Research Article |
Corresponding author: Wanzhi Cai ( caiwz@cau.edu.cn ) Academic editor: Geert Goemans
© 2020 Zhuo Chen, Hu Li, Wanzhi Cai.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Chen Z, Li H, Cai W (2020) A new species of Hornylia Wygodzinsky (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Emesinae) from Thailand. ZooKeys 917: 105-115. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.917.46887
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Hornylia obtusipetala sp. nov. from eastern Thailand is described and illustrated. This new species is the second representative of the genus Hornylia Wygodzinsky, 1966. A key to species of Hornylia is presented. The relationship with allied genera and distribution of Hornylia is briefly discussed. Hornylia is recorded from Thailand for the first time.
Emesinae, Hornylia, Metapterini, new species, Oriental Region, taxonomy
Emesinae, or thread-legged assassin bugs, have long intrigued scientists not only because of their bizarre looking (
The genus Hornylia Wygodzinsky, 1966 is one of ten monotypic genera among Metapterini. It was established by
During our recent examination of emesine specimens deposited in the Entomological Museum of China Agricultural University, Beijing, China (CAU), a male specimen of Hornylia from eastern Thailand was discovered. It differs from H. nalanda in several characters and warrants description as a new species.
Type material is preserved in the Entomological Museum of China Agricultural University, Beijing, China (CAU). Male genitalia were soaked in hot 10% KOH solution for approximately five minutes to remove soft tissue, rinsed in distilled water, and dissected under a Motic binocular dissecting microscope. Dissected genitalia were placed in a vial with glycerin and pinned under the corresponding specimen after examination. Photographs were all taken by Canon 7D Mark II digital camera with Canon micro lens EF 100 mm and MP-E 65 mm for habitus and an Olympus BX51 microscope for dissected body parts. Helicon Focus version 5.3 was used for image stacking. Measurements were obtained using a calibrated micrometer. Morphological terminology mainly follows
Hornylia Wygodzinsky, 1966: 494. Type species by original designation: Hornylia nalanda Wygodzinsky, 1966.
Maldonado-Capriles, 1990: 131.
Apterous; body surface dull, granulated; anteocular part longer than postocular part; interocular furrow strongly curved backwards at its midpoint, reaching far behind level of posterior margin of eyes; fore femur with three series of spiniferous processes, and each process bearing a short spine apically; posteroventral series beginning very close to base of femur, composed of several large and numerous small processes; anteroventral series widely interrupted at base; fore tarsus not segmented, with a single claw on its apex.
Two species, occurring in the Oriental Region.
Body length 10.98 mm; apex of labial segment II not reaching level of anterior margin of eyes (Fig.
Apterous male. Coloration: Body generally yellowish brown (Figs
Structure
: Body elongate. Surfaces of head, thorax and abdomen conspicuously granulated (Figs
Hornylia obtusipetala sp. nov., male 4, 5 head, thorax and base of abdomen, antennae and legs removed 6 left fore leg 7 right fore femur, tibia and tarsus 8 body with fore coxae, femora of left mid and hind legs, arrows indicating the indistinct annuli on ventral surface of mid and hind femora 9–11 apex of abdomen 4, 9 dorsal view 5, 6, 10 lateral view 7, 8 ventral view 11 caudal view. Scale bars: 0.75 mm (4–7, 9, 10); 1.50 mm (8); 0.375 mm (11).
Head (Figs
Male genitalia
: At rest as shown in Fig.
Hornylia obtusipetala sp. nov., male 12 abdominal segment VIII and genitalia, the arrow points to the apex of phallus 13, 14 abdominal segment VIII 15–17 pygophore 18–20 paramere 21, 22 phallus 12, 14, 16, 18, 21 lateral view 13, 15, 20, 22 dorsal view 17 caudal view 19 ventral view. Scale bars: 0.25 mm (12); 0.375 mm (13–19); 0.50 mm (20–21).
Measurements [in mm, male (N = 1)]. Length of body 10.98; length of head 1.30; length of anteocular part 0.49; length of postocular part 0.23; width across eyes 0.74; interocular space 0.47; length of antennal segments I–IV = 3.20, 2.25, 0.37, 0.71; length of labial segments II–IV = 0.38, 0.15, 0.32; length of anterior pronotal lobe 1.91; length of posterior pronotal lobe 0.09; width of anterior pronotal lobe 0.48; width of posterior pronotal lobe 0.32; length of mesonotum 0.72; length of metanotum 0.68; length of fore coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus (without claw) = 1.29, 0.29, 1.91, 0.87, 0.70; length of mid femur, tibia, tarsus = 5.41, 6.76, 0.24; length of hind femur, tibia, tarsus = 6.20, 10.15, 0.27; length of abdomen 3.81; maximum width of abdomen 0.62.
Holotype (male): Thailand, Chanthaburi, Khao Soi Dao, 25.xii.2007, leg. W. Sakchoowng (CAU).
The specific epithet is derived from Latin obtus- (meaning obtuse or blunt) and -petala (meaning petal), referring to the apically expanded and blunted parameres of the new species.
Thailand (Chanthaburi).
Hornylia obtusipetala sp. nov. can be distinguished from H. nalanda by its considerably larger size and several different morphological characters which are discussed. The apex of labial segment II of the new species is far from the level of anterior margin of eyes (Fig.
The shapes of the parameres greatly differ between H. obtusipetala sp. nov. and H. nalanda: in the former, the parameres are broad, apically expanded and blunted, with a conspicuous subapical process (Figs
Species of the genus Hornylia can be distinguished with the key below.
1 | Body length ca. 8 mm; labial segment II reaching level of anterior margin of eyes; anteroventral series consisting of five medium-sized processes; posteroventral series consisting of six large-sized processes; mid and hind femora with one distinct annulus; parameres slender, apically sickle-shaped, without subapical process | Hornylia nalanda Wygodzinsky |
– | Body length ca. 11 mm; labial segment II not reaching level of anterior margin of eyes; anteroventral series consisting of seven medium-sized processes; posteroventral series consisting of four large-sized and two medium-sized processes; mid and hind femora with two distinct annuli; parameres broad, apically expanded and blunted, with a sharp subapical process | Hornylia obtusipetala sp. nov. |
The Oriental genus Hornylia seems to be related to Bobba Bergroth, 1914 (Afrotropical, 5 spp.), Bargylia Stål, 1866 (Australasian, 6 spp.), and Leaylia Wygodzinsky, 1966 (Australasian, 1 sp.) due to their similar appearance and several shared morphological characters: the anteocular part distinctly longer than postocular part; antennal insertion situated before the middle of the anteocular part but relatively far from apex of head; labial segment II at least twice as long as segment III; ventral spiny region of fore femur occupying at least half of the length of fore femur; fore tarsus with one segment, with decumbent, strongly sclerotized setae on ventral surface; mid and hind claws generally medially incised, without other projections; parameres without sensory spines (
Prior to the discovery of H. obtusipetala sp. nov. from Thailand, the single representative of the genus, Hornylia nalanda, was only known from its type locality in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The discovery of the new species described here extends the distribution range of Hornylia to the mainland Southeast Asia. It is possible that more Hornylia species will be discovered on mainland Asia and adjacent islands in the future.
Emesinae are widely distributed around the world, but exhibit high diversity on isolated islands, with numerous endemic island taxa (
We sincerely thank Hélcio Gil-Santana (Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil), Tadashi Ishikawa (Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan) and Geert Goemans (University of Connecticut, USA) for helpful comments and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31730086).