portion composed of four small teeth ( Figure 3A ); right paramere elongate and narrowed, strongly arched, bearing a strong claw-like projection and a row of four fine setae on the tip ( Figure 3A ).

Description. Male ( Figure 2 ): macropterous, body elongate-oval. Coloration: general coloration dark brown and costal area of the forewing dark brown to black, remainder of wing dark brown, antenna and legs uniformly yellow, abdomen dark brown. Surface and vestiture: head, pronotum, and wing veins with medium-length light brown setae, abdomen densely covered with elongate, light brown setae. Structure: Head: flat in ventral view, width of eye about 1/3 width of synthlipsis, ocellus about the same size to one ommatidium, placed close to the lateral margin of compound eye. Thorax: pronotum trapezoidal, with posterior margin slightly concave medially, scutellum triangular, with a rounded tip, hind coxa with well-developed adhesive pad, tarsal formula 3-3-3. Abdomen: with six visible sterna corresponding to segments 2+3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and pygophore. Mediotergite 8 asymmetrical, with a process insertion on the left side. Process of mediotergite 8 laterally directed, composed of an elongate thin projection with serrated distal portion composed of four small teeth; elongate projection inserted in an enlarged triangular base. Genitalia ( Figure 3A ): Pygophore asymmetrical and almost triangular. Left paramere triangular and plate-like. Right paramere elongate and narrowed, strongly arched, bearing a strong claw-like projection and a row of four fine setae on the tip. Aedeagus long and thin, without processes. Anophoric process absent.

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Dr. Jocélia Grazia for her outstanding contributions to the study of Heteroptera. Dr. Jocélia Grazia has been contributing extraordinarily to the development of science in Brazil and has influenced many of the current heteropterists in our country.

Distribution. Brazil (Amapá).

Remarks. The male genitalia of C. graziae sp. nov. shares with C. beebei Emsley, 1969 from Trinidad & Tobago a laterally directed process of mediotergite 8 but differs in having the distal portion of the process of mediotergite 8 bearing a row of four small teeth in the posterior surface. In C. beebei these teeth are lacking, and the anterior surface is ornamented with many tiny pointed projections distally, which are absent in C. graziae sp. nov. Also, the right paramere of C. graziae sp. nov. is arched, bearing a strong claw-like projection and a row of four fine setae on the tip. The right paramere of C. beebei is almost straight, without setae, and with a very small pointed projection apically. The new species seems to belong to the major species group due to the laterally directed process on tergum 8 ( Knyshov et al. 2019).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Habitus of Corixidea graziae sp. nov., Corixidea quilombola sp. nov., and Schizoptera (Cantharocoris) savannensis sp. nov. in dorsal, ventral, and lateral views. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 3. Male genitalic features. A. Corixidea graziae sp. nov. B. Corixidea quilombola sp. nov. C–D. Schizoptera (Cantharocoris) savannensis sp. nov. C. Ventral view of abdominal apex; black arrow points to posterior process of sternum 6 and white arrow points to lateral process of subgenital plate. D. Dorsal view. Abbreviations: lca = left conjunctival appendage, lp = left paramere, rca = right conjunctival appendage, rp = right paramere, st6 = sternum 6, st7 = sternum 7 (subgenital plate), mt8 = mediotergite 8, mt8p = mediotergite 8 process, py = pygophore, v = vesica. Scale bars: A–B = 0.1 mm, B–C = 0.05 mm.