Acanthosoma pugnax Tsai & Rédei 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Tsai, Jing-Fu
name: Rédei, Dávid
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Acanthosomatidae
Acanthosoma
Acanthosoma pugnax

description: Acanthosoma pugnax sp. nov.   
 (Figs 10, 33–36, 53, 72–75) Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, TAIWAN: TAICHUNG CO.: Wuling Hostel, 15.iv.2013, MV lamp, leg. S. Wu; male genitalia dissected, preserved in glass vial with glycerol, pinned with the specimen; deposited in NMNS (Figs 72–73). PARATYPE: TAIWAN: TAICHUNG CO.: Anmashan, 2275 m, 6–9.vii.1979, leg. W.J. Wu (1 ♀ TARI) (Figs 74–75).   
 Diagnosis. Recognized by the following combination of characters: humeral process dark, greatly elongate, straight, apically sharp, directed anterolaterad; mesosternal carina short, slightly surpassing base of head; male genital capsule with a sclerotized ridge along margin of dorsal rim (Fig. 10). The paramere (Figs 33–36) and female terminalia (Fig. 53) are diagnostic.   
  Description. Colour.  Ground colour of dorsum green suffused with ferruginous to various extent, occasionally completely reddish brown; humeral processes suffused with black except their anterior margin; endocorium of fore wings with strong ferruginous suffusion; abdomen pale yellow, with distinct red suffusion on exposed parts of segments VII (J, ♀), VIII (♀), and dorsal surface of genital capsule (J); minute denticles at posterolateral angles of ventrites III–VI black but otherwise lateral margin of pregenital abdomen without conspicuous black markings.   
  Integument and vestiture.  Body glabrous except of fine, scattered hairs on appendages and terminalia; mandibular plates with a few scattered black punctures, interocular area with a pair of irregular longitudinal rows of black punctures; maxillary plate with an obtuse tubercle anteriad and mesad of antennal insertion; pronotum, scutellum and sclerotized parts of fore wings with rather uniform black punctation except on calli, distal portions of humeral processes and costal margin of fore wing, punctation of exocorium and neighbouring part of endocorium not conspicuously different; ventral surface of body virtually unpunctured except of scattered punctures on ventral surface of humeral process and faint, superficial punctures along posterior margin of abdominal ventrite VIII and on ventral surface of genital capsule of male.   
  Structure. Body  elongate oval with distinctly produced humeri, distance between tips of humeral processes about 1.65 (♀) times as long as greatest width of body posteriad of humeri. Head 1.18 (J) / 1.24 (♀) times as broad as its median length, about 1.58 (J) / 1.53 (♀) times as broad as interocular distance, finely transversely rugose, anterior portion of clypeus with a broad median longitudinal groove. Labium projecting between or slightly surpassing mid coxae. Pronotum with anterolateral margin weakly concave, gradually transitioning into humeral process which is long, straight, spiniform, directed subhorizontally, apically sharp. Thoracic pleuron and sternum. Mesosternal carina distinctly surpassing base of head, highly elevated, rather broadly rounded anteriorly; metathoracic scent gland ostiole with a long, slightly arched peritreme.   
 Male and female terminalia. Male. Genital capsule (Fig. 10) with short, broad, widely diverging posterolateral projections, provided with a tuft of dense setae apically; dorsal rim broadly V-shaped, with a heavily sclerotized and pigmented ridge along its margin; ventral rim with a concave incision medially, provided with setal tufts, its infolding densely pilose. Paramere (Figs 33–36) bifurcated and heavily pigmented apically, internal surface concave, upper branch elongate with a digitiform process, lower branch short with a fin-shaped process, stem with a protrusion subapically. Female (Fig. 52). Posterior margin of ventrite VII with a deep, U-shaped median incision margined with black at bases of valvifers VIII; posterior margin of laterotergites VIII moderately rounded and prominent; Pendergrast’s organs on ventrite VII much smaller than those on ventrite VI.   
 Measurements (holotype J / paratype ♀) (in mm). Body length from apex of head to apex of membrane 13.3 / 13.8 (♀); greatest width of body posteriad of humeral processes – / 6.41; median length of head 1.95 / 1.85, width across eyes 2.30 / 2.30, interocular distance 1.45 / 1.50; length of antennal segments (I) 1.65 / 1.65: (IIa) 1.65 / 1.60: (IIb) 1.75 / 1.40: (III) 1.35 / 1.85: (IV) 2.15 / 1.55; median length of pronotum 2.30 / 2.65, greatest width (across tips of humeri) 10.6 / 10.6; median length of scutellum 3.70 / 3.95, width at base 3.35 / 3.45.   
 Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective pugnax (m, f, n) ‘combative, fond of fighting’, referring to the produced, sharp humeri of the species.   
 Bionomics. Unknown. The male holotype was collected at light.   
 Distribution. This species is apparently endemic to Taiwan. Specimens are rare in collections, so far only the holotype and one paratype are known, both collected in the central, mountainous region of the main island of Taiwan.   
 Remarks. Although the single male available is badly damaged (Figs 72–73), we judged that it, together with an obviously conspecific female, will make it possible to prepare a description which will allow unambiguous recognition of the species.   
 The new species is taxonomically closely related to A. shensiense Hsiao & Liu, 1977 and A. montanum (Liu, 1987) as indicated by the presence of a sclerotized and pigmented longitudinal ridge along the dorsal rim of the genital capsule of the male (a potential synapomorphy) and the similar shape of the paramere. Regarding A. montanum, the new species can be easily distinguished by the apically sharp humeri (apically obtuse, recurved in A. montanum), the different parameres, the more prominent posterior margin of laterotergites VIII of the female, and the reduced Pendergrast’s organs on ventrite VII.
description: Published as part of Tsai, Jing-Fu & Rédei, Dávid, 2015, The genus Acanthosoma in Taiwan (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Acanthosomatidae), pp. 625-664 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 55 (2) on pages 638-640, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5303571