Pseudovelia piliformis Ye, Polhemus & Bu, 2013, sp. n.
Creators: name: Ye, Zhen
name: Polhemus, Dan A.
name: Bu, Wenjun
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Macroveliidae
Pseudovelia
Pseudovelia piliformis

description: Pseudovelia piliformis sp. n.
(Figs. 8, 21, 33, 45, 57, 68, 81, 93, 105, 117, 129)
Material examined. Holotype: apterous male, CHINA, Guangxi Prov., Nanning city, Wuming County, Damingshan Mountain Nature Reserve, 23 May 2011, Zhen Ye leg (NKUM). Paratypes: CHINA, Guangxi Prov.: 4 apterous males, 6 apterous females, same data as holotype (NKUM).
Description. Apterous male (Fig. 8). Colour: ground colour blackish brown, head dark brown, clypeus, pseudocellar spots and median line of head blackish-brown; labrum black, rostrum yellowish with black apex, buccula brown; basal part of antennal segment I brown, apical part dark, segments II–IV almost black; pronotum dull orange, posterior parts with dense, black spots; legs mainly blackish brown except basal part of femur yellowish; abdomen mainly blackish brown, connexiva dark orange, mediotergites I–III, posterior margin of mediotergite VI, medial part of mediotergite VII, and internal parts of laterotergites IV and V with prominent silvery pubescence; segment VIII and proctiger yellowish, each of them weakly infuscated apically, pygophore dark orange, apically rather black. Structural characteristics: body length: 3.0–3.3 (holotype: 3.1), large-sized and elongate, rather stout, bearing dense, suberect, black hairs, area around the eyes and antennal segment I covered by relatively fewer, long, suberect, grayish hairs. Head relatively small, short and wide, width: 0.66–0.68, length: 0.40–0.41, head width about 1.68 times head length, relatively perpendicular, posteriorly inserted into medially concave anterior margin of pronotum; labrum reverse angular, buccula clearly visible, but not produced posteriorly; eyes bare except for the presence of two ocular setae; antenna about 0.63 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.6, 0.4, 0.45, 0.50. Pronotum relatively narrow, width: 0.91–0.93, length: 0.54–0.56, about 1.65 times as wide as long; dark punctures scattered on the posterior part of pronotal lobe, pronotum with hind margin straight, anterior margin slightly emarginated; metanotum completely hidden beneath pronotal lobe except laterally. Legs stout, fore tibia (Figs. 21, 33) with dense, suberect and short setae, medial part of venter with distinct, sharp processes, length of grasping comb 0.55, about 0.58 times fore tibial length; medial portion of venter on middle femur with relatively large areas of dense, black, long bristle-like hairs (Fig. 45), middle tibia slightly curved, with suberect, short hairs; hind tibia (Fig. 57) slightly modified, with a row of 6–8 short, black spines on lateral parts, apical half slightly flattened, venter of hind tarsal segment I with a row of dense, black, fibrous bristles (Fig. 68), ventral arolium bristle-like; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.70, 0.69 and 0.43, middle leg: 1.06, 1.11 and 0.57 (0.18+0.39), hind leg: 1.12, 1.31 and 0.66 (0.30+0.36); mediotergites almost flat, connexiva relatively narrow, segments III–VI approximately rectangular, slightly raised; mediotergites I–V subequal in length; abdominal venter flat, medially strongly concave. Genital segments: slightly enlarged, segment VIII (Figs. 81, 93, 105, 117) about 1.6 times as long as wide, posterior margin with long, dense, suberect, blackishbrown hairs, anterior margin bearing 2 very long laminar processes, ventrally with a subtriangular depression, hind margin of this depression with a pair (1+1) of laminar processes laterally, anterolateral margins of depression with a pair (1+1) of short, spine-like setae; anterolateral margins of pygophore (Fig. 129) with clusters of slender, dense and black hairs, posterior part with a large area of dense, long, black hairs; anterolateral margins of proctiger with clusters of slender, dense, brown hairs, posterior margin with sparse, short hairs; paramere symmetrical, rather small, medial part strongly constricted, with apex rounded and widened.
Apterous female. Similar to male, body medium-sized and relatively wide, slightly smaller than male, body length: 2.81–2.84; structure of head including antenna as in male, head width: 0.62–0.64, head length: 0.40–0.41, head width about 1.6 times head length, antenna about 0.6 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments I–IV: 0.50, 0.32, 0.41, 0.48; hind margin of pronotum straight, pronotum width: 0.90–0.92, pronotum length: 0.49–0.52, about 1.8 times as wide as long; legs more slender than in male, fore tibia without processes and grasping comb, medial portion of venter on middle femur without dense, black, long, bristle-like hairs, middle tibia straight, hind tibia and tarsus unmodified, lateral parts of hind tibia without a row of black short spines, apical half of hind tibia unmodified, venter of hind tarsal segment I without a row or cluster of bristles; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia and tarsus): fore leg: 0.70, 0.63 and 0.39, middle leg: 0.88, 0.90 and 0.51 (0.15+0.36), hind leg: 1.00, 1.12 and 0.55 (0.17+0.38); abdomen pleurally and ventrally without special modifications, connexiva flat, converging posteriorly and touching caudally; end of abdomen raised in lateral view, gonocoxa I elongate, proctiger blackish brown, directed posteriad, with dense, short hairs.
Macropterous female and macropterous male: unknown.
Etymology. The specific epithet “ piliformis ” (from Latin, meaning hairy) refers to the structure of the medial portion of the venter on the male middle femur with its relatively large area of dense, long, black bristle-like hairs.
Diagnosis. The most striking feature of P. piliformis sp. n. is the medial portion of venter on the middle femur, which possesses a relatively large area of long, dense, black, bristle-like hairs (Fig. 45). P. piliformis sp. n. seems to be closely related to P. contorta sp. n. and P. e x t e n s a sp. n. These three species share certain character states different from those seen in other species of this genus: the medial portion of the venter on the fore femur possesses distinct processes, and the lateral portion of the hind tibia bears a row of short, black spines. However, P. piliformis sp. n. can be distinguished from P. contorta sp. n. by blackish brown ground colour; by having the body much larger, with the male length 3.0–3.3 (in P. contorta sp. n., the male body length is 2.29–2.32); by the medial portion of the venter on the middle femur bearing a relatively large area of long, dense, black bristle-like hairs (Fig. 45); by having hind tarsal segment I of the male normal, not curved (Figs. 57, 68); by the bristles on the venter of hind tarsal segment 1 being much more dense (Fig. 68); and by the structure of abdominal segment VIII (Figs. 81, 93, 105, 117). P. piliformis sp. n. can be distinguished from P. extensa sp. n. by having the body relatively large, with a length 3.00– 3.30 in male (in P. e x t e n s a sp. n. the body length is 2.51–2.54); in having the medial portion of the venter on the middle femur with a relatively large area of dense, long, black bristle-like hairs (Fig. 45); by having the bristles on the venter of hind tarsal segment I much more dense (Fig. 68); by the blunt hind margin of the pygophore (Fig. 105); and by differences in the structure of abdominal ventrite VIII (compare Figs. 81, 93, 105, 117 with Figs. 75, 87, 99, 111).
Distribution. China (Guangxi) (Fig. 138).
description: Published as part of Ye, Zhen, Polhemus, Dan A. & Bu, Wenjun, 2013, A taxonomic contribution to the genus Pseudovelia Hoberlandt, 1951 (Hemiptera: Veliidae) from China, with descriptions of ten new species, pp. 290-318 in Zootaxa 3636 (2) on pages 300-301, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3636.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/217240