Hysterosphaerius sexpunctatus Melichar, 1906

Gnezdilov, V. M., 2025, To the knowledge of the genus Hysterosphaerius Melichar, 1906 (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Issidae), Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 329 (1), pp. 59-63 : 60-62

Hysterosphaerius sexpunctatus Melichar, 1906

Hysterosphaerius sexpunctatus Melichar, 1906: 98 , Fig. 16.

( Figs 1–10 )

Material examined. Singapore: 1 male, Nee Soon, swamp forest, Malaise trap 4, Station 25391, 14 October 2005, P. Grootaert leg. ( RBINS) ; 1 male, Nee Soon, swamp forest, Malaise trap 1, Station 25281, 5 August 2005, P. Grootaert leg. ( ZIN) ; 1 male, Nee Soon, Malaise trap 3, 24 May 2006, K.L. Yeo leg. ( RBINS) .

Emended description. Structure. Metope visible from above, elongate, enlarged below eyes, wrinkly, without carinae, but with two lateral rows of traces of larval sensory pits (pustules); lateral margins hanging above antenna; upper margin weakly concave ( Figs 1, 2 ). Metopoclypeal suture weakly concave. Postclypeus not convex, but curved almost at right angle in lateral view, with strong median carina. Rostrum short, barely reaching hind coxae; 3rd segment shorter than 2nd one, slightly narrowing apically. Coryphe transverse, twice as wide as long medially, concave; anterior margin convex; posterior margin nearly straight. Coryphe and metope joint at obtuse angle in lateral view. Eyes large, diameter of each eye is nearly as width of upper part of metope between eyes or even more. Pronotum small, deeply concave, with keel-shaped anterior margin; paradiscal fields very narrow – filiform behind eyes; paranotal lobes rather narrow, smooth. Mesonotum three times as long as pronotum, without carinae. Tegulae large, elongate. Pedicel mushroom-shaped – enlarged apically. Fore wings slightly concave or flat on clavus, with large semicircular projections of the costal margins basally under eyes in lateral view, with relief reticulate venation; cells densely covered with punctures. Fore wings not narrowing apically – nearly truncate from apex of clavus, without hypocostal plate, claval suture indistinct. Hind wings large, nearly as long as fore wings, with deeply concave costal margin and reduced anal lobe, coupling lobe indistinct ( Fig. 4 ). Hind wing branching vein sequence: R 1; M 1; CuA 1; CuP 1; Pcu 1; with many transverse veins in its apical 2/3. Legs not flattened neither foliated. Hind tibia with two lateral spines distally and with five apical spines. First and second metatarsomeres are nearly equal in length, but first one is wider, ventral surface of both tarsomeres with dense long setae. First metatarsomere with two latero-apical and five intermediate spines. Second metatarsomere with only two latero-apical spines in whole straight row. Each claw with three long setae. Hind margin of arolium of pretarsus convex, protruding beyond claw apices in dorsal view.

Coloration ( Figs 1–3 ). Generally yellowish light brown. Pronotum light yellow. Fore wing veins dark brown behind apex of clavus. Each forewing with three black spots across corium and clavus – one small and two larger ones. Hind wings light yellow. Hind femora dark brown proximally. Spines of hind legs dark brown, with black apices. Claws brown to dark brown. Abdominal tergites and hind margins of styles brown, except light yellow tergites VII and VIII and pygofer. Abdominal sternites III, IV, and VIII light yellow, sternite V light yellow, with dark brown to black hind margin, sternites VI and VII mainly dark brown to black.

Male terminalia ( Figs 3 , 5–10 ). Pygofer wide, with strongly convex hind margins ( Fig. 5 ). Anal tube long and wide, enlarged and deeply concave apically in dorsal view ( Figs 3 , 6 ). Anal column short, ¼ of anal tube, narrow. Penis symmetrical, wide, horseshoe-shaped in lateral view, with weakly sclerotized dorso-apical part, which apparently may swell. Each dorso-lateral lobe of phallobase with triangular-shaped basally, but strongly narrowing apically and curved at right angle apical process ( Fig. 7 , apph). Ventral phallobase lobe wide, as long as dorso-lateral lobes, almost not narrowing to truncate apex ( Fig. 8 , vl). Phallobase fused with anal tube and pygofer by suspensorium ( Figs 5, 7 , susp). Aedeagus not visible above the phallobase, with pair of narrowing apically apical processes bearing denticles distally, without ventral hooks ( Fig. 7 , apd). Style with rounded plate ( Fig. 9 ). Capitulum of style on long neck, with large lateral tooth and smooth apical tooth. Capitulum wide, widely rounded apically in dorsal view ( Fig. 10 ).

Total length. Males – 3.5–3.8 mm.

Figures

Figs 1–4.Hysterosphaerius sexpunctatus Melichar, 1906, male. 1 – dorsal view; 2 – frontal view; 3 – genital block, caudal view; 4 – right hind wing. Scale bar – 1 mm.

Figs 5–10. Hysterosphaerius sexpunctatus Melichar, 1906, male genitalia. 5 – pygofer and anal tube, lateral view; 6 – anal tube, dorsal view; 7 – penis and connective, lateral view; 8 – penis, ventral view; 9 – style, lateral view; 10 – style, dorsal view. Abbreviations: apd – apical process of aedeagus; apph – apical process of phallobase; susp – suspensorium; vl – ventral phallobase lobe. Not to scale.