Tuataraptera Lariviere and Larochelle E 2022, new genus
Creators: name: Larivière, Marie-Claude
name: Larochelle, André
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Aradidae
Tuataraptera

description: Genus Tuataraptera Larivière and Larochelle, new genus
Fig. 22, 30, 43, 70–71, 87
Type species. Neocarventus uncus Kirman, 1989, by present designation.
Description (incrustation removed). Apterous. Body subovate to subrectangular, moderately narrowed anteriorly; length about 3.2 mm (male), 3.9 mm (female). Head. Eyes rather small in relation to head, granulate. Postocular tubercles rounded-subquadrate to rounded-subtriangular, slightly produced laterally. Rostrum arising from a closed atrium. Thorax. Pro-, meso-, and metanotum separated by moderately deep sutures. Pronotum. Double-ring collar distinctly set off from anterior margin,with lateral tubercles and posteriorly produced subtriangular plate. Disc bearing two moderately large, rather flat, subtriangular plates, one on each side of a narrow subparallel sulcus. Lateral portions with a curved submarginal ridge distant from lateral margin (close to lateral margin in Neocarventus). Mesonotum. Disc bearing a large laterally winged plate (larger and slenderer than in Neocarventus) with a V-shaped backward projection reaching posterior margin of metanotum and two curved, nearly hook-shaped anterolateral projections covering much of lateral portions; apex of V-shaped projection flanked by coarse granules. Metanotum. Disc largely covered by mesonotal projection. Posterolateral angles strongly elevated and produced, forming long, sinuate, acutely tipped spines reaching anterior third to middle of first visible connexival segment (male), slightly thickened, unproduced (not forming subtriangular lobes as in Neocarventus; female). Legs. Coxal lobes rugose. Trochanters and femora demarcated from each other. Femora granulate, about as long as tibiae. Protibiae with fine ventral spines and apical comb. Abdomen. Dmtg I–II separated from metanotum by a distinct suture; narrowly fused medially, with a longitudinal carina; separated from each other laterally for most of their width; lateral portions with a large, oblong-subrectangular, laterally attenuate, transverse plate along anterior margin in front of a similarly sized subrectangular plate next to a smaller, anteriorly curved, subquadrate to subtriangular plate behind a submarginal pit. Tergal plate (dmtg III–VI) superficially unfused, with shallow sulci delimiting three large subtriangular plates and apodemal markings (tergal plate completely fused in Neocarventus). Dmtg III with a pair of short longitudinal sulci near middle of anterior margin, flanked by two apodemal spots (anterior longitudinal sulci absent in Neocarventus). Dmtg IV–VI with a few granules on each side of a distinct, irregularly shaped plate carrying scent gland openings; plate made of two subtriangular areas with long anterolateral projections (larger granulate areas present on each side of a subrectangular plate in Neocarventus). Scent gland openings (or scars thereof) three in number, first moderately developed, displaced posteriorly on dmtg IV, second very small, third evanescent. Connexivum. Dorsal laterotergites (dltg) with a pair of more or less distinct, rounded, smooth apodemal spots, posterior one larger. Dltg II–III fused, subtriangular, extending forward to or slightly beyond posterolateral angles of metanotum; IV–VI subquadrate; VII subrectangular. Spiracles II–IV ventral (not visible from above), V–VII lateral (visible from above). Pattern of apodemal markings 2:1:1 (dorsal); 2:2:1 (ventral). Male genitalia. Pygophore trilobate (Fig. 22, posterodorsal view); dorsal lobes below carinate margin, nearly elliptical in shape, moderately convex and produced backward, briefly touching each other ventrally along their inner margin; ventral lobe slightly convex medially, slightly produced; dorsal opening narrow; paramere heads partially visible as lamellate setose structures; posterior rim with a long, anteriorly directed, subtriangular projection on each side of median suture. Paratergites VIII (Fig. 30, outer lateral view) with an apically subtriangular, broadly explanate, hookshaped head; spiracle nearly apical.
Remarks. The name of this new genus is derived from the Maori noun tuatara, the New Zealand endemic spiny back reptile with an ancient lineage going back to the dinosaurs, and aptera, from the Greek apteros, wingless. Tuataraptera is a highly distinctive monotypic genus restricted to Northland (ND), the northernmost region of the North Island. The genus Tuataraptera is uniquely characterized among New Zealand genera by the presence of two very long, robust metanotal spines in the male. Other noticeable differences from Neocarventus, its closest morphological relative, are highlighted in the generic description. The configuration of the male pygophore and shape of paratergites VIII offer some similarities with Neocarventus and to a lesser extent with Modicarventus. The flatness of the thoracic plates and divisions of the tergal plates resemble the situation in Modicarventus.
description: Published as part of Larivière, Marie-Claude & Larochelle, André, 2022, Synopsis of the subfamily Carventinae in New Zealand (Heteroptera: Aradidae), pp. 1-54 in Insecta Mundi 2022 (961) on page 32, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7399305