Brachysandalus fulvipes Malipatil & Liu 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Yingqi
name: Cai, Wanzhi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Brachysandalus
Brachysandalus fulvipes

description: Brachysandalus fulvipes Malipatil & Liu, sp. nov.
(Figs. 21–23)
Type specimens. Holotype macropterous female, Australia, New South Wales, Bourke & Wilcannia, Darling R. flood, Helms 5–6, ’90 (AM). Paratypes: 2 macropterous females, 1 brachypterous female and 1 brachypterous male (dissected), same as holotype (AM).
Other specimens. QUEENSLAND: 1 macropterous female, Nocundra Waterhole, Wilson R., 20.x.1968, J.A.L. Watson (ANIC).
Diagnosis.
Macropterous female, brachypterous male and female known, body small sized. Generally dark brown (Figs. 21, 22); hemelytron of macropterous female with basal 1/3 of clavus blackish brown, apical 2/3 of clavus and adjoining area of corium between veins PCu+1A and Cu yellow, basal 1/3 and narrow exterior margin extending to 1/3–1/2 length of corium blackish brown, other area yellowish brown (Fig. 21A), hemelytron of brachypterous individuals with basal 1/3 dark brown, apical 2/3 yellow with lateral areas yellowish brown (Fig. 22A). Neck with lateral tubercles absent (Figs. 21, 22); fore femur armed below with two rows of minute tooth-like tubercles, about six in each row, in addition pilose laterally and above, mid femur armed below with few minute tooth-like tubercles on inner aspect (Figs. 21B&C, 22B&C); fore and mid tibiae with fossula spongiosa occupying about 1/3 of tibial length (Figs. 21B&C, 22B&C); in male, abdominal sternite VII with a small spine-like extragenital process (Figs. 22B, 55K, 56K); male genitalia with median pygophore process short, tapered, slightly curved, venter strongly ridged in caudal view (Fig. 23B), and spatulate, apex sharp, blade of process near base constricted in lateral view (Fig. 23C); inner margin of lateral phallothecal sclerite smoothly arcuate and extending ventrally (Fig. 23I).
Description.
Macropterous female (Fig. 21)
Colouration (Fig. 21): Generally dark brown, pronotum, thoracic pleura and sterna blackish brown. Antennae, labium and legs yellowish brown. Hemelytron with basal 1/3 of clavus blackish brown, apical 2/3 of clavus and adjoining area of corium between veins PCu+1A and Cu yellow, basal 1/3 and narrow exterior margin extending to 1/3–1/2 length of corium blackish brown, other area yellowish brown, membrane pale brown with base yellowish brown and a small yellowish, curved stripe near base of costal margin.
Structure (Figs. 21, 23): Body small sized, generally covered with fine short pubescence, with sparse longer bristles obvious on appendages. Scutellar area and pronotum sub-shiny smooth.
Head: elongate fusiform, wholly covered with short whitish pilosity and sparse longer bristly setae, prominent on mandibular plates, dorsal aspect of head and between eyes, and on dorsal aspect of first labial segment.Anteocular region elongate triangular, clypeus near its base scarcely elevated and knobbed above mandibular plates. Interocular region with arcuate convex sulcus at posterior border of eyes, a small pit near base. Postocular region almost rounded to neck. Neck with lateral tubercles absent. Antennae with all segments cylindrical, with short whitish pilosity and sparse longer setae. Scape thickest, pedicel thinner, then basi-and distiflagellum thinnest. Eyes moderately developed, weakly reniform, not reaching ventral margin in lateral view. Ocelli small, not conspicuously raised, separated from each other by about twice diameter of single ocellus, separated from eye by less than twice diameter of single ocellus. Labium with second and third visible segments sparsely covered with longish setae.
Thorax: Anterior lobe of pronotum with collar armed with rounded and not obvious tubercles at lateral ends, integument smooth, shiny, sulci indistinct, except shallow median longitudinal sulcus in basal half. Posterior pronotal lobe short, integument almost smooth, with short pilosity, humeri rounded, posterior margin almost smoothly rounded, posterior angles not developed. Scutellum triangular, disc slightly depressed and finely granulate, sides conspicuously carinate, integument pilose, scutellar process short with apex pointed. Propleuron with integument finely faintly granulate, smoothly pilose, set off from dorsal surface by a faint carina. Mesopleuron integument minutely granulate, sparsely pilose. Metapleuron with integument more sparsely and distinctly granulate but granules not striate, metapleural sulcus distinctly bicarinate and curved, pilose with silvery dense hairs posteriorly. All sternites more or less smooth, moderately pilose. Hemelytron almost fully covering abdomen, exposing narrow connexival areas and reaching tip of abdomen.
Legs: Fore leg with coxa with whitish pilosity; trochanter also with whitish pilosity; femur strongly fusiform, greatly incrassate and narrowing rather abruptly distally, much thicker than other femora, armed below with two rows of minute tooth-like tubercles, about six in each row, in addition pilose laterally and above; tibia cylindrical, more or less straight but apex strongly reflexed, fossula spongiosa occupying about 1/3 of tibial length. Mid leg with coxa globular; femur thickened and armed below with few minute tooth-like tubercles on inner aspect, tibia with dense pilosity for whole length, with fossula spongiosa only about 1/3 its length, with dense brush of seta towards apex; tarsi ventrally with brushy setae. Hind leg with femur sub-cylindrical and weakly incrassate; tibia with brush of setae, denser at apex; tarsi also with brushy setae as on mid tarsi.
