Microvelia joceliae Magalhaes & Moreira 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Magalhães, Oséias Martins
name: Machado, Gustavo Lisboa Vieira
name: Carneiro, Marco Antonio Alves
name: Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Veliidae
Microvelia
Microvelia joceliae

description: Microvelia joceliae Magalhães & Moreira, sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–13, 17, Table 1)
Type material examined. Holotype apterous ♀: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Ouro Preto, Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas, Folhinha Station, 20°21’01”S, 43°29’24”W (Figs. 13, 17), 31.VIII.2018, G.L. V. Machado leg. (CEIOC 81541). Paratypes: 5 apterous ♂, 4 apterous ♀: same data as holotype (CEIOC 81542).
Etymology. This species is named in honor of Dr. Jocélia Grazia in recognition of her valuable contributions to the knowledge about Heteroptera from the Neotropical Region.
Description. Apterous female (Figs. 1–4, Table 1). Head black. Base of antennomere I yellow or light-brown; apex of I and rest of antenna dark-brown. Eye dark-red (Fig. 1). Clypeus, buccula and jugum brown; labium brown, except article IV black (Fig. 3). Pronotum black with light-brown stripe adjacent to head and along midline (Fig. 1). Thoracic pleura brown, with darker areas surrounding punctures (Fig. 4). Proepisternum brown. Pro- and mesoacetabula brown laterally, dark-brown mesally; metacetabulum brown.Pro-, meso-, and metasterna dark-brown. Coxae and trochanters yellow (Fig. 2). Fore femur dorsally with proximal ~1/3 light-brown, then brown; ventrally yellow. Middle and hind femora mostly brown dorsally; base and venter yellow. Tibiae brown. Tarsi dark-brown. Abdominal mediotergite I brown centrally, light-brown and pubescent laterally, with black margins; II–III brown centrally, black laterally and on margins; visible portions of IV–VI black, covered with silvery pruinosity; visible portions of VII–VIII brown. Abdominal laterotergites brown, with black areas along sutures between segments (Fig. 1). Abdominal sterna black, with sides brown (Fig. 2). Terminalia yellow to light-brown.
Head covered by short setae.Antenna covered by short setae, with some longer setae on the dorsum of antennomeres II–IV. Antennomere I curved laterally, wider than others; II wider than III, thicker at apex; III cylindrical, thinner than others; IV fusiform, wider than III (Fig. 1). Labium reaching anterior portion of mesosternum (Fig. 3).
Pronotum extended posteriorly, covering almost entire thorax dorsally, leaving only metathoracic triangles exposed, subrectangular, much wider than long, with an irregularly arranged transverse row of punctures between anterior and posterior lobes; anterior lobe with transverse row of punctures adjacent to anterior margin; posterior lobe with several larger punctures (Fig. 1). Sides of thorax with greyish pruinosity and some longer setae, without glabrous area (Fig. 4). Venter of thorax without elaborated ornamentation; proepisternum with black denticles (Fig. 3); denticles absent from other areas. Legs without spines, covered by short brown setae more densely on trochanters and femora; tibiae with rows of long, thicker, brown setae ventrally.
Dorsum and venter of abdomen covered by short, thin, golden setae. Abdominal mediotergites I–VII subrectangular; VIII with posterior margin rounded. Abdominal laterotergites strongly reflected over mediotergites, almost touching over segments V–VII (Fig. 1).
Apterous male (Figs. 5–12, Table 1). Similar to apterous female in color and structure. Abdominal mediotergite IV black; V–VI black, covered with silvery pubsecence; VII black, with silvery pubescence anteriorly; VIII shiny black. Abdominal laterotergites elevated, but not reflected over mediotergites (Fig. 5). Venter of abdominal segments V–VII depressed. Abdominal segment VIII deeply inserted into abdomen (Fig. 5); dorsally exposed portion transverse and short; ventrally, posterior margin with wide medial concavity, notched on both sides. Pygophore with apex rounded (Fig. 9). Proctiger with apex rounded and barely visible dorsally, without projections, lateral margins convergent (Fig. 12). Parameres asymmetrical (Fig. 9); right thin, elongated, larger than left (Fig. 10); left short (Fig. 11); each paramere with base and apex rounded.
Diagnosis. Microvelia joceliae Magalhães & Moreira, sp. nov. is characterized by the pronotum of the apterous form almost completely covering the thorax dorsally (Figs. 1, 5), proepisternum with black denticles (Figs. 3, 7), male abdominal segments V–VII ventrally depressed, and female abdominal laterotergites reflected over the mediotergites and almost touching over segments V–VII (Fig. 1). Only two other species of the genus occurring in the region share the condition of the pronotum with the new species: Microvelia ioana Drake & Hottes, 1952 and M. nelsoni Moreira, Barbosa & Ribeiro, 2012. Microvelia nelsoni is readily distinguished from the other two by the body black with an orange mark on the pronotum and several areas of silvery pubescence (Figs. 14–15), and the female abdominal laterotergites not reflected over the mediotergites (Fig. 15). Both M. ioana and M. joceliae Magalhães & Moreira, sp. nov. share the general color brownish and reflected female abdominal laterotergites (Figs. 1, 16); however, the latter can be distinguished by the proepisternum with black denticles (Figs. 3, 7), which are absent in the former; the female abdominal laterotergites almost touching over mediotergites V–VII (Fig. 1), but widely separated in the former (Fig. 16); and the asymmetrical parameres (Figs. 9–11), whereas they are symmetrical in the former (Moreira & Barbosa 2011: Figs. 21–22).
Comments. Folhinha Station, the type locality of M. joceliae Magalhães & Moreira, sp. nov., is a section of Velhas River at 1,108m a.s.l. This part of the river is bordered by preserved riparian Atlantic Forest on both banks and is rich in allochthonous organic matter (Fig. 17). Because most of PNMA’s vegetation has been subject to anthropogenic disturbance, the forest patches are predominantly formed by small trees with narrow trunks (IEFMG 2009).
description: Published as part of Magalhães, Oséias Martins, Machado, Gustavo Lisboa Vieira, Carneiro, Marco Antonio Alves & Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, 2021, A new species of Microvelia Westwood, 1834 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae from southeastern Brazil, pp. 160-166 in Zootaxa 4958 (1) on pages 161-163, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4958.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/4691487