Macrosaldula graziae Vinokurov & Kment 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Vinokurov, Nikolay N.
name: Kment, Petr
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Saldidae
Macrosaldula
Macrosaldula graziae

description: Macrosaldula graziae sp. nov.
(Figs. 2–6, 9–11)
Macrosaldula archangelskii Kiritshenko (1964: 241). Nomen nudum.
Macrosaldula cf. scotica: Vinokurov (2014a: 168); Vinokurov (2014b: 995–996).
Macrosaldula scotica (misidentification): Vinokurov & Kment (2015): 371 (variability, distribution).
Material examined. Holotype: Male. UZBEKISTAN: ‘КаРЖантау, КЗЫл-су, Обухова, 7VII.39 // Saldula n. sp. Kiritshenko det.’ [= Karzhantau, Kzyl-su (tributary of Chirchik R.), 7.viii.1939, Obukhova lgt.] (ZISP).
Paratype: TAJIKISTAN: Khodzhent [= Khudzhand, former Leninabad], 20.vi.1919, 1 ♀, A. Arkhangelskiy lgt. (ZISP).
Additional material examined. UZBEKISTAN: ‘USSR, Uzbekistan / Bolshoi Chingan / Prope Tashkent, 6. / K. Majer leg. VI.1981 ’ [= Bolshoy Chimgan Mt., 41°29′40″N 70°03′28″E], 1 ♂ 1 ♀, P. Kment det. (MMBC).
Etymology. We name this species in honor of Professor Jocelia Grazia, an eminent Brazilian specialist in Pentatomoidea systematics, on the occasion of her 75th anniversary.
Diagnosis. Macrosaldula graziae sp. nov. is recognized by the moderately shiny dorsum, unicolorous hemelytra; long erect setae on frons and pronotum, setae on scutellum, clavus and corium shorter; lateral margin of pronotum almost straight in male and slightly convex in female and also by the structure of the male genital segment (Figs. 4–6, 9–11).
Description. Male (Fig. 2). Medium-sized, macropterous, elongate-oval, body 2.4× as long as width of hemelytra at middle. Body length 5.5 mm, width at middle of hemelytra 2.3 mm. For remaining measurements, see Table 2.
Head dull shiny; eyes large, brown, with narrow yellow stripe along posterior margin; frons with long erect setae; yellow pre-ocellar spots trapezoidal and oblique to mesal margins of eyes. Ocelli brown, distance between ocelli almost 3 times smaller than diameter of one ocellus; vertex scabrous, narrowly shiny around ocelli. Mandibular and maxillary plates whitish-yellow; anteclypeus yellow; labrum black with yellow spot in middle; labium extending to mesocoxae, labiomere I black, labiomeres II–IV brownish-black. Head ventrally with dense silvery setae. Antennae black; antennomere I with individual erect black bristles and sparse semi-erect black setae, mesal surface with wide yellow stripe; antennomeres II–IV with dense silvery and rare erect setae as long as the antennomere thickness.
Pronotum shiny, with almost straight lateral margin, rather dense adpressed short whitish setae and sparse long black erect setae. Callus low, separated from basal part by distinct furrow. Thoracic venter glossy, prothorax on each side with recumbent long, silvery setae, acetabula black.
Scutellum, clavus and corium with black setae: short recumbent ones and longer (twice shorter than pronotal) erect ones. Clavus and corium without pale spots. Clavus black, dark brown at apex. Corium on basal half and lateral part black, median part dark brown. Membrane dark brown with black veins.
Legs. Profemora black, yellow with some black spots on posterior side; meso- and metafemora black, anteriorly with narrow yellow strip. Protibia yellow, dorsally with brown stripe. Meso- and metatibiae with long black, erect bristles, yellowish brown, with yellow ring subapically, apex narrowly black; base of tibia with narrow dark brown strip. Erect setae on metatibia shorter than stout black setae. Tarsomeres I and III dark brown, tarsomere II yellow.
Abdomen black, covered by short silvery setae. Pegs on male grasping plate long and sparse (Fig. 6).
