Pseudovelia sichuanensis Ye & Bu, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ye, Zhen
name: Bu, Wenjun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Macroveliidae
Pseudovelia
Pseudovelia sichuanensis

description: Pseudovelia sichuanensis sp. nov.
(Figs. 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 17, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 38, 40)
Material examined. Holotype: apterous female, CHINA, Sichuan Prov., Luzhou city, Xuyong county, Huagaoxi Nature Reserve (28°16'N, 105°32'E), 15 August 2013, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM). Paratypes: 3 apterous males, 5 apterous females, same data as holotype (NKUM).
Diagnosis. P. sichuanensis sp. nov. is similar to P. hsiaoi Ye, Polhemus & Bu, 2013, both having similar ground color and silvery markings. However, P. sichuanensis sp. nov. can be distinguished by the basal portion of venter on hind tarsal segment I with a cluster of relatively long, black bristles (Figs. 9, 17), rather than a row of bristles on venter of hind tarsal segment I; and by distinct differences in the structure of abdominal ventrite VIII (Figs. 22, 23, 31, 32).
Description. Apterous male (Fig. 2). Color: ground color yellowish brown, head brown, clypeus yellowish brown; labrum black, rostrum yellowish with black apex, buccula brown; antennal segment I yellowish, apical part infuscated, segments II–IV brown; pronotum dull orange, with a few black spots on posterior part; legs mainly yellowish brown, femora yellowish, apices of femora and tibiae weakly infuscated, tarsus blackish brown; abdomen mainly blackish brown, connexiva dark orange, lateral parts of mediotergite I, all of mediotergites II and III, and medial parts of mediotergites VI and VII with prominent silvery pubescence; abdominal segment VIII, pygophore and proctiger yellowish, each of them weakly infuscated apically. Structural characteristics: body length: 2.29–2.32 (holotype: 2.30), small-sized, slightly slender, bearing short and grayish setae, area around the eyes and antennal segment I covered by relatively few, longer, grayish setae. Head short and wide, relatively perpendicular, posterior margin nearly straight and inserted into medially concave anterior margin of pronotum, width: 0.54–0.56, length: 0.28–0.31, head width about 1.83 times its length; labrum angular, buccula clearly visible, but not produced posteriorly; eyes bare except for the presence of two ocular setae; antenna about 0.66 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.43, 0.30, 0.37, 0.42. Pronotum relatively broad, width: 0.67–0.71, length: 0.38–0.41, about 1.75 times as wide as long; bearing dense, dark punctures on the posterior portion of lobe, hind pronotal margin rounded, anterior margin slightly emarginated; metanotum completely hidden beneath pronotal lobe except laterally. Fore tibia (Figs. 7, 14) slightly widened on apical part, covered with dense, suberect, short setae, medial part of venter with slight process (Figs. 7, 14), length of grasping comb 0.30, about 0.52 times tibial length (Fig. 14); middle leg (Fig. 8) normal, without any modification; hind tibia (Fig. 9) straight, with dense, short, suberect setae, lateral portion bearing a row of 6–7 short, black spines (Fig. 9), basal part of venter on hind tarsal segment I with a tuft of long, black bristles (Figs. 9, 17), ventral arolium bristle-like; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.60, 0.58 and 0.31, middle leg: 0.80, 0.79 and 0.44 (0.15 + 0.29), hind leg: 0.81, 0.92 and 0.50 (0.20 + 0.30). Abdomen with mediotergites almost flat, connexival segments IV–VI approximately rectangular, slightly raised; mediotergites II–VI subequal in length; abdominal venter flat, slightly concave medially. Genital segments: abdominal segment VIII (Figs. 22, 23, 31, 32) about 1.94 times as long as wide, posterior margin with a few very short, brown, erect setae, ventrally with an sub-circular depression, hind margin of this depression with a pair (1+1) of laminar processes, lateral margin of depression with a pair of bristle-like setae; lateral part of sub-anterior margin of pygophore with a cluster of relatively dense, short, yellowish setae (Figs. 24, 33), posterior margin of pygophore with very short, sparse, brown setae (Figs. 24, 33); proctiger small, with apex blunt, posterior margin with several short and erect setae; parameres symmetrical, small, twisted, with widened apex.
Apterous female. Body medium-sized, slightly larger than male, body length: 2.37–2.41; structure of head including antenna as in male, width: 0.54–0.57, length: 0.31–0.33, head width about 1.75 times its length, antenna about 0.64 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.43, 0.31, 0.37, 0.41; hind margin of pronotum straight, pronotum width: 0.69–0.72, pronotum length: 0.39–0.42, about 1.73 times as wide as long; fore tibia without grasping comb or ventral process, venter of hind tarsal segment I without row or cluster of bristles; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.61, 0.59 and 0.32, middle leg: 0.81, 0.80 and 0.46 (0.16 + 0.30), hind leg: 0.82, 0.93 and 0.52 (0.21 + 0.31); abdominal pleura and venter without special modifications, connexiva relatively broad, slightly raised, converging posteriorly and touching caudally; end of abdomen raised in lateral view, gonocoxa I elongate, proctiger blackish brown, directed slightly up, with dense, short setae.
Macropterous male and female: unknown.
Etymology. The specific name is derived from the name of type locality, Sichuan Province, China.
Distribution. China (Sichuan) (Fig. 40).
description: Published as part of Ye, Zhen & Bu, Wenjun, 2015, Three new species of the genus Pseudovelia Hoberlandt, 1950 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from China, pp. 183-191 in Zootaxa 4039 (1) on pages 188-189, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4039.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/240115