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Genus Nympiiocoris gen. nov.
Small Aenitopechae, the known species flightless, with vestigial fore wings; body and appendages shining, with a covering of fine pale hairs, those of legs and apex of abdomen particularly long. Head scarcely half as broad across eyes as long, with a distinct transverse dorsal impression behind eyes; postocular lobe transverse, not subglobular, with dorsal surface nearly flat and sides nearly straight, somewhat widened posteriorly. Eyes very small, in type species each with only one apparent ommatidium. Ocelli absent. Antennae subequal in length to head and pronotum together; first segment shortest, the other segments subequal in length. Rostrum with third and fourth segments elongate, third subcylindrical, not at all incrassate, more than three times as long as second, fourth much longer than second Pronotum hexagonal, unarmed, bilobed; anterior constriction obscure, obsolescent in middle, sides not incised at its level; no posterior constriction, anterior and posterior margins nearly straight; the short and imperfect anterior lobe with sides straight, widening behind; posterior lobe widest near middle, with disc nearly flat from front to rear, gradually declivous towards sides, lateral margins convex. Scutellum short, transversely subtriangular, without a posterior lobe or carina. Wings vestigial; front wings reduced to very short, obliquely transverse scales, without trace of venation. Legs: Fore legs fairly strongly incrassate; front coxal cavities open behind; front tibiae gradually increasing in depth towards apex, which bears a pecten along inner margin and a ventral group of four strong spines; ventral surface of tibiae with two strong spines within apical half towaids posterior (outer) margin; front tarsi one-segmented, with two claws, the anterior (inner) longer than the posterior (outer); ventral surface of tarsi with two pairs of spines, the more basal at about half-way and much longer than the more apical pair. Middle and hind legs short, somewhat incrassate; middle and hind tibiae without pectines, each with a row of about five apical ventral spines and two pairs of long preapical ventral spines; middle and hind tarsi two-segmented, the basal segment extremely small and inconspicuous; apical segment with two claws, the mner somewhat the longer. Seen from beneath, fore coxae elongate subglobular; middle and hind coxae elongate, especially the hind, not subglobular, middle coxae close to hind coxae. Genitalia: Female with a well developed ovipositor of generalised Hemip terous type, consisting of a pair of ventral valvulae from the eighth abdominal segment and a dorsal valve, from the ninth segment, representing the fused pair of dorsal valvulae; ninth tergum well developed, forming a pygidial plate before and at sides of the base of the anal tube; ninth sternum apparently represented by a pair of small, triangular, postero-lateral plates between the tergum and the base of the upper valvulae. Pygophor of male with the ventral hypophysis apparently represented by a pair of small lobes, claspers (harpagones) large, laterally compressed, resembling those of Aenictopechys and differing from the lateral lobes
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of the pseudosternite of the Enicocephalinae in being mobile, not fused posteriorly with a median lobe, and in bearing hairs.
Type Species. Nymphocoris maoricus sp. nov.
Discussion of Affinities. Nymphocoris bears a superficial resemblance to Phthirocoris Enderlein due to the reduction of eyes and wings and the loss of ocelli, but the two genera are taxonomically very distant and must be placed in different subfamilies. The resemblances are evidently those of convergence and an independently acquired neoteny in accordance with a similar forest-floor existence. Phthirocoris seems to be derivable from a Systelloderes-like winger ancestor (p. 410).
Nymphocoris does not appear very closely related to any other known genus, but the males resemble those of Aenictopechys and other Aenictopechinae in having a pair of hairy, mobile claspers (absent in all Enicocephalinae and in the recently described subfamily Alienatinae Barber (1953)), while in both sexes the two genera agree in that the posterior pronotal constriction is lacking and the anterior pronotal constriction obsolete. The question of the taxonomic value to be assigned to these and other structural features is further discussed on pp. 395–6; there seems no doubt that the possession of true harpagones, as shown in Aenictopechys by Jeannel (1942), in Gamostolus by Wygodzinsky (1949), and in Maoristolus by the writer (p. 395), warrants the separation of Usinger's relatively archaic subfamily Aenictopechinae, and it is to this subfamily that Nymphocoris must be assigned. The new genus differs from Aenictopechys in the reduced, bilobed condition of the ventral apophysis of the male pygophor. Wygodzinsky (1949) found the ventral apophysis to be entirely lacking in Gamostolus; this is true also of the related Maoristolus. The peculiar elongate sucker-like form of the ventral apophysis in Aenictopechys (Jeannel, 1942; p. 300, Fig. 23e, f) must be regarded as of generic (or at the most tribal) significance, and not a subfamily character. The female of Nymphocoris maoricus also shows a primitive feature in the possession of a large valved ovipositor, present also in Gamostolus (Wygodzinsky, 1949), but lacking in members of the Enicocephalinae; the female genitalia of Aenictopechys have not yet been described.
