Abelocephala major Ishikawa, Cai & Tomokuni, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ishikawa, Tadashi
name: Cai, Wanzhi
name: Tomokuni, Masaaki
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Abelocephala
Abelocephala major

description: Abelocephala major sp. nov.
(Figs. 49, 50, 61, 62, 69, 74, 80, 105–110, 118, 124, 130, 136, 142, 148, 153)
Diagnosis. This species is recognized by the following combination of character states: body approximately 5.5 mm long; mandibular plate nearly right-angled at anterior corner and weakly projected anteriorly in dorsal view; rostral segment I more than twice as long as segment II; posterior pronotal lobe yellowish brown; outer (larger) cell of hemelytral membrane rounded apically; and posterior process of pygophore wide with weakly curved apical margin in dorsal view.
Description. Male (macropterous). Body (Fig. 49) mostly brownish. Antennae and legs yellowish brown. Antennal flagella pale yellow. Rostrum and tibiae brownish yellow. Posterior pronotal lobe yellowish brown except for median longitudinal sulcus brown. Hemelytra dark brown except for extreme base and corial veins brownish yellow. Abdomen brownish yellow.
Head (Figs. 49, 61, 62, 74) approximately 1.5 times longer than width across eyes, as long as pronotum, roundly protuberant immediately behind eyes in dorsal view; anteoculus 1.2 times longer than postoculus; mandibular plate (Fig. 62) nearly right-angled at anterior corner and weakly projected anteriorly in dorsal view.
Eye (Figs. 59, 74) approximately 0.35 times as wide as interocular space in dorsal view. Antennal segment I slender, approximately 7 times longer than its maximum width, slightly shorter than segment II (Figs. 105, 106); flagellum as long as segment I (Fig. 107). Rostral segment I slender, 2.3 times longer than segment II (Fig. 74).
Pronotum (Fig. 49) approximately 0.7 times as long as humeral width; anterior lobe 0.6 times as long as posterior lobe along midline, 0.7 times as wide as humeral width. Hemelytron (Figs. 49, 118) wide, twice as long as its maximum width, exceeding apex of abdomen by approximately 0.2 times of its length; outer (larger) cell of membrane (Fig. 118) rounded apically.
Pygophore (Fig. 124) ovoid in lateral view; posterior process (Fig. 130) wide, with weakly curved apical margin in dorsal view. Parameres (Fig. 136) gently curved at apical two-thirds, with rounded, weakly projected apex in dorsal view. Struts of phallus (Fig. 142) tapering apicad, weakly constricted at apical one-third, rounded at apex, with lateral walls thickened throughout in dorsal view.
Female (macropterous). Almost same as male in general habitus (Fig. 50). Anteoculus (Figs. 69, 80) as long as postoculus. Eye (Figs. 69, 80) approximately 0.3 times as wide as interocular space in dorsal view. Antennal segment I stouter than that of male, approximately 5.5 times longer than its maximum width, 0.9 times as long as segment II (Figs. 108, 109); flagellum 1.2 times longer than segment I (Fig. 110). Rostral segment I slender, 2.1 times longer than segment II (Fig. 80). Abdominal tergite IX (Fig. 148) with lateral projection at each basal angle; lateral projection short and wide, abruptly narrowed in apical part, obtuse at apex. Valvifer I (Fig. 153) oblong; valvula I (Fig. 153) with 8 setae.
Measurements [in mm, ♂ (n=2) /♀ (n=1), holotype in parentheses]. Body length 5.33–5.77/5.17 (5.77). Head length 1.14–1.16/1.12 (1.14), width across eyes 0.82–0.83/0.78 (0.82). Lengths of antennal segments I and II 1.00–1.14/0.98 (1.00) and 1.00–1.17/1.02 (1.00), respectively. Lengths of rostral segments I and II 0.98–1.00/0.91 (1.00) and 0.43–0.44/0.43 (0.44), respectively. Pronotum length 1.13–1.18/1.12 (1.13), width across humeri 1.66–1.68/1.55 (1.68). Hemelytron length 4.35–4.43/4.38 (4.35). Lengths of femur and tibia of fore leg 1.42–1.48/ 1.33 (1.42) and 1.46–1.52/1.37 (1.46); of mid leg 1.43–1.47/1.30 (1.43) and 1.46–1.49/1.35 (1.46); of hind leg 1.90–2.01/1.84 (1.90) and 1.96–2.04/1.84 (1.96). Abdomen length 2.74–3.18/2.84 (3.18), maximum width 2.50–2.57/2.54 (2.57).
Holotype. ♂ (Fig. 49), “[Yona Forest] Okinawa-jima Is. The Loochoos June 4, 1966 S. Tachikawa leg.” (LETUA IC 2014-00220) (TUA).
Paratypes (1 ♂, 1 ♀). JAPAN [Amami-Oshima Is.] Mt. Yuwan-dake: 1 ♀ (Figs. 50, 69, 80, 108–110, 148, 153), 17.viii.1965, K. Mizusawa (LETUA IC 2014-00221) (TUA). [Okinawa Is.] Takae, Higashi-son: 1 ♂ (Figs. 61, 62, 74, 105–107, 118, 124, 130, 136, 142), 7.v.2003, M. Kimura et al. (LETUA IC 2014-00222) (TUA).
Distribution. Japan: Ryukyu Islands (Amami-Oshima Is., Okinawa Is.).
Etymology. From the Latin major, referring to the relatively large body among the congeners of the genus Abelocephala; an adjective.
Remarks. Only the macropterous form of this species is known. In general habitus, this new species is resembles A. yaeyamensis sp. nov. However, A. major sp. nov. can be distinguished from A. yaeyamensis sp. nov. by the mandibular plate nearly right-angled at the anterior corner and weakly projected anteriorly in dorsal view (Fig. 62) [vs. acutely angled at the anterior corner and strongly projected anteriorly in dorsal view (Fig. 60)], the outer (larger) cell of the hemelytral membrane rounded apically (Fig. 118) [vs. acutely angled apically (Fig. 117)], the posterior process of the pygophore wide in dorsal view (Fig. 130) [vs. narrow in dorsal view (Fig. 129)], and valvula I with approximately eight setae (Fig. 153) [vs. with approximately four setae (Fig. 152)].
We collected only a few specimens of A. major sp. nov. However, our observations suggest that the habitat preference of this new species is similar to those of the other Japanese members of Abelocephala. No additional information regarding the biology of this reduviid is available.
description: Published as part of Ishikawa, Tadashi, Cai, Wanzhi & Tomokuni, Masaaki, 2015, The assassin bug subfamily Tribelocephalinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) from Japan, with descriptions of eight new species in the genera Opistoplatys and Abelocephala, pp. 151-180 in Zootaxa 3936 (2) on pages 171-175, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3936.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/241991