Rhagovelia medinae Galindo-Malagón & Mondragón-F & Morales & Moreira 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Galindo-Malagón, Ximena Alejandra
name: Mondragón-F, Silvia Patricia
name: Morales, Irina
name: Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Veliidae
Rhagovelia
Rhagovelia medinae

description: Rhagovelia medinae sp. nov.
(Table 1, Fig. 1, 3A, C, 5A, B)
Apterous male. Color and pilosity. Body brown to black, covered by short, shiny, golden setae. Head with erect, black setae on frons. Base of antennomere I pale-yellow; rest of antenna brown to dark-brown. Antennomere I with six robust, erect, black setae; II with a pair of robust, erect, black setae. Eye dark-red. Buccula yellowish-brown. Labium yellowish-brown, with apex dark-brown. Pronotum with long, black setae on sides; anterior lobe with central trapezoidal yellowish mark sided by brownish pubescence; posterior lobe covered by dark-brown setae. Sides and venter of thorax greyish-black; intersegmental areas between pro- and mesosterna, and meso- and metasterna with a short, transverse, black stripe each. Thoracic and abdominal sterna covered by light setae. Acetabula and coxae yellowish. Fore and hind trochanters yellow; middle trochanter brown to black; basal half of fore femur yellowish; apex of fore femur, middle and hind femora, tibiae and tarsi dark-brown. Abdominal mediotergites I–VI and mesal portion of laterotergites black, covered by brown pubescence; lateral portion of laterotergites shiny brown; abdominal mediotergite VII and tergum VIII centrally with shiny black areas. Abdominal sterna black, covered by greyish pubescence; VII mostly yellowish-brown; segment VIII covered by long brown setae. Legs covered by short brown setae; lighter-colored, thinner, long setae on coxae and trochanters; rows of long, robust, black setae on femora and tibiae. Terminalia dorsally black, ventrally brown. Structure. Head relatively short and wide; midline and two oblique basal foveae impressed and shining. Antennomere I thicker than others, slightly wider on apex, curved laterally; II and III cylindrical, III not enlarged; IV fusiform. Labium wide, reaching middle of mesosternum. Pronotum longer than dorsal eye length, partially covering mesonotum, with lateral margins diverging posteriorly and posterior margin slightly convex; posterior region with a straight, transverse sulcus, giving the impression of a double posterior margin (Fig. 1E). Exposed portion of mesonotum with about 1.4 times median length of pronotum, covered by short brown setae, posterior margin straight centrally. Metanotum short and wide; posterior margin straight centrally. Fore tibia with grasping comb extending slightly beyond apex. Hind trochanter without pegs. Hind femur incrassate, surpassing apex of abdomen; apical half with two rows of spines – dorsal row with 11–12 spines decreasing in size distally; ventral row with eight subequal spines. Hind tibia straight, with obtuse spinules throughout posterior surface plus a straight apical spur. Abdominal mediotergites I–VI subrectangular; VII slightly longer than wide; dorsum of abdominal segment VIII longer than mediotergite VII.Abdominal laterotergites slightly elevated. Ventral abdominal sutures simple and unmodified. Abdominal sternum VII anteriorly with a pair of projections bearing tufts of brown setae (Fig. 1F); posterolateral margins surrounding genital cavity without black denticles. Abdominal segment VIII cylindrical, with weak carina ventrally. Proctiger as in Fig. 3A. Parameres symmetrical, longer than wide, wider between base and middle (Fig. 3C).
Apterous female. Color and pilosity similar to apterous male. Posterior margin of pronotum less convex than on male. Hind femur with two rows of spines – dorsal row with eight black spines decreasing in size distally, ventral row with five subequal spines. Hind tibia straight, with obtuse spinules throughout posterior surface plus a straight apical spur. Dorsum of abdominal segments VI–VIII centrally shiny-black. Abdominal laterotergites sinuous, slightly elevated, more strongly on segments VI–VII; lateral margins with abundant brown setae; posterolateral angles of segment VII sinuous and parallel. Abdominal tergum VIII rounded.
Macropterous male. Similar to apterous male in general color, pilosity, and structure. Pronotum long, brown, with a yellow spot behind vertex; posterior margin rounded. Forewing surpassing apex of abdomen, with 2 long, proximal, closed cells and 1 short, apical, closed cell; all cells contained within basal half of wing; veins brown (Fig. 1G). Abdominal laterotergites I–III visible dorsally.
Macropterous female. Similar to macropterous male in general color, pilosity, and structure.
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BL= body length, HL= head length, HW= head width, HWEmn= minimum width between eyes, HWEmx= maximum width between eyes, ANT I–IV= length of antennomeres I–IV, EW= eye width, PL= pronotum length at midline, PW= pronotum width, MSL= mesonotum length at midline, MTL= metanotum length at midline, FF= fore femur length, FT= fore tibia length, FTr I–III= length of fore tarsomeres I–III, MF= middle femur length, MT= middle tibia length, MTr I–III= length of middle tarsomeres I–III, HF= hind femur length, HT= hind tibia length, HTr I–III= length of hind tarsomeres I–III, TG I–VIII= length of abdominal mediotergites I–VIII.
Comments. The apterous pronotum in R. medinae sp. nov. is unique among Neotropical Rhagovelia, being longer than the dorsal eye length, partially covering the mesonotum, with the lateral margins diverging posteriorly and the posterior margin slightly convex, also bearing a straight, transverse sulcus on the posterior region, giving the impression of a double posterior margin (Fig. 1E). However, the assignment to the hambletoni group can be made based on the forewing bearing only three closed cells, all of which are contained within the proximal half of the wing (Fig. 1G). It differs from all other species of the group, as well as from the rest of the angustipes complex, by the pair of projections bearing tufts of brown setae located anteriorly on male abdominal sternum VII (Fig. 1F). This new species is superficially similar to R. barbacoensis Padilla-Gil, 2015 in the yellow coloration of all coxae and fore and hind trochanters, the middle trochanter brown to black, and male abdominal mediotergite VII and tergum VIII centrally with a shiny black area each. However, the two can be readily distinguished because R. medinae sp. nov. has two rows of spines in the apical half of the hind femur, while R. barbacoensis has a single row. Additionally, this new species can be diagnosed by the combination of: body length, apterous male (~3.15) / apterous female (~3.50) / macropterous male (~3.50) / macropterous female (~3.50); general color brown to black; male hind tibia with obtuse spinules throughout posterior surface plus a straight apical spur; male paramere as in Fig. 3C; posterolateral angles of female abdominal laterotergite VII sinuous and parallel; and female abdominal tergum VIII rounded.
Etymology. This species is named in honor of Dr. Claudia Medina (Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva, Colombia), who has made innumerable contributions to the field of entomology in Colombia and has mentored many women in science.
Distribution. COLOMBIA: Caquetá (this work) (Fig. 5A).
Type material examined. Holotype apterous ♂ (UPTC-In-10860): ‘ Colombia \ Caquetá \ El Paujil \ Vereda La Cristalina \ 665 m \ 1°34.699’ N, 75°22.300’’ W \ 25.XI.2017 \ Col: L. Flórez & P. Sánchez’. Paratypes 6 ♂ macropterous, 8 ♂ apterous, 4 ♀ macropterous, 6 ♀ apterous (UPTC-In-05819): same data as holotype.
description: Published as part of Galindo-Malagón, Ximena Alejandra, Mondragón-F, Silvia Patricia, Morales, Irina & Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, 2022, New species, synonymies and records in the genus Rhagovelia Mayr, 1865 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from Colombia, pp. 1-34 in Zootaxa 5087 (1) on pages 4-9, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5087.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5819717