Modicarventus wisei Kirman 1989
Creators: name: Larivière, Marie-Claude
name: Larochelle, André
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Aradidae
Modicarventus
Modicarventus wisei

description: Modicarventus wisei Kirman, 1989
Fig. 60–61, 82
Modicarventus wisei Kirman, 1989a: 27. Holotype: female (AMNZ) labeled “Forest remnant Unuwhao [ND] 610m North Cape area 22.II.1967 K.A.J. Wise (typed) / Mangonui Co. North Island NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND MUSEUM (typed) / Auckland Museum PLANT “/” SOIL SAMPLE (typed) 218 (hand-written) / Sample 218 Mangonui Co “22/ II/67” (hand-written) / Modicarventus wisei HOLOTYPE [female symbol] M. KIRMAN 1989 (hand-written) / Modicarventus wisei HOLOTYPE M. KIRMAN 1989. (red label; hand-written) / AMNZ 6328 AUCKLAND MUSEUM NEW ZEALAND (green label; typed).” Photo of holotype and associated labels (Larivière and Larochelle 2004: 229). Paratypes: 2 males (AMNZ) from Whareana, North Cape Area (ND).
Description (incrustation removed). Body broadly subovate, nearly subrectangular (male), broadly pear-shaped (female); thorax moderately narrowed anteriorly; length about 2.5 mm (male), 3.1 mm (female). Dorsal color (male) moderately dark reddish brown; darker brown to black on collar, margins of main thoracic and abdominal plates; yellowish on anterior part of head and posterolateral angles of connexival segments. Female more uniformly colored. Eyes yellowish brown to reddish brown. Antennae paler than main body (male), nearly concolorous with main body (female). Legs paler than main body. Ventral color mostly matching dorsal color. Head. Shorter than wide across eyes. Genae subequal to or slightly longer than clypeus (forming a very short gap in front). Antenniferous tubercles subtriangular to broadly subconical, their apices obtusely rounded and subparallel. Antennae about 1.5× longer than width of head across eyes, mostly granulate. Ratio of length of antennal segments II–IV/I about 0.6: 0.8: 1.0. Segment I narrowed,smooth in basal third, then thickened; II slightly curved basally, gradually thickened toward apex; III pedunculate in basal fifth to fourth, gradually thickened toward apex; IV fusiform, pilose in apical half. Thorax. Pronotum about 2.8× wider than long medially, including collar (male), 3.0× (female). Anterior margin shallowly incised on each side of collar. Anterolateral angles roundedsubquadrate, unproduced. Lateral portions with a small subrectangular plate or one or two small callosities behind a larger curved or sinuate plate and, submarginally, a few small callosities and three rows of coarse granules along entire length of lateral margin. Lateral margins subrectilinear, slightly oblique (more strongly oblique in female). Posterolateral angles rounded-subquadrate (more angular in female), unproduced. Mesonotum about 2.8× wider than long medially, including backward projection. Disc bearing a rounded-subquadrate backward median projection with two anterolateral projections, each divided into a subquadrate plate anteriorly fused to a narrow, hook-shaped plate (Fig. 13b). Lateral portions with two or three rows of submarginal granules along entire length of lateral margin, contiguous with those of pronotum. Lateral margins slightly convex and oblique (male), subrectilinear, moderately oblique (female). Posterolateral angles rounded-subquadrate, unproduced (male), more angular (female). Metanotum. Disc moderately to strongly elevated near apex of mesonotal projection. Lateral portions with a moderately large subtriangular-oblong to subquadrate plate and, submarginally, two or three rows of coarse granules contiguous with those of mesonotum. Lateral margins faintly convex, slightly oblique (male), subrectilinear, moderately oblique (female). Posterolateral angles rounded-subquadrate, unproduced, rather flat (not elevated; male); subquadrate, barely produced (female). Abdomen widest across tergite IV. Dmtg I–II moderately declivent from front to back (male), slightly to moderately declivent (female). Tergal plate (dmtg III–VI). Disc moderately elevated (male), slightly elevated (female). Lateral margins slightly to moderately convex. Inner rows of apodemal markings made of transverse subrectangular to subtriangular plates bearing an obscure, suboval, smooth spot; outer rows of apodemal markings made of longitudinal rounded-subquadrate to subrectangular plates with a similar spot. Dmtg VII smooth anteromedially, marked with callosities and granules laterally, strongly elevated posteromedially (male); smooth medially, marked with callosities and granules laterally, wrinkled along posterior margin (female). Connexivum rather flat to slightly reflexed. Posterolateral angles of dltg III subtriangular, barely produced, IV–V subtriangular, strongly produced and reflexed, VI roundedsubquadrate, unproduced, VII broadly rounded-subtriangular, moderately produced, slightly reflexed (male); III–VI rounded-subquadrate,unproduced or faintly produced, VII rounded-subquadrate, thickened, unproduced (female). Male genitalia. Right paramere not dissected. Ventral surface. Head. Rostrum about 0.8× as long as subrectangular, carinate rostral groove. Thorax. Pro-, meso-, and metasternum fused, not depressed medially; suture line between metasternum and vmtg I of abdomen faint, superficial. Abdomen. Ventral mediotergites (vmtg) I–III fused; other mediotergites well demarcated from each other; IV–VI barely depressed medially; VII about 4.5× longer than VI medially (male), medially split into two triangular plates with inner margin of each plate about 3.5× longer than VI medially, surface obliquely wrinkled (female). Apodemal spots (vmtg IV–VI) flat or slightly elevated, paler than or nearly concolorous with remainder of venter. Connexivum distinctly demarcated from remainder of venter.
Material examined. 4 specimens (AMNZ, NZAC).
Geographic distribution (Fig. 82). North Island: ND–North Cape area (North Cape (NZAC); Unuwhao (AMNZ); Whareana (AMNZ)).
Biology. Altitudinal range. Lowland. Habitat. Found in native forest remnants. Collected in leaf litter. Seasonality. Adults: December–February.
Remarks. Modicarventus wisei is only known from the type series (AMNZ) and a non-type female specimen (NZAC). Its geographic distribution appears to be restricted to the far north of the North Island, around Cape Reinga and North Cape (ND). The species has so far been accidentally collected in soil and pitfall trap samples. Its ecological preferences are unclear and may resemble those of M. kirmani.
description: Published as part of Larivière, Marie-Claude & Larochelle, André, 2022, Synopsis of the subfamily Carventinae in New Zealand (Heteroptera: Aradidae), pp. 1-54 in Insecta Mundi 2022 (961) on pages 23-24, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7399305