Afropictinus congoensis Hoberlandt 1956
Creators: name: Heiss, Ernst
name: Grebennikov, Vasily
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Aradidae
Afropictinus
Afropictinus congoensis

description: Afropictinus congoensis (Hoberlandt, 1956)
(Figs 2 E–G)
congoensis Hoberlandt, 1956: 583 (Pictinus); Usinger & Matsuda, 1959: 360 (Pictinus); Heiss, 1986: 334 (Afropictinus); Kormilev & Foeschner, 1987: 96 (Afropictinus); Heiss, 2013: 337 (Afropictinus); Kment et al. (2015: 432) (Pictinus).
Material studied. HOLOTYPE male (MRAC): Ruanda: terr. d’Astrida / Astrida 1.750m / 22–II–1953, P.Basilewsky coll. ALLOTYPE (MRAC): female: same locality as holotype. Additional material: 2 males, 2 females (CEHI): Rwanda, Ostafrica / Prov. Cyangugu / Nyakabuye, Regenwald / 20–25 I 84 Heiss.
Diagnosis. Larger species with genae shorter than antennal segment I and shallow median elevation of tergal disk which is separated from thorax by a distinct suture. Similar to A. kahuzianus sp. nov. from DRC, from which can be distinguished by more round and wider abdomen (particularly females), rounded not angulate anterolateral angles of paranota and different ratios of antennal segments.
Description. Surface glabrous, colouration reddish brown, usually with lighter yellowish-brown legs and antennae, in females posterior margins of deltg III–VI and lateral parts of mtg IV-VI may be yellowish. Head wider than long (18/14.5); genae longer than clypeus reaching about 4/5 of antennal segment I, apex cleft; antennae 1.83 times as long as width of head, segments I/II/III/IV = 7/3.5/9/7; postocular lobes rounded, beset with setigerous tubercles. Thorax with pronotum 2.7 times as wide as long (24.5/9), paranota roundly converging anteriorly, rounded and slightly produced anterolaterally. Scutellum about 2.1 times as wide as long (19/9). Mtg I raised medially to level of scutellum, with a median depression which is flanked on mtg II by few granules. Abdomen with tergal plate only slightly elevated at middle, distinctly separated from mtgIII by a transverse suture. Female of slightly larger body size, abdomen wider and more rounded; median depression of mtg I+II more shallow. Measurements taken from Nyakabuye specimens. Male: length 3.35 mm; length of antennae 1.32 mm; width of abdomen 1.75 mm. Female: length 3.9 mm; head width / length 17/15; antennae 1.78 times as long as width of head, segments I/II/III/IV = 7/4/9.25/6.5; pronotum w/l 26/8.5; scutellum width / length 21/9; width of abdomen 1.97 mm.
Distribution. The holotype was reported from Astrida (now Butare) in Rwanda. At the time of collecting (1953) the whole area was covered by rainforest of the “Forêt Naturelle de Nyungwe” (personal communication by native elders of Butare), which although considerably reduced in size, is still the largest rainforest area in Rwanda extending to Burundi. The additional specimens originate from Nyakabuye (a village at the SW border of Nyungwe forest) and are inferred to belong to A. congoensis, in spite of minor differences from the holotype in size and colouration. Afropictinus congoensis is known exclusively from Nyungwe forest.
description: Published as part of Heiss, Ernst & Grebennikov, Vasily, 2016, Monophyly, review, six new species and DNA barcode of micropterous Afromontane Afropictinus (Heteroptera: Aradidae), pp. 149-160 in Zootaxa 4208 (2) on page 154, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4208.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/203840