Genitalia. Parandria wide (Fig. 9). Body of paramere curved, processus hamatus thickened on basal half (Fig. 4). Base of penis filum coiled almost twice (Fig. 5). Medial endosomal sclerite elongate in dorsal view (Fig. 10), medial and apicolateral endosomal sclerites in lateral view as on Fig. 9.
Female (Fig. 3). As in male, except for the following differences: body wide-oval, 2.2× as long as width of hemelytra at middle. Body length 6.5 mm, wide 2.9 mm, for remaining measurements, see Table 2. Body black and shining. Lateral margin of pronotum slightly convex. Yellow stripe on antennomere I narrow. Mandibular and maxillary plates brownish yellow, laterally darkened. Anteclypeus brownish yellow, black on basal half. Protibiae brownish yellow, meso- and metatibiae brown. Abdominal segments dark brown, narrowly yellow along lateral margin, with dense silvery setae.
Variation. The two specimens from Bolshoy Chimgan fit well in the description of M. graziae sp. nov., but the black setae on scutellum, clavus and corium are as long as those on pronotum; the male also slightly differs in the shape of the parandria. For measurements, see Table 2.
Differential diagnosis. Macrosaldula graziae sp. nov. is similar to the group of east Palaearctic species with completely dark coloured hemelytra—the South Far Eastern M. koreana and M. violacea, the South Siberian M. simulans, and the Siberian-Nearctic M. rivularia. Macrosaldula koreana and M. violacea share the shiny dorsum with M. graziae sp. nov., while M. rivularia and M. simulans have the dorsum matt. Externally, these four species differ by the very short dorsal setae (Figs. 18–22), while M. graziae sp. nov. has long erect setae on the dorsum.
However, the resemblance to M. koreana and M. rivularia is only superficial, M. graziae sp. nov. does not belong to the ‘aberrant group of species sensu Cobben (1985) ’, having a different structure of the medial endosomal sclerite.
Of the Central Asian species of the genus, M. graziae sp. nov. is similar to M. tadzhika (Kiritshenko, 1912) by the presence of long erect setae on the dorsum of the body, but the latter species differs in the smaller body size, the presence of light spots on the corium, and the structure of the male genitalia (see Figs. 34–47). The extremely dark individuals of the Central Asian M. jakowleffi (Fig. 22) can be confused with M. graziae sp. nov. Macrosaldula jakowleffi has the same long erect setae on the head and pronotum, but differs from the new species by the following features: matt hemelytra with short erect setae on corium, processus hamatus of paramere attenuating evenly to the apex (Fig. 7), and pegs on male grasping plate dense (Fig. 8).
A modification of the key by Vinokurov (2014a, b) is given below.
Distribution. West Tian-Shan Mts. in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Modified key to the Macrosaldula of Russia and adjacent countries to accommodate M. graziae sp. nov.
(modified from Vinokurov 2014a, b)
17 (18) Erect setae on metatibia longer than stout black setae. Pale spots situated on middle and at apex of endocorium, less frequently, at base; exocorium usually dark, with small pale spots at apex; in very pale specimens, corium with pale stripe along lateral margin (Figs. 12–15). Paramere and parandrium (Figs. 16, 17). Body length 4.9–6.8 mm........................................................................................... M. scotica (Curtis, 1835)
18 (17) Erect setae on metatibia shorter than or as long as stout black setae; other characters not as above.
18a (18b) Exocorium with wide whitish yellow spots on basal half and at apex (Figs. 32–35). Paramere and parandrium (Figs. 36–41). Body length: 5.0–5.7 mm........................................... M. tadzhika (Kiritshenko, 1912).
18b (18a) Corium uniformly black (Figs. 2, 3). Paramere and parandrium as in Figs. 4, 9. Body length: 4.9–6.3 mm............................................................................................ M. graziae sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Vinokurov, Nikolay N. & Kment, Petr, 2021, On species of the genus Macrosaldula (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Saldidae) of the Palaearctic Region, with description of M. graziae sp. nov., pp. 287-300 in Zootaxa 4958 (1) on pages 290-293, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4958.1.15, http://zenodo.org/record/4691810