Plautia himechabane Ishikawa & Moriya 2019
Creators: name: Ishikawa, Tadashi
name: Moriya, Seiichi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Pentatomidae
Plautia
Plautia himechabane

description: Plautia himechabane Ishikawa & Moriya, sp. nov.
(Figs. 4, 17, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46, 51, 56, 61, 66, 71, 76, 83)
Plautia splendens (non Distant 1900): Esaki (1932: 1581) (record from Honshu (the mainland of Japan), redescription) and subsequent Japanese authors; Liu & Zheng (1995: 231) (new record from China, description and figures of male genitalia). Diagnosis. Among the species of Plautia, this pentatomid is recognized by the following combination of characters: body 6.7–9.8 mm long; antennal segment III blackish in apical 1/3 (Fig. 4); antennal segment IV blackish in apical half (Fig. 4); punctures on disc of pronotum and scutellum blackish and strong, almost same in size and color as punctures on coria of fore wings (Fig. 17); lateral margins of pronotum pale without dark line (Fig. 26); ventral rim of genital capsule widely, shallowly and roundly concave (Figs. 31, 36); crown of paramere drop-shaped (Fig. 46); lateral lobe of crown roundly and strongly extended laterad (Fig. 46); conjunctival processes of endosoma long, tapering (Figs. 51, 56, 61, 66); processes of vesica roughly Y-shaped in ventral view, semirectangular in outline in posterior view (Figs. 56, 66); valvifer VIII often with oval oblique brownish spot apically (Fig. 71); horn-shaped process of apical receptacle of spermatheca long, produced laterad of apical receptacle, reaching proximal flange (Fig. 83); sclerotized zone of intermediate part of spermatheca approximately half as long as intermediate part (Fig. 83).
Description. Male. Coloration. Body generally yellowish green (Fig. 4). Punctures on pronotum, scutellum and coria generally blackish (Fig. 17). Head with short longitudinal blackish line above anteniferous tubercle (Fig. 26). Antennal segments I and II yellowish green; segment III yellowish green in basal 1/3, brownish yellow from basal 1/3 to apical 1/3, and blackish in apical 1/3; segment IV brownish yellow in basal half and blackish in apical half; segment V brownish yellow in basal 2/5 and in apical 1/5, and blackish from basal 2/5 to apical 1/5. Labium brownish yellow, with blackish apical part. Pronotum pale along lateral margins (Fig. 26). Apical part of scutellum whitish (Figs. 4, 17). Corium of fore wing except antero-marginal area greyish pale yellow, with a few obscure irregular markings (Figs. 4, 17); membrane of fore wing transparent, tinged with pale brown (Fig. 4). Legs yellowish green; tarsi yellowish green, with yellowish tinge in apical part of tarsomere III; claws brownish yellow in basal half and black in apical half; pulvilli dark brown. Posterolateral corners of abdominal segments III to VII narrowly and distinctly black.
Structure. Head finely punctate, weakly and densely rugose, a little more than 3/4 as long as width across eyes; interocular space approximately 3.2 times as wide as eye in dorsal view. Bucculae roundly convex ventrad in anterior 1/3, pointed at anterior 1/4, gradually tapering posteriad in posterior 2/3. Antenna a little more than 3/5 as long as body length (to apex of abdomen), sparsely covered with short, erect and suberect setae in segments I, II and basal half of III, and densely in segments IV, V and apical half of III; approximate proportion of segments I to V 1.0: 1.7: 2.2: 2.8: 2.8. Labium reaching abdominal segment III or IV; approximate proportion of segments I to IV 1.0: 1.8: 1.5: 1.3.
Pronotum (Fig. 17) along midline approximately 1.1 times as long as head, approximately 2/5 as long as humeral width; disc of pronotum densely punctate; these punctures distinct and strong (Fig. 17); width across humeri 2.1 times as much as width across eyes; humeral angle round, slightly projected laterad; lateral margin straight, smooth, ecarinate, with sparse fine setae. Scutellum (Fig. 17) as long as its basal width, punctate as in pronotum. Fore wings exceeding apex of abdominal segment VII by approximately 1/10 of its length (Fig. 4); punctures of coria denser than and almost same in size as punctures of pronotum and scutellum (Fig. 17).
Abdomen (from base of segment III to apex of segment VII) approximately 7/10 as long as its maximum width. Genital capsule (Figs. 36, 41) approximately 2.5 times as wide at maximum as its basal width, approximately 3/5 as long as its maximum width, roundly produced at posterior angles; ventral rim (Figs. 31, 36) widely, shallowly and roundly concave, almost straight in middle part; concavity of ventral rim approximately 1/15 as deep as its maximum width (Fig. 36); transverse ridge well developed, invisible in ventral view, with roundly and deeply concave dorsal margin in posterior view (Fig. 41); dorsal sclerites elliptic, angularly extended outward, with small projection at ventral angle (Fig. 41); dorsal sinus suboctagonal in posterior view (Fig. 41); paramere sockets elliptic in posterior view (Fig. 41). Crown of paramere (Fig. 46) drop-shaped, covered with short to long setae for most part, obtuse at apex; lateral lobe roundly and strongly extended laterad with widely round distal and proximal angles; distal margin gently concave; proximal margin roundly concave. Conjunctival processes of endosoma (Figs. 51, 56, 61, 66) simple, long, almost straight, directed distad, tapering, blunt at apex. Vesica short, straight in lateral view, directed dorsoposteriad (Fig. 61). Processes of vesica relatively large, roughly Y-shaped in ventral view (Fig. 56), elliptic in lateral view (Fig. 61), semirectangular in outline in posterior view (Fig. 66).
