Rhagovelia orientaliformis Zettel & Laciny 2021, sp.n.
Creators: name: Zettel, Herbert
name: Laciny, Alice
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Veliidae
Rhagovelia
Rhagovelia orientaliformis

description: Rhagovelia orientaliformis sp.n.
(Figs. 5, 6, 11, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 28)
Type material: Holotype (apterous male, PNM), Philippines, Mindanao Island, Zamboanga del Sur Province, 8 km NE of Pagadian, Manga Falls, 12.III.1997, leg. H. Zettel (129). Paratypes (NHMW, ZCW): 2 apterous males, 2 apterous females, same locality data.
Description of apterous male: Measurements (holotype and range of holotype and 2 paratypes; measurements for paratypes, glued on back, incomplete): Body length ca. 2.80 (ca. 2.80–2.85); maximum width (at metapleura) 1.13 (1.10–1.14). Head length 0.32, width 0.76 (0.73–0.76); minimum eye distance 0.21 (0.21–0.22). Lengths of antennomeres, I 0.82, II 0.44, III 0.52, IV 0.47. Pronotum length 0.75, width 0.99. Lengths of leg segments: profemur 0.88, protibia 1.02, protarsus 0.06 + 0.24, mesofemur 1.55, mesotibia 1.19, mesotarsus 0.04 + 0.48 + 0.67, metafemur 1.40, metatibia 1.47, metatarsus 0.03 + 0.04 + 0.40.
Colour (Fig. 5): Head, thorax, and abdomen black; pronotum with transverse, orange coloured mark near anterior margin; distal parts of all acetabula yellowish. Antenna black, basal fourth (on underside one third) of antennomere 1 yellow. Legs chiefly black, femora with weak bluish-green shimmer; pro- and metacoxae, pro- and metatrochanters yellow; base of profemur yellow, but on dorsal surface, close to flexor side, with black stripe that reaches base in most specimens; extreme base of metafemur yellowish.
Pilosity: Body dorsally with short, gray, appressed hair layer. Longer setae inconspicuous, hardly surpassing short pilosity, except on sides of pronotum and on abdominal segments 7 and 8 longer. Venter of thorax and abdomen with yellowish pilosity of varying length. Median carina of sternum 7 with dense, oblique, blackish-brown hairs. Ventral surface without black spiculae. Antennomeres 1 and 2, femora and tibiae with several long black setae.
Structures: Juga not flattened, shiny. Pronotum much longer than head, covering mesonotum. Metafemur (Fig. 11) moderately wide, ca. 3.7–3.8× (in holotype 3.8×) as long as wide, on flexor side with one distal row consisting of 8–11 teeth (in holotype, right and left, 8 and 11 teeth). Metatibia straight, on flexor side with fine tooth-like structures over entire length, with long apical tooth. Pregenital segments of abdomen moderately stout. All mediotergites matte. In holotype, fifth mediotergite 3.4× as wide as long; seventh mediotergite 2.5× as long as sixth and 1.0× as long as wide at anterior margin. Sterna without long median carina; medial areas of sterna 5–6 flat. Sternum 7 (Fig. 21) convex, with a median carina about half as long as sternum length, distance from anterior margin about twice as long as from posterior margin. Segment 8 relatively large, subcylindrical, with blunt median carina reaching posterior margin.
Genital segments small and weakly modified. Pygophore subovate. Proctiger (Fig. 15) with well-developed lateral lobes, sclerotized part slightly wider than long. Paramere (Fig. 18) relatively large, strongly curved; basal part with a large, dorsomesad-bent lobe; distal part twisted, comparatively narrow in a lateral view, weakly and almost evenly narrowed to a rounded (not pointed) apex in perpendicular view (Fig. 18a).
Description of apterous female: Measurements (n = 2): Body length 2.76–2.80; maximum width (at metapleura) 1.22–1.27. Head length 0.32, width 0.77–0.78; minimum eye distance 0.22. Pronotum length 0.75–0.76, width 1.02–1.03.
Colour (Fig. 6) as in male.
Pilosity of head and thorax similar as in male. Oblique, relatively long setae on abdominal mediotergites and laterotergites distinct, arranged in transverse rows near hind margins. Short appressed, dense pilosity evenly distributed on mediotergites, laterotergites, and proctiger. Sterna ventrally with pale-yellowish pilosity, laterally bare. Posterior corner of sternum 7 with a small but distinct tuft of black hairs.
Structural characteristics: Head and thorax as in male. Metafemur (Fig. 12) more slender than that of male, ca. 4.8–4.9× as long as wide, on flexor side with distal row consisting of 4–7 teeth. Abdomen broad, unmodified (Figs. 6, 25, 28): Connexival margins almost evenly, slightly convex converging at segments 2–5, only slightly at segments 6–7. Sterna not visible in dorsal aspect. All mediotergites slightly convex. Fifth mediotergite 3.2× as wide as long; seventh mediotergite 1.3× as long as sixth and 0.7× as long as wide at anterior margin. Hind margin of mediotergite 7 straight. Mediotergite 8 much shorter than wide, with convex hind margin. Proctiger small, narrow, directed posteriad. Posterior corner of sternum 7 slightly acute, not much protruded.
Macropterous morphs: Unknown.
Comparative notes: Rhagovelia orientaliformis sp.n. belongs to the R. orientalis subgroup and is similar to R. orientalis, which also inhabits the Zamboanga Peninsula. The females—without modifications of the abdomen and completely pilose mediotergites in both species—are hardly distinguishable, except for the abdomen of R. orientaliformis sp.n. being slightly broader. However, the male is very distinct, with the fine, sharp median carina on sternum 7 bearing a crest of oblique, dark setae (Fig. 21; in R. orientalis there is only a blunt carina anteriorly) and the differently shaped distal part of the paramere (Fig. 18a). In the three other species of the R. orientalis subgroup (R. orientalis, R. mindanaoensis, and R. orientaloides), the paramere is apically pointed.
Etymology: This species is named for the overall similarity with R. orientalis.
Distribution: Mindanao: Zamboanga del Sur.
description: Published as part of Zettel, Herbert & Laciny, Alice, 2021, New species of the Rhagovelia orientalis species group (Hemiptera: Heteroptera Veliidae), pp. 219-228 in Zootaxa 4942 (2) on pages 225-227, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4600495