In other respects Nymphocoris is readily separable from any of the other genera known to belong to the Aenictopechinae, most obviously by the veinless, vestigial wings, the greatly reduced eyes, the absence of ocelli, the hexagonal pronotum and the relatively longer and more slender rostrum, especially the last two segments. There are also considerable differences in the armature of the apex of the fore tibiae; from Aenictopechys in the absence of an elongate ventral process, from Gamostolus in the spines being all long and slender instead of some peg-like and others hemispherical, and from Maoristolus in the smaller number of spines. From the last two genera Nymphocoris also differs in having no trace of the posterior pronotal constriction.
Because of the superficial similarity between Nymphocoris and Phthirocoris, the main features, in addition to the genitalia, by which the former differs from the latter are listed: the much more elongate third and fourth rostral segments, the third not incrassate, the more reduced eyes, the flatter, more transverse postocular lobe of head, with the “neck” much less distinctly constricted, the more obscure anterior pronotal constriction, the absence of a posterior pronotal constriction and lobe, the fewer apical spines of the fore tibiae, the presence of strong preapical ventral spines, the larger number of apical spines and the absence of pectines on middle and hind tibiae, the much shorter metanotum, and the longer, less globose, more closely apposed coxae. As the genera are at present constituted, Nymphocoris differs also in its short, coriaceous, transversely ovoid fore-wing rudiments.
Nymphocoris maoricus sp. nov. Figs. 1–10.
Surface impunctate, shining, minutely granular.
Head. Posterior lobe with basal “neck” region only obscurely delimited and constricted, as wide as, or slightly wider than base of posterior lobe Head (excluding “neck”) about ⅕
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Figs. 1–10—Nymphocoris maoricus gen. & sp. nov. Fig. 1.—♂, dorsal. Fig. 2.—Thorax, lateral. Fig. 3.—Head of ♂, lateral. Fig. 4.—Ovopositor of ♀, lateral; dorsal valve and right ventral valvula. Fig 5.—Terminalia of ♀, lateral. Fig. 6.—Terminalia of ♀, dorsal. Fig. 7—Front tibia and tarsus, postero-ventral aspect. Fig. 8.—Fore leg, anterior (inner) aspect Fig. 9.—Terminalia of ♂, lateral. Fig. 10—Terminalia of ♂, ventral. a, anal tube; C1, C2, C3, 1st, 2nd, 3rd coxae; cl.l, cl.r, left, right claspers; cly, clypeus; e1, e2, e3, pro-, meso-, meta-epimera; ∫, paired lobes probably representing vestigial apophysis; ∫a, labrum; m, mesoscutum; mem, distended membrane between ventral valvulae; mem. d, posterior membrane of segment IX; pron, pronotum, prost, prosternum; py, pygophor; st, extruded stylets, v, upper valve (= fused dorsal valvulae); v.v, ventral valvulae; w, vestigial fore wing; I-IX, lst-9th abodminal trga; 3–8, 3rd–8th abodmainal sterna.
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as long again as pronotum (34:28 in ♀, 32:27 in ♂), including “neck” about ⅓ longer than pronotum (38:28 in ♀, 35:27 in ♂); anterior lobe over 3 times as long as posterior lobe excluding “neck” (26:8 in ♀ 25:7 in ♂) and over twice as long including “neck” (26:12 in ♀, 25:10 in ♂); anterior lobe across eyes slightly narrower than posterior lobe at base (16:18 in ♀, 15:17 in ♂). (Note that length of “neck” extruded is probably somewhat variable.) Eyes very small, flattened, each with only one apparent ommatidium. Ocelli absent. Antennae somewhat shorter than head and pronotum together in ♀ (60°:66), somewhat longer in ♂ (66.62), with a covering of pale, erect and suberect hairs longer than width of the segments; length of segments I-IV, 11:17:15:17 (♀), 11:17:17:17 (♂); first stout, narrowed at base; second and third subcylindrical, second gradually and slightly thickened towards apex, third narrowed at base and apex; fourth fusiform, bluntly rounded at apex, nearly as wide in middle as first segment. Rostrum with first two segments short, third and fourth elongate; third subcylindrical, gradually narrowed towards apex, not at all incrassated; fourth elongate conical, very slightly deflected towards apex; first three segments with fine pale hairs, fourth bare; length of segments I-IV, 9:7:24:16 (♀), 7:5:21:15 (♂).