Female. Similar to the male. Body relatively larger than male. Valvifer VIII roughly triangular, generally yellowish green, often with oval oblique brownish spot apically (Fig. 71), covered with short to long setae on disc and along posterior and mesal margins (Fig. 76); apical angle a little more obtuse than right angle (Fig. 76). Spermatheca long; apical receptacle (Fig. 83) spherical, with 1 horn-shaped process; horn-shaped process long, produced laterad of apical receptacle, abruptly curved basad, reaching proximal flange; intermediate part (Fig. 83) gradually narrowed basad, approximately 3 times as long as its width at middle, with sclerotized zone apically; apical sclerotized zone of intermediate part approximately half as long as intermediate part (Fig. 83); distal flange 1.5 times as wide as proximal flange (Fig. 83).
Measurements [in mm, ♂ (n=56) / ♀ (n=53). Body length 6.7–8.6 (holotype 8.1) / 7.1–9.8; width across eyes 2.1–2.6 / 2.2–2.9; width across humeral width 4.3–5.8 / 4.7–6.4; maximum width of abdomen 4.2–5.6 / 4.7–6.2.
Type series. Holotype: ♂ (Fig. 4), “ JAPAN the Ryukyus, Ishigaki-jima Is., Hirae, 24.38904N 124.19505E, 23. IX. 2014, light trap, Kiichi Shimizu” (LETUA IC 2018-00024) (TUA).
A total of 108 paratypes (55♂ 53♀, LETUA IC 2018-00025–00132, TUA) are here designated from the following localities: Okinawa-jima Is., Ishigaki-jima Is., Iriomote-jima Is., and Yonaguni-jima Is. of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
Other material examined. In addition to the type specimens, 163 specimens (ELEU, ELKU, NIAES, NSMT, OMNH, TUA) were examined from the following localities: JAPAN: Honshu (Kanagawa, Aichi, Wakayama, Ishikawa, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi Prefectures), Shikoku (Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, and Kochi Prefectures), Kyushu (Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures), and the Ryukyu Islands (Yaku-shima Is., Nakanoshima Is. of the Tokara Islands, Amami-oshima Is., Tokuno-shima Is., Yoron-to Is., Okinawa-jima Is., Minamidaito-jima Is., Miyako-jima Is., Ishigaki-jima Is., Taketomi-jima Is., Iriomote-jima Is., and Yonaguni-jima Is.).
Distribution. Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands), China (Southeastern Territory). Based on locality data, it is likely that in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan, this species only inhabits regions within a few kilometers of the coast.
Etymology. The specific epithet is named after the Japanese common name for this new species ‘Himechabane-ao-kamemushi’; a noun in apposition.
Remarks. This new species has been misidentified for more than 85 years. The first error of this nature was made by Esaki (1932) who used Plautia splendens to describe the population of the mainland Japan (Honshu). Subsequent Japanese heteropterists such as Syôiti Miyamoto and Hitoshi Hasegawa followed Esaki’s identification, using the name P. splendens for populations from other areas of Japan (Shikoku, Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands) and for Chinese populations (Liu & Zheng 1995). There were likely two factors responsible for the misidentification. Firstly, the type locality of P. splendens was described by Distant (1900) as simply “ Japan ” based on specimens likely collected from the Ogasawara Islands of Japan. Secondly, the general appearances of P. splendens and P. himechabane are similar to each other except for the overall body color. Esaki (1932) would likely have been unable to determine that the “ Japan ” referred to by Distant (1900) was in fact the Ogasawara Islands, which are 1,000 km away from the mainland, supposing that the differences in body color were simply due to intraspecific variation. The comprehensive fieldwork and detailed morphological examinations provided here clarify that P. splendens is a species found only in the Ogasawara Islands (furthermore, it is a senior synonym of P. cyanoviridis, as mentioned above) and that any species referred to as P. splendens found in the mainland of Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, or China do not correspond to any species described until now.
This new species is closely related with P. splendens Distant, 1900. However, P. himechabane sp. nov. is distinguished from P. splendens by the yellowish green body (Fig. 4) [vs. dark blue green body (Fig. 3)], antennae with blackish areas (Fig. 4) [vs. lacking blackish area (Fig. 3)], the apical part of scutellum whitish (Figs. 4, 17) [vs. concolorous with the remaining parts of scutellum (Figs. 3, 8, 10, 16)], the ventral rim of genital capsule widely and shallowly concave (Figs. 31, 36) [vs. V-shaped (Figs. 30, 35)], the dorsal sclerites of genital capsule angularly extended outward (Fig. 41) [vs. roundly extended outward (Fig. 40)], paramere sockets elliptic in the posterior view (Fig. 41) [vs. semicircular (Fig. 40)], the lateral lobe of the crown of paramere with widely round proximal angle (Fig. 46) [vs. with acutely angulated proximal angle (Fig. 45)], processes of vesica semirectangular in outline in the posterior view (Fig. 66) [vs. oblong (Fig. 65)], valvifer VIII roughly triangular (Fig. 76) [vs. pentagonal (Fig. 75)], and a horn-shaped process of the apical receptacle of spermatheca long and produced laterad of the apical receptacle (Fig. 83) [vs. short and produced dorsad of apical receptacle (Fig. 82)].
description: Published as part of Ishikawa, Tadashi & Moriya, Seiichi, 2019, A review of the stink bug genus Plautia Stål from Japan (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae), pp. 470-490 in Zootaxa 4564 (2) on pages 479-484, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4564.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/2589359