Neoplea hyaloderma Cook & Mondragón-F & Morales 2020, n. sp.
Creators: name: Cook, Jerry L.
name: Mondragón-F, Silvia P.
name: Morales, Irina
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Pleidae
Neoplea
Neoplea hyaloderma

description: Neoplea hyaloderma n. sp.
(Figs. 1–6)
Type Material: Deposited in Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Tunja, Colombia (UPTC)
HOLOTYPE Female. Colombia, Boyacá, Puerto Boyacá, Vereda Muelle Velásquez, Ciénaga de Palagua, 6.0649°N, 74.5078W, 148m, 03 IX 2019, Patricia Mondragón. (UPTC-In-00011).
PARATYPES: Male with same collection data as holotype (UPTC-In-00012); five males and four females Colombia, Boyacá, Puerto Boyacá, Vereda Muelle Velásquez, Ciénaga de Palagua, 6.0582°N, 74.5013W, 134m, 27 IX 2019, Patricia Mondragón (UPTC-In-00013); 2 males and 2 females Colombia, Boyacá, Puerto Boyacá, Vereda Muelle Velásquez, Ciénaga de Palagua, 6.0649°N, 74.5078W, 148m, 30 I 2020, Patricia Mondragón (UPTC-In- 00014).
Description: Measurements (mm) of type series: total length 1.83–2.28, body depth (greatest height of hemelytra) 0.60–0.69, body width 0.70–0.87; BSI 117–126.
Color: Body generally grey-brown with light-brown honeycomb throughout most of body except head, often with brown pattern on posterior portion of hemelytra (Fig. 1, 2), legs golden-brown, eyes red, usually with darker markings between eyes (Figs. 1C, 2C).
Head: Triangular in frontal view (Fig. 1C, 2C), vertex convex in frontal view, grey-brown with mottled tan coloring, golden bar usually visible between eyes (Fig. 2C) but sometimes obscured by dark markings (Fig. 1C), without pits or visible setae, width 0.94–1.12; distance between eyes 0.47–0.61, OI 50–54 (distance between eyes subequal to combined width of eyes); antenna three-segmented but concealed below eye by cuticular ridge; mouthparts short (Fig. 1C), extending just past base of prothoracic coxa, apex darker than base.
Thorax: Pronotum usually with slight lateral bulge posteriorly, male distinctly wider than long (Fig. 2B), less so in female (Fig. 1B), length 0.56–0.75, width 0.99–1.22, PI 57–69, posterior center indented medially (Fig. 2A), often with visible honeycomb pattern (Fig. 1A), pits somewhat obscured, pit diameter about 0.03 (Fig. 1A). Scutellum slightly wider than long, width 0.47–0.64, length 0.43–0.59, SI 108–129, anterior usually darker than posterior.
Wings Hemelytral pits similar to thoracic pits but clearly visible, surrounded by honeycomb; claval suture complete (Fig. 1B), flight wings not observed.
Legs: Prothoracic femur with stiff ventral basal setae, tibia with short ventral spines from middle to apex; mesothoracic femur with short ventral basal spines, slightly longer ventral tibial spines except near base; metathoracic ventral tibia with small apical spines. Leg dimensions as in Fig. 3.
Male characters: Male genital plate triangular, about as wide as long, length and width 0.28, sparse setae throughout except at base, small dark markings present (Fig. 4A); parameres shaped as in Fig. 4B.
Female characters: Female body usually more robust than male (Figs. 1, 2). Female genital plate roughly triangular, longer than wide, width 0.25, length 0.28, tufts of setae at sides near apex, small setae on basal half, basal center with rugulose sculpture, dark spots in apical half, shape as in Fig. 5A; ovipositor most commonly as in Fig. 5B., subrectangular, six distinct teeth along posterior border (apical row), gap between apical teeth 5 and 6, no teeth on ventral border, two subapical rows of teeth, four primary teeth, four secondary teeth, primary and secondary teeth subequal in size, primary row above apical tooth 6.
Diagnosis: Neoplea hyaloderma n. sp. most closely resembles N. lingula, which also occurs in Colombia, although several distinct characters separate these species.Although all species of Neoplea vary somewhat in size, the lengths of these species do not overlap. Neoplea hyaloderma n. sp. is larger (1.83–2.28) than N. lingula (1.55–1.80). However, both species are similar in body width, with N. hyaloderma n. sp. 0.70–0.87 and N. lingula 1.65–1.80. The claval suture is complete in N. hyaloderma n. sp. and incomplete in N. lingula. Although both species are colored similarly, N. lingula is shiny throughout its body, whereas N. hyaloderma is marked with apparent honeycomb and some brown markings that are not shiny, along with areas of shiny cuticle. Punctures of the hemelytra are easily observed in N. hyaloderma, n. sp. except on the scutellum while only vague traces of punctures are found on the hemelytra of N. lingula. Genital plates of these two species differ substantially in shape in both male and female [Figs. 4A, 5A for N. hyaloderma n. sp. can be compared to Figs. 35 and 37, respectively, for N. lingula in Roback & Nieser (1974)]. The ovipositor of N. hyaloderma is quite different than that of N. lingula [see Fig. 5B compared to Fig. 38 in Roback and Nieser (1974)]. Thus, the overall appearances of these two species are quite similar, but they differ in several taxonomically important characters.
Distribution: Known only from type locality.
Ecology: Collections of the specimens included in this study were from a muddy-bottomed lentic body of water with macrophytes mostly along the margin (Fig. 6). This habitat is similar to what has been reported for many members of Neoplea, which commonly live in very slow or non-moving water with dense aquatic vegetation. Nothing is known of their feeding habits or niche within this environment.
Etymology: The specific epithet comes from the appearance of the body of N. hyaloderma n. sp. This name combines two Greek root words, hyalo- meaning glassy and -derma meaning skin. This describes the shining and somewhat transparent looking cuticle that resembles windows surrounded by the honeycombing portion of the body.
description: Published as part of Cook, Jerry L., Mondragón-F, Silvia P. & Morales, Irina, 2020, Description of two new species of Neoplea Esaki & China (Hemiptera: Pleidae) from Colombia, pp. 55-66 in Zootaxa 4860 (1) on pages 57-60, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4860.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/4413486