Embiophila sinica, Xiong & Chen & Li & Cai, 2025

Xiong, Haoyang, Chen, Zhuo, Li, Hu & Cai, Wanzhi, 2025, First record of silk-loving genus Embiophila (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Plokiophilidae) from Asia, with description of a new species from China, ZooKeys 1248, pp. 295-307 : 295-307

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1248.155672
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8CDEA898-6162-4BE7-B9D1-97BE65A3678A
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16780606
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AE716788-662A-5523-B302-9AB582CB91E2
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Embiophila sinica
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Embiophila sinica sp. nov.

Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 , 3 View Figure 3 , 4 Chinese common name: 中华喜丝蝽 View Figure 4

Type material.

Holotype: • ♂, China, Yunnan, Pu’er, Simao, Taiyanghe National Forest Park , 22.6179°N, 101.0902°E, ca. 1580 m, 12. ix. 2024, leg. Haoyang Xiong, Zhuo Chen & Ruiyang Xian ( CAU, accession number: CAUYN-PLO 2 ) GoogleMaps . Paratypes: • 2 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀ and 5 nymphs, same data as for holotype ( CAU, accession number: CAUYN-PLO 2 ) GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis.

This species is recognized within the genus by the following combination of characters: body length 1.9–2.2 mm, generally dark reddish brown; fore femora armed ventrally with 10 spines arranged in two rows (each with five) (Fig. 3 C View Figure 3 ); mid femora armed ventrally with 13 spines arranged in two rows, outer with 11 and inner with two (Fig. 3 D View Figure 3 ); exocorium with ca. 60 corial glands (Fig. 3 A View Figure 3 ).

Description.

Macropterous male and female (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). Colouration. Generally dark reddish brown. Tylus fulvous; eyes blackish brown; ocelli red. Antennal segment I dark yellowish brown; segments II – IV light brown. Labium yellowish brown. Scutellum and mesosternum reddish brown, slightly paler medially. Legs: coxae reddish brown; trochanters reddish brown, paler; femora dark yellowish brown, with spines on fore and mid femora black; tibiae light yellowish brown; tarsi light yellowish brown, with basal and apical parts paler. Hemelytra light brown to dark brown; corium and clavus light brown, with cuneus slightly darker; membrane light greyish brown. Anterior margin of hind wings with dark brown shading; nervures dark brown (Fig. 2 B View Figure 2 ).

Vestiture.

Body covered with golden hairs; upper surface, except shining head and anterior lobe of pronotum, matte; undersurface shining. Head covered with relatively sparse, uniformly long suberect setae; one pair of long setae arise behind each eye; antennae covered with long, suberect, pale hairs. Pronotum densely covered with adpressed to semi-erect short setae, with a single long seta at each anterolateral angle; mesoscutum and scutellum with dense, decumbent to suberect, short setae. Legs covered with long setae, relatively sparse on femora and dense on tibiae and tarsi; apex of front tibia with a tuft of hairs representing an incipient grasping organ and with a comb for cleaning the antennae (Fig. 3 E View Figure 3 ). Corium and clavus with suberect setae, anterior and posterior margins of corium with long setae. Ventral side of the abdomen sparsely covered with setae.

Structure.

Head distinctly narrowed towards apex in dorsal view, slightly longer than its width; tylus broad, widening towards truncated apex, moderately prominent. Ocelli large, nearer to eyes than to each other. Antennae slender; segment I thicker and shorter than others; ratio of lengths of antennal segments I: II: III: IV = 1: 1.94: 1.54: 1.89 (male) or 1: 1.97: 1.66: 1.91 (female) (see Table 1 View Table 1 ). Labium slender, extending beyond fore coxae, with three visible segments; ratio of lengths of segments II: III: IV = 1: 1.79: 4.

Pronotum trapezoidal, with distinct collar, maximum width slightly less than twice maximum length; posterior lobe with lateral margins straight, posterior margin strongly excavated. Mesoscutum broadly exposed; scutellum wider than long at base. Legs relatively stout. Femora moderately thickened; fore and mid femora armed with small spines ventrally (Fig. 2 C, D View Figure 2 ); hind femur with one row of bristles (Fig. 2 E View Figure 2 ); fore femur armed ventrally with two rows of spines in apical third (Fig. 3 C View Figure 3 ), each row with five spines; outside row with first spine long, second longer, apical three short and equal in length; inside row with first spine located between two larger spines at the base of outer row, second spine opposite to the second on outside row, remaining three short and small. Mid-femur armed ventrally with 11 spines in apical 4 / 5 (Fig. 3 D View Figure 3 ), basal three spines extremely short, fourth to eighth stout, sixth to eighth slightly curved towards distal, and apical three short and adjacent, spines irregular at both base and apex; inside row with two spines short extremely, located between fifth and sixth on outside row. Tibiae straight; fore and mid tibiae widened towards apices; hind tibiae finely narrowed towards apex. Tarsi two-segmented (Fig. 3 F View Figure 3 ); basal segment very short; apical segment long and slender, narrowed towards apex. Claws small, simple in shape.

Hemelytra broad, far exceeding apex of abdomen, with anterior margin expanding; costal fracture deep, located near apical three-fourths of corium (Fig. 2 A View Figure 2 ); exocorium with about 60 corial glands (Fig. 3 A, B View Figure 3 ); membrane broad, with chitinous thickening at base (not connected to cuneus), bearing single bristle basally. Venation of hind wings as shown in Fig. 2 B View Figure 2 ; hind wings with a basal cell from which two nervures project: R + M not branched; free distal branch of nervure Cu, and Pcu free.

Abdomen oval, longer than its maximum width. Mediotergites membranous. Sterna fully sclerotized.

Male genitalia (Fig. 2 F – H View Figure 2 ): pygophore tubular, slightly curved, with basal part moderately rounded and bulging ventrally. Paramere symmetrical, long strip-shaped, slightly curved laterally, more nearly parallel-sided, about 10 times longer than its wide, apex with distinct constriction, distal tip curved laterally. Adeagus chitinized, acus elongate and slender, arcuate, gradually tapering to a fine point at apex with apex curved over. Anal segment semicircular.

Female genitalia (Fig. 2 I View Figure 2 ): female without ovipositor. First abdominal tergite with one pair of laterally opening copulatory tubes, unpigmented.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is a Latin adjective and refers to China, the country of the type locality of the new species.

Distribution.

China (Yunnan: Pu’er) (Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ).

Remarks.

According to Carayon (1974), this new species can be assigned to the subgenus Acladina (see Discussion for details).