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Pronotum wider across middle of posterior lobe than long (33: 28 in ♀, 31:27 in ♂); anterior lobe ⅖ as long as posterior lobe (8:20 in ♀, 7:20 in ♂), ⅔ as wide at base as posterior lobe in middle (22:33 in ♀, 21:31 in ♂) and about 5/6 as wide as posterior lobe at base (22:27 in ♀, 21:25 in ♂); posterior lobe with a shallowly incised median longitudinal ecdysial line, with no median sulcus and no sub-lateral foveae or tuberosities. Metathorax very short, metanotum covered by fore-wing pads. Fore wings reduced to coriaceous scale-like vestiges barely overlapping base of abdomen, their short inner margins meeting behind scutellum; each obliquely transverse ovoid, with pale hairs and without veins.
Legs. Relative length of coxa, femur, tibia, tarsus; 17:35:25:8 (fore leg). 24:35:31:11 (hind leg). Front femur, length: depth in middle :: 35:13. Front tibia, length:depth at apex :: 25:9. Hind femur, length: depth in middle :: 35:12 Hind tibiae with dorsal margin straight, ventral margin convex; depth, base:middle:apex ::: 3:7:5. Legs with spines as described for genus; in addition, a spine near anterior (inner) apical margin of front tibiae just above the pecten; of the four apical spines of front tibiae, the two more anterior (inner) ones shorter than the other two; middle tibiae with a pair of preapical dorsal spines and hind tibiae with a single preapical dorsal spine; of the two pairs of ventral spines on the front tarsi, the more basal pair long and slender, the more apical pair several times shorter, neither modified in form as a special sense-organ; of the five apical spines on middle and hind tibiae, the middle three much longer than the outer two; legs with long, pale, erect and suberect hairs, many, particularly on ventral surface of middle and hind legs, strong and subspinous Inner claw of front tarsus rather longer than tarsus (10:8), outer claw equal in length to tarsus. Posterior (inner) claw of hind tarsus rather shorter than tarsus (9–11), outer claw scarcely shorter than inner.
Genitalia. Female with ventral valvulae laterally flattened, strongly bifid at apex, with two apical processes separated by a V-shaped incision, the upper process longer and upwardly curved and more narrowly and sharply acuminate as seen from the side; dorsal valvulae fused to form a single elongate valve arched from side to side to form roof of ovipositor, with apex simple, subangulate, somewhat downcurved; posterior border of ninth abdominal tergum con-cavely emarginate; anal tube prominent; posterior surface of ninth abdominal segment, between anal tube and upper valve, membranous. (Note: In allotype ♀ the left ventral valvula is twisted, So that its upper apical process points down.) Male with ninth abdominal segment with posterior dorsal margin, as in female, concavely emarginate before the base of the large anal tube, but complete and undivided ventrally, forming a broad pygophor relatively narrowly open behind. Claspers large, broad, simple, with apices rounded. Ventral apophysis apparently represented in a reduced form by a pair of short, subtriangular processes.
Colour. Stramineous yellow-brown, legs, especially middle and hind, antennae and rostrum paler stramineous.
Length (excluding rostrum), 2.9 mm (♀), 2.3 mm (♂). Width (across eyes) 0.21 mm (♀), 0.20 (♂); (across middle of posterior pronotal lobe) 0.44 mm (♀), 0.41 mm (♂).
Specimens Examined. Holotype ♂, Arthur's Pass, S. Alps (NW. Cant.), ex leaf mould, 10.1.1949, E. Dawson (C.M.) Allotype ♀, Notornis Valley, Southland, ex leaf mould, 18.12.1951, R. S. Duff (C.M.).