A new species, new synonymy, and notes on Neomacrocoris (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Naucoridae)
Author
Sites, Robert W.
text
Zootaxa
2015
3964
5
553
560
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3964.5.5
4f112a05-c7d7-41f0-8b5f-257719c074f5
1175-5326
239445
B0C004B6-6A26-44DD-9597-EFDC9CF8B55A
Neomacrocoris transvaalensis
(Distant)
Macrocoris transvaalensis
Distant 1904
: Entomol. 37: 258–259.
Neomacrocoris transvaalensis
:
Sites & Mbogho 2012
, Zootaxa 3555: 29–30.
Neomacrocoris bondelaufa
Sites
2012
in
Sites & Mbogho 2012
: Zootaxa 3555: 6–9. New Synonymy
Discussion.
Distant (1904)
described
Macrocoris transvaalensis
from the Lydenburg District in northeastern
South Africa
. His description was brief to the extent that except for body size, it was consistent with nearly every species of
Neomacrocoris
although he placed it in the genus
Macrocoris
. The original description did not mention the number of specimens, sex, or repository; however, a single female specimen with a
holotype
label was found in the BMNH and because it was not indicated in the original description, it was designated as the
lectotype
and the species transferred to
Neomacrocoris
by
Sites & Mbogho (2012)
. Reliable identifications of species in this genus require male genitalia and associated abdominal terga; except for a few species, females must be associated with identifiable males (
Sites & Mbogho 2012
). Because
N. transvaalensis
was known only by females, the possibility remained that it could be conspecific with a described congener and that male specimens were needed to resolve its identity. Recent collections by Hannes Marais has made available one female and three male specimens from the Sterkspruit (river) in Lydenburg District,
South Africa
. The female is consistent with the
lectotype
of
N. transvaalensis
in that it bears a small lateral production on the subgenital plate, the only diagnostic character noted for
N. transvaalensis
. However, the males from the Sterkspruit are consistent with those of
N. bondelaufa
Sites
, including in the diagnostic structure of the phallosoma and pseudostrigil of the 7th tergum. Although the subgenital plate of female specimens from
Tanzania
do not bear the lateral productions of the South African specimens, this feature is subtle and differentially expressed in the known South African specimens.
As
such, I consider the lack of these productions in the Tanzanian specimens to represent intraspecific variation among populations. Thus, I here synonymize
N. bondelaufa
with
N. transvaalensis
. Further, the detailed description of
N. bondelaufa
in
Sites & Mbogho (2012)
serves as a redescription of
N. transvaalensis
(Distant)
.
Material examined.
SOUTH AFRICA
: Lydenburg District, Sterkspruit,
1.2 km
SE of Lydenburg,
25.11409º S
,
30.46908º E
,
1412 m
elev,
19 August 2014
, H. Marais (UMC,
2♂
); Lydenburg District, Sterkspruit,
8 km
SE of Lydenburg,
25.14404º S
,
30.53465º E
,
1565 m
elev,
21 August 2014
, H. Marais (UMC,
1♂
, 1♀).
Published records.
[
SOUTH AFRICA
]: Transvaal, Lydenburg Dist. /
Transvaalensis
Dist.
Type
/
8I
/
Type
H. T. /
Neomacrocoris transvaalensis (Distant)
Lectotype
(
BMNH
, ♀).
SOUTH AFRICA
:
Natal
. Mtubatuba,
III- 24
&25-1968, Paul J. Spangler (
USNM
, 2 ♀). See
N. bondelaufa
records from
Congo
and
Tanzania
in
Sites & Mbogho (2012)
.