Shibhonia, Carapezza & Kment, 2024

Carapezza, Attilio & Kment, Petr, 2024, Shibhonia buxanthi, a new genus and species of dorsally punctate Mirini from the island of Socotra (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 64 (2), pp. 355-363 : 356-358

Shibhonia gen. nov.

Type species. Shibhonia buxanthi sp. nov., here designated.

Description. Colouration. Colouration marked by contrasting bright orange and black brown parts of the body ( Figs 1–3 ).

Structure. Body tumid, oval, dorsally half-shiny ( Figs 1, 3 ), 3.80–5.30 mm long and 1.85–2.00 times longer than maximum width across hemelytra. Head declivous, clypeus protruding beyond anterior margin of frons ( Fig. 10 ); vertex carinate; frons smooth ( Fig. 9 ); antennal insertion dorsal to ventral margin of eye; eyes touching anterior margin of pronotal collar ( Fig. 10 ). Antennae thin and long ( Figs 1–3 ); scape (segment I) thickest, obviously surpassing clypeus, pedicel (II) almost linear, longer than pronotal width and longer than combined length of segments III–IV. Labium extending to median part of metacoxae, first segment inflated. Pronotum subtrapezoid, convex, uniformly punctured behind area of callosities ( Figs 6, 8–9 ); anterior margin with distinct, narrow collar almost as long medially as maximum width of second antennal segment; lateral margins rounded, deflected, posterior margin straight, slightly concave medially, humeral angles rounded; callosities prominent, rounded, medially separated from each other as well as from pronotal lateral margins. Mesoscutum not exposed, scutellum tumid, with modest basal depression, its punctation wide and shallow ( Fig. 9 ). Hemelytra evenly punctured except on cuneus ( Figs 7–8 ), widely surpassing apex of abdomen ( Fig. 2 ), lateral margins markedly rounded; membrane and cuneus deflexed ( Figs 1 , 8 ). Tibial spines short, yellowish-brown, not arising from black spots. Metatarsi with metatarsomere III subequal to II and 1.50 times as long as I. Metathoracic scent efferent system with elongate ostiole and ear-shaped peritreme. Male genitalia: genital capsule ( Fig. 13 ) broad, basally 1.6 times wider than medially long, genital opening with small protuberance near left paramere insertion, little protruding outwards; left paramere ( Figs 15–17 ) robust, provided with secondary lobe in form of sclerotized ligulate process opposite to sensory lobe ( Fig. 15 : sel, snl), sensory lobe well developed, devoid of teeth but bearing several short setae, apical process modestly widening preapically, apex flattened and truncate ( Fig. 15 : apl); right paramere ( Fig. 14 ) wide, relatively elongate, subcylindrical, with slightly pointed apical process ( Fig. 14 : apl); vesica ( Figs 18–20 ) with two posterior, strongly sclerotized processes ( Fig. 18 : sp), both hook-shaped apically, one very long, basal, the other shorter, originating in proximity of secondary gonopore ( Fig. 18 : sg), apical lobes covered with small spines. Female genitalia ( Figs 11–12 ): parieto-vaginal rings ( Fig. 11 : pvr) relatively large, elongate, margins thick, anterior and latero-inner margins globally convex, posterior margin concave, outer margin almost straight, acute; no sclerite present between rings, but small prolongation arising from each outer margin; dorsal sac wide, getting both lateral oviducts ( Fig. 11 : lo) and the vermiform gland ( Fig. 11 : vg). Posterior wall ( Fig. 12 ) wide, with large dorsal structure ( Fig. 12 : ds) probably subdivided in two parts, and elongate median sclerite (= sigmoid process; Fig. 12 : ms); inter-ramal sclerites (= A-structures; Fig. 12 : irs) large, contiguous ventrally; inter-ramal lobes (= E-structures; ( Fig. 12 : irl) elongate, contiguous to median sclerite dorsally; lateral lobes (= H-structures; Fig. 12 : lal) present laterally, curved.

Pubescence. Dorsal surface with golden, semirecumbent, simple setae ( Fig. 9 ).

