The first species of Systelloderes (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Enicocephalidae) from New Caledonia
Štys Pavel, Baňař Petr
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 47: 3-15, 2007
Views: 1157
Abstract: The first species of the genus Systelloderes Blanchard 1852, from New Caledonia,
S. loebli sp. nov., is described. The generic classification is tentative, and
only the diagnostic autapomorphies are stressed, since the rich Oriental,
Papuan, and Australian faunas of Systelloderes have not been studied and most
species remain undescribed. The fore leg of the female of S. loebli sp. nov. is
characterized by the presence of a long, erect ventral scale on the fore coxa
(unique among the Enicocephalomorpha), and the occurrence of neopatella (new
term, = sclerites within the femoro-tibial intersegmental membrane at the site
of the lost patellar limb segment). A rasp-shaped sculpture on the fore coxa is
interpreted as a stridulitrum rubbing against the edges of the prosternum, which
acts as a plectrum.
Key words: Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Enicocephalidae, taxonomy, Systelloderes loebli, New Caledonia, morphology, neopatella, limb segmentation, stridulation