Pseudovelia contorta Ye, Polhemus & Bu, 2013, sp. n.
Creators: name: Ye, Zhen
name: Polhemus, Dan A.
name: Bu, Wenjun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Macroveliidae
Pseudovelia
Pseudovelia contorta

description: Pseudovelia contorta sp. n.
(Figs. 2, 15, 27, 39, 51, 63, 75, 87, 99, 111, 123)
Material examined. Holotype: apterous male, CHINA, Jiangxi Prov., Shangrao city, Wuyishan mountain Nature Reserve, Tongmuguan, 11 August 2011, Zhen Ye leg (NKUM). Paratypes: CHINA, Jiangxi Prov.: 2 apterous males, 1 apterous female, same data as holotype (NKUM); 3 apterous males, 2 apterous females, Jingdezhen city, Fuliang county, Yaoli Nature Reserve, Meiling, 28 July 2012, 260m, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM); 1 apterous male, 2 apterous females, Ji’an city, Yongfeng county, Shaxi town, Shuijiang Nature Reserve, 5 August 2012, 300m, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM).
Description. Apterous male (Fig. 2). Colour: ground colour orange, head dull orange, clypeus, pseudocellar spots and median line of head blackish brown; labrum black, rostrum yellowish with apex black, buccula dark yellow; antennal segment I dark yellow, apically infuscated, segments II–IV blackish brown; pronotum dull orange, posterior parts with dense, black spots, behind head, area along anterior margin with an orange, slightly widened transverse band; legs mainly yellow, basal half of femur yellowish, weakly infuscated apically, tibia dark orange, tarsus blackish brown; abdomen mainly dull orange, connexiva orange, lateral portion of mediotergite I, all of mediotergites II and III, medial parts of mediotergites VI and VII with prominent silvery pubescence; 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, rather stout, mainly with short, grayish, suberect or appressed hairs, area around the eyes and antennal segment I covered with relatively long, suberect, grayish hairs. Head short and wide, width: 0.54–0.56, length: 0.23–0.25, head width about 2.3 times head length, relatively perpendicular, posterior margin of head almost straight; buccula clearly visible, but not produced backwards; eyes bare except for the presence of two ocular setae; antenna about 0.63 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.44, 0.28, 0.33, 0.40. Pronotum broad, width: 0.79–0.81, length: 0.39–0.41, about 2.0 times as wide as long; with dense, dark punctures scattered on the posterior portion of pronotal lobe, anterior and posterior margins of pronotum almost straight; metanotum completely hidden beneath pronotal lobe except laterally. Legs with fore tibia (Figs. 15, 27) widened on apical portion, bearing dense, decumbent, short setae, medial portion of venter on fore tibia with distinct processes, length of grasping comb 0.30, about 0.5 times fore tibia length (Fig. 27); apical half of venter on middle femur with patches consisting of relatively long, blackish hairs (Fig. 39); hind legs (Fig. 51) modified, hind tibia slightly curved, with a row of 8–10 short, black spines laterally, apical half slightly flattened, hind tarsal segment I curved, basal portion with a cluster of long black bristles (Fig. 63), ventral arolium bristle-like; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.66, 0.58 and 0.35, middle leg: 0.82, 0.80 and 0.46 (0.16+0.3), hind leg: 0.90, 0.97 and 0.57 (0.28+0.29); mediotergites almost flat, connexiva narrow and slightly raised; mediotergites II–VI subequal in length; abdominal venter flat, medially slightly concave. Genital segments: relatively small, segment VIII (Figs. 75, 87, 99, 111) about 1.88 times as long as wide, posterior margin with sparse, erect, rather short hairs, ventrally with a sub-oval depression, posterior margin of depression with a pair (1+1) of laminar processes, sub-anterior margin with a pair (1+1) of spine-like setae; posterior margin of pygophore (Fig. 123) with sparse, brown short hairs, anterolateral part of pygophore with cluster of dense, slender hairs; proctiger small, lateral part with sparse, short hairs; paramere symmetrical, small, medial part slightly constricted, with rounded, widened apex.
Apterous female. Similar to male; body slightly wider, body length: 2.23; structure of head including antenna as in male, head width: 0.54, head length: 0.3, head width about 1.83 times head length, antenna about 0.59 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.4, 0.24, 0.30, 0.39; pronotum as in male, pronotum width: 0.76, pronotum length: 0.35, about 2.17 times as wide as long; fore tibia without grasping comb, medial portion of venter on fore tibia without processes, apical half of venter on middle femur without patches of relatively long blackish hairs, hind tibia straight, without row of black, short spines, apical half part not flat, hind tarsal segment I straight, basal part without bristles; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.61, 0.53 and 0.31, middle leg: 0.72, 0.70 and 0.40 (0.13+0.27), hind leg: 0.89, 0.92 and 0.43 (0.17+0.26); abdomen pleurally and ventrally without special modifications, connexiva broad, strongly raised, converging posteriorly and touching caudally; end of abdomen rather high in lateral view, gonocoxa I elongate, proctiger blackish brown, slightly upturned, with dense, short hairs.
Macropterous female and macropterous male: unknown.
Etymology. The specific epithet “ contorta ” (from Latin, meaning tortuous) refers to the shape of male hind tarsal segment I.
Diagnosis. Pseudovelia contorta sp. n. differs from the other species in the genus by the following characters: the medial portion of the venter on the fore tibia bears distinct process (Figs. 15, 27); the venter of the middle femur also bears patches consisting of relatively long hairs (Fig. 39); the lateral parts of the hind tibia possess a row of 8–10 short, black spines; hind tarsal segment I of the male is strongly curved (Figs. 51, 63); and the structure of abdominal segment VIII is distinctive (Figs. 75, 87, 99, 111).
Distribution. China (Jiangxi) (Fig. 138).
description: Published as part of Ye, Zhen, Polhemus, Dan A. & Bu, Wenjun, 2013, A taxonomic contribution to the genus Pseudovelia Hoberlandt, 1951 (Hemiptera: Veliidae) from China, with descriptions of ten new species, pp. 290-318 in Zootaxa 3636 (2) on pages 293-294, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3636.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/217240