Differential diagnosis. The following combination of characters easily separates Shibhonia gen. nov. from any other genera of Mirini : body tumid, rounded, 3.80–5.30 mm long, with contrasting bright orange and brown black colouration; pronotum (except area of callosities) and hemelytra (except embolium and cuneus) evenly punctured; dorsal surface with golden, semirecumbent, simple setae; head declivous, fairly projecting, clypeus visible dorsally; vertex carinate posteriorly; ocular index 1.20–1.35; antennae thin, almost as long as body length; first segment of labium inflated; pronotal collar narrow; hemelytra with lateral margins markedly rounded, posteriad to costal fracture declivous; tibial spines pale, short; genital capsule with small protuberance near left paramere base; left paramere with ligulate process opposite to sensory process; vesica with two strongly sclerotized processes, both hook-shaped apically; parieto-vaginal rings relatively large, elongate, margins thick, posterior wall wide, membranous with large dorsal structure and elongate median sclerite; inter-ramal sclerites large, inter-ramal lobes elongate, lateral lobes present.

Among Mirini with punctured dorsal surface, a similar colouration pattern combined with an oval body occurs in some colour forms of the Palaearctic Capsus ater (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Fig. 21 ) and Capsus wagneri (Remane, 1950) , and in the Oriental Chilocrates patulus (Walker,

1873) ( Fig. 22 ) which is a typical Himalayan element, and

Koreocoris bicoloratus Cho & Kwon, 2008 , from South Korea. However, all these four species differ in black tibial spines and completely different male genitalia, particularly in dissimilarly shaped vesical sclerites and the absence of secondary lobe on dorsal surface of left paramere ( WAGNER 1974, ZHENG et al. 2004, YASUNAGA & SCHWARTZ 2000, CHO & KWON 2008).

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the name of the area where the holotype was collected, Shibhon plateau. Gender is feminine.

Distribution. Known only from Socotra, Yemen.

Figures

Figs 1–5. Shibhonia buxanthi gen. & sp. nov. 1–3 – habitus of adults: 1 – J, holotype, Eserhe, dorsal view (NMPC); 2 – J, paratype, Wadi Ahyaft, ventral view (ACPI); 3 – ♀, paratype, Wadi Ahyaft, dorsal view (ACPI); 4–5 – 5th instar larva, Eserhe (4 – dorsal view, 5 – ventral view) (NMPC). Orig. P. Kment (1, 4–5) and A. Carapezza (2–3).

Figs 10–12. Shibhonia buxanthi gen. & sp. nov.: 10 – head in lateral view; 11–12 – female internal genitalia: 11 – genital chamber; 12 – posterior wall. Lettering: ds – dorsal structure, irl – inter-ramal lobe (= E-structure), irs – inter-ramal sclerites (= A-structures), lal – lateral lobe (= H-structure), lo – lateral oviduct, ms – median sclerite (= sigmoid process), pvr – parieto-vaginal ring, vg – vermiform gland. Scale bars: 0.5 mm. Orig.A. Carapezza.

Figs 6–9. Shibhonia buxanthi gen. & sp. nov., morphology and body vestiture. 6–7 – J, holotype: 6 – pronotum, 7 – right hemelytron. 8–9 – SEM micrographs: 8 – body in dorsal view (magnification 25×); 9 – detail of head and thorax (47×). Scale bars: 8 – 1.0 mm, 9 – 0.5 mm. Orig. A. Carapezza (6) and P. Kment (7–9).

Figs 13–20. Shibhonia buxanthi gen. & sp. nov., male genitalia: 13 – genital capsule, dorsal view; 14 – right paramere; 15–16 – left paramere in two different views; 17 – apex of left paramere; 18–20 – vesica in three different views. Lettering: apl – apical process, sel – sensory lobe, snl – secondary lobe, sg – secondary gonopore, sp – sclerotized processes. Scale bars: 13 – 0.5 mm, 14–20 – 0.3 mm. Orig.A. Carapezza.

Figs 21–22. Dorsal habitus of red and black representatives of dorsally punctate Mirini: 21 – Capsus ater (Linnaeus, 1758), ♀, Sicily, Menfi (ACPI); 22 – Chilocrates patulus (Walker, 1873), ♀, Bhutan, Probjika valley (ACPI). Scale bar: 1.0 mm. Orig. A. Carapezza.