Voconia dolichocephala Castillo & Rédei & Weirauch 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Castillo, Stephanie
name: Rédei, Dávid
name: Weirauch, Christiane
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Voconia
Voconia dolichocephala

description: Voconia dolichocephala sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 7528828E-ADAD-49A4-BA42-98BCE32BF011
Figs 1–2, 6–7, 9, 18
Diagnosis
Distinguished from most other species of Voconia by its tuberculate and coarsely granulose head and pronotum. This species most closely resembles another Australian species, V. tuberculata sp. nov. These two species are recognized from other Australian species by the acute protuberance on the posteroventral margin of the proepimeron, long macrosetae of the setigerous tubercles, elongate head (1.4–1.6 times as long as wide), and yellow spots antero- and posteromedially on the abducted corium. Voconia dolichocephala sp. nov. differs from V. tuberculata sp. nov. by its overall dark brown, almost black coloration, dorsal laterotergites uniformly dark or with yellow spots posteriorly, and males are smaller than about 7.5 mm. Females slightly surpass the high-end range for female length of V. tuberculata sp. nov. (8.4–8.8 mm).
Etymology
The specific epithet is the latinized Greek adjective ‘ dolichocephalus, - a, - um ’, formed from the prefix ‘ dolicho- ’ (meaning ‘long’) and the noun ‘ cephale ’ (meaning ‘head’), referring to the long head of the type specimen, which is about a fifth of the body length.
Type material
Holotype AUSTRALIA • ♀; Northern Territory, Tindal; [14.52° S, 132.38° E]; 1–20 Dec. 1967; W. Vestjens leg.; at light; USI: AMNH_PBI 00168747; ANIC.
Paratypes AUSTRALIA • 1 ♀; Northern Territory, Kakadu NP, S Alligator River, Gungaree Rainforest; [12.65 ° S, 132.47 ° E]; 17 Dec. 1993; S. and J. Peck leg.; coll. S. and J Peck 93-131; at light; USI: AMNH_PBI 00170709; deposited in AMNH • 1 ♀; same collection data as for holotype; USI: AMNH_PBI 00168748; AMNH • 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; USI: AMNH_PBI 00168745; AMNH.
Description
Male (Figs 7, 9)
BODY LENGTH. 7.1–7.5 mm; macropterous.
COLORATION. Head (Fig. 3F): dark brown; postocular region uniformly dark with pale patches adjacent to lateral ocellar margin; labial segment I nearly as dark as head, segments II and III lighter than head. Thorax: coloration as head; scutellum uniformly dark brown. Hemelytron (abducted): clavus dark brown with distal yellow stripe; corium dark brown with anteromedial, posteromedial, and distal yellow spots; membrane dark with pale V-shaped marking along R and M veins; membranal veins R and M proximally pale. Legs: dark brown, tarsi yellow. Abdomen: dark brown; dorsal laterotergites uniformly dark or dark with yellow spots posteriorly.
INTEGUMENT AND VESTITURE. Head (Fig. 3F) and pronotum: coarsely granulose with sparse, long setigerous tubercles interspersed among sparse pubescence; interocular region with two pairs of stout setigerous tubercles paramedially; antennifer with long lateral setigerous tubercle; morphologically ventral surface of labium with sparse, short macrosetae. Thorax: anterolateral angles of pronotal collar with setigerous tubercles; scutellar lateral carinae with setigerous tubercles with long macrosetae. Hemelytron: corium with dense long setation. Legs: posterior row of protuberances on mid and hind femora with four large spines on distal half. Abdomen: ventral surface pubescent, long macrosetae interspersed.
STRUCTURE. Head (Fig. 3F): elongate, 1.5–1.6 times as long as wide; anteocular region about one third of head length, shorter than postocular region (measured to anterior margin of neck); postocular region in dorsal view as long as eye, lateral margins gently rounded; pedicel 1.3–1.5 times length of head width; maxillary plates ellipsoidal, adjacent to and as long as clypeus; apices of maxillary plates in dorsal view with medial margins diverging; clypeus in dorsal view wider than maxillary plates; clypeal apex bifid, not narrowed; interocular glabrous markings V-shaped, joined medially at interocular sulcus; interocular sulcus in dorsal view nearly straight; eye width in dorsal view narrower than synthlipsis; eye reaching ventral head margin in lateral view; ventrolateral swelling of buccula without lateral protrusion that surpasses buccular margin, flat margin; labial segment I in lateral view straight, surpassing posteroventral eye margin; morphologically dorsal surface of labial segment II curves ventrally, 0.3–0.4 times length of segment I. Thorax: pronotal collar in dorsal view wide medially with anterolateral angles long, flared laterally; anterior pronotal lobe 0.7–0.8 times length of posterior pronotal lobe, lateral margins almost straight; glabrous markings on pronotum conspicuous and not depressed; median apodeme depression of pronotum shallow, elongated longitudinally; scutellar spine long, subhorizontal; anteriad-directed process of prosternum with paramedial lobes; anterior margin of stridulitrum projected into small protuberance; proepimeron with acute protuberance on posteroventral margin. Legs: fossula spongiosa present on fore and mid legs. Abdomen: anterior margin of terga weakly carinulate, terga II and III with deeper and longer carinules; terga II and III with paired prominent longitudinal carinae, reaching about two-thirds of tergum III.
Female
Mostly as male, distinguished from males by the following. Body length: 8.8–9.0 mm. Head: elongate, 1.5–1.6 times as long as wide; pedicel about 1.5–1.7 times length of head width. Legs: fossula spongiosa absent or vestigial on mid leg.
Distribution (Fig. 18)
This species is only known from the Northern Territory of Australia. The nearest species of Voconia is V. tuberculata sp. nov., known from about 100 km southeast of the three specimens collected in Tindal.
Remarks
Voconia dolichocephala sp. nov. is nested among the Australian clade. According to the phylogeny (Figs 1–2), it is the sister taxon to V. tuberculata sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Castillo, Stephanie, Rédei, Dávid & Weirauch, Christiane, 2022, Pseudocetherinae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) revisited: phylogeny and taxonomy of the lobe-headed bugs, pp. 1-95 in European Journal of Taxonomy 788 (1) on pages 47-49, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.788.1625, http://zenodo.org/record/5846636