Abdomen: Dorsally elongate oval, sternum not carinate in midline, sub-shiny, smooth with sparse longer hairs in addition to dense pilosity. Connexivum with golden pilosity as elsewhere on sternum. Spiracles situated below connexival suture, about halfway between anterior and posterior margin of each segment. Each spiracle ventrally with shiny impressed spots obviously visible. Dorsum with three small scent gland scars of subequal width on terga III–IV, IV–V and V–VI.
Brachypterous female and male (Fig. 22)
Differs from macropterous female in: hemelytron with basal 1/3 dark brown, apical 2/3 yellow with lateral areas yellowish brown. Hemelytron greatly abbreviated, extending to anterior margin of abdominal tergum II. Ocelli greatly reduced in male and obsolete or almost absent in female. Male with a carina on abdominal sternum along midline (Fig. 22B), with a small spine-like extragenital process on left side of sternite VII close to posterior margin (Figs. 22B, 56K, 57K).
Male genitalia (Fig. 23): Median pygophore process short, tapered, slightly curved and oblique to right side, venter strongly ridged in caudal view (Fig. 23B); spatulate, apex sharp, blade of process near base constricted in lateral view (Fig. 23C). Parameres (Fig. 23D&E) slender, falcate but less curved in middle, apices bluntly rounded, left paramere (Fig. 23D) slightly longer and broader than right paramere (Fig. 23E); Phallus (Fig. 23F–I) in resting condition with basal plate slightly longer than basal plate bridge (Fig. 23F), pedicel short, about half length of basal plate (Fig. 23H&I); length of struts distinctly longer than half length of phallosoma (Fig. 23F); apex of dorsal phallothecal sclerite bluntly rounded (Fig. 23G); lateral phallothecal sclerite subquadrangular, inner margin smoothly arcuate and extending ventrally (Fig. 23I); pair of slender sclerites near base of venter of phallosoma weakly sclerotized (Fig. 23G).
Measurements: [of holotype macropterous female, followed by one paratype brachypterous male and one paratype brachypterous female]. Body length 9.60, 8.60 (♂), 9.15 (♀); maximum width of abdomen 2.96, 2.85 (♂), 3.00 (♀); length of head 1.44, 1.36 (♂), 0.95 (♀); length of anteocular region 0.57, 0.49 (♂), 0.49 (♀); length of postocular region 0.45, 0.44 (♂), 0.50 (♀); width of head across eyes 0.98, 0.92 (♂), 0.95 (♀); width of interocular space 0.49, 0.47 (♂), 0.52 (♀); width of interocellar space 0.14, 0.19 (♂), ocelli indistinct (♀); length of eye in dorsal view 0.38, 0.38 (♂), 0.34 (♀); width of eye in dorsal view 0.16, 0.19 (♂), 0.20 (♀); lengths of antennal segments I–IV 0.81, 0.87 (♂), 0.82 (♀) / 1.52, 1.52 (♂), 1.33 (♀) / 1.44, 1.59 (♂),? (♀) / 1.71,? (♂),? (♀); length of visible labial segments I–III 0.57, 0.60 (♂), 0.57 (♀) / 0.83, 0.76 (♂), 0.76 (♀) / 0.26, 0.38 (♂), 0.38 (♀); length of pronotum 2.28, 1.90 (♂), 1.93 (♀); length of anterior pronotal lobe 1.52, 1.44 (♂), 1.52 (♀); length of posterior pronotal lobe 0.75, 0.45 (♂), 0.41 (♀); width of anterior pronotal lobe 1.71, 1.63 (♂), 1.67 (♀); width of posterior pronotal lobe 2.47, 1.82 (♂), 1.67 (♀); length of scutellum 1.05, 0.87 (♂), 0.85 (♀); maximum width of scutellum 1.21, 0.72 (♂), 0.82 (♀); length of hemelytron 6.20, 2.00 (♂), 1.59 (♀); length of fore tibia 1.59, 1.44 (♂), 1.52 (♀); length of fossula spongiosa on fore tibia 0.53, 0.47 (♂), 0.57 (♀).
Distribution. Australia (Queensland and New South Wales).
Etymology. The species epithet is based on the Latin adjective ‘ fulvus’ (meaning ‘yellow’), in allusion to the species’ yellowish-brown legs.
Comparative notes. This species is similar to B. fulvipennis (Walker, 1873) and B. limbatus (Reuter, 1881), see details under comparative notes of those two species.
description: Published as part of Liu, Yingqi & Cai, Wanzhi, 2024, Revision of Australian Brachysandalus with the description of nine new species including one cavernicolous species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), and observations on male extragenital structure and leg teratology, pp. 1-112 in Zootaxa 5490 (1) on pages 45-49, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5490.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13211621