Leptopus riparius Hsiao 1964
Creators: name: Li, Zihe
name: Jin, Zezhong
name: Polhemus, Dan A.
name: Ye, Zhen
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Leptopodidae
Leptopus
Leptopus riparius

description: Leptopus riparius Hsiao, 1964
Leptopus riparius Hsiao 1964: Acta Zootax. Sinica 1: 289.
(Figs. 1, 6, 11, 13–15, 29, 34–36, 51, 52, 62)
Material examined. Holotype: 1 male, CHINA, Sichuan Prov., Leshan city, 22 July 1957, Hao Xu leg. (NKUM). Paratypes: 1 male, 1 female, CHINA, Sichuan Prov., same data as holotype (NKUM). Non-type specimens: 2 males, 2 females, CHINA, Hubei Prov., Xianning city, Tongshan county, Jiugongshan mountain, Yinhegu valley, 13 July 2022, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM); 3 males, 1 female, CHINA, Zhejiang Prov., Ningbo City, Jiufengshan mountain, 11 November 2022, Danyang Zhou leg. (NKUM). 1 female, VIETNAM, Hai Hung Prov., Kheao stream, 23 km. N. of Chi Linh, 125 m., water temp. 17° C., 25 March 2000, CL 4376, J. T. Polhemus and P. Nguyen (BPBM).
Diagnosis. Body length 3.7–4.1 (holotype: 4.0), ground color mainly brown (Figs. 1, 6, 11). Head mainly black, clypeus and bucculae yellow; labium short, labiomere I completely hidden beneath bucculae, labiomere II yellowish-white, with four (2+2) spines, labiomere III yellowish-brown to dark-brown, with four (2+2) spines, labiomere IV black; compound eyes distinctly large, with sparse short, spine-like setae; venter of head with three spines beneath each compound eye (Figs. 13–15). Pronotum densely punctured, mainly dark-brown, medially with two yellowish marks, lateral and posterior margins yellowish; scutellum black with a yellowish apex (Figs. 1, 6, 11). Hemelytra mainly brown, with two dark spots on each corium (Fig. 29). Fore femur incrassate, ventrally with 9–10 large spines (i.e., five large spines on outer side and 4–5 on inner side) and two rows of short spines; fore tibia with two rows of spines ventrally, each row with 2–3 large spines (Figs. 34–36). Paramere apically extended with several long hairs (Figs. 51, 52).
Comparative notes. The differences between L. riparius and L. scitulus Drake, 1954 were noted by Hsiao (1964) (i.e., L. riparius is larger, having a longer scutellum and bearing fewer long spines on the fore tibia). This species is also similar to L. marmoratus Goeze, 1778 due to the body shape and absence of dark fasciae on the hemelytra. However, L. riparius differs from L. marmoratus by the following characteristics: in L. riparius, the dorsal coloration is mainly uniformly brown, without scattered black flecks or patches on the hemelytra, and the femora lack brown annuli (Figs. 1, 6, 11), whereas in L. marmoratus, the hemelytra bear scattered black flecks and patches, the membrane has a distinct black spot basally, and the sub-apical parts of the femora are annulated with brown (Wachmann et al. 2006; Khazaei et al. 2020, see color habitus Fig. 10 in this latter work).
Remarks. The specimen we report from Vietnam is a female, so it is not possible make a definitive comparison on the basis of the male genitalia, and the identification must therefore be considered provisional. Even so, the specimen falls within the current concept of L. riparius on the basis of body size and shape, coloration, and the basal expansion of the hemelytral embolium. Our recent collections extend the distribution of genus Leptopus Latreille, 1809 eastward into Zhejiang Province, China (approximately 121° E) and southward into Vietnam (new country record) (Fig. 61).
Distribution: China (Sichuan, Hubei, Zhejiang) (Hsiao, 1964; new records in Hubei and Zhejiang), Vietnam (new record, Fig. 61).
description: Published as part of Li, Zihe, Jin, Zezhong, Polhemus, Dan A. & Ye, Zhen, 2023, Two new species of Valleriola (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Leptopodidae) and taxonomic notes on the tribe Leptopodini Brullé, 1836 from East and Southeast Asia, pp. 329-344 in Zootaxa 5256 (4) on page 330, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5256.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7755108