Blaena hirta, LIS & HEYNA, 2001

Blaena hirta sp. n.

( Figs 28-32 View Fig View Fig View Figs 30–32 )

Description

Body. Length 3.55–4.20 (females only - Figs 28–29 View Fig View Fig ).

Head ( Fig. 30 View Figs 30–32 ). Black, paraclypei coarsely punctured and bearing short, semi-erect golden brown woolly hairs; lateral margins narrowed anteriorly; paraclypei longer than clypeus and joined anteriorly; the latter convex, finely pilose; each paraclypeus with 5 long hair-like setae, among them 3 submarginal ones; bucculae finely pilose; ocular index 3.00—3.73 (females only); ocelli small, distance between ocelli about 2.2—2.8 times greater than the distance between an ocellus and the eye, ocellar index 6.5—12.0; rostrum extending beyond anterior coxae, almost reaching middle coxae; length of antennal segments: I 0.15—0.22, II 0.11—0.13, III 0.40—0.41, IV 0.36—0.63, V 0.43—0.66.

Prothorax. Pronotum ( Figs 28 View Fig , 29 View Fig , 31 View Figs 30–32 ) about 1.7—1.9 times broader than long, black, coarsely punctured; dorsal surface of disc with short woolly hairs; anterior margin broadly concave, posterior margin almost straight, only slightly concave in the middle; lateral margins conspicuously serrated, each submargin with a row of 8—10 long hair-like setae; transverse discal postmedial impression shallow. Prosternum black, punctured; prosternal carinae well developed, short golden-brown woolly hairs. Propleuron black, shiny, coarsely punctured, its anterior margin with woolly hairs, lateral parts shallowly punctured, bearing numerous hairs.

Mesothorax. Scutellum ( Fig. 28 View Fig , 29 View Fig ) black, slightly broader than long, punctation of disc same as that of pronotum, median discal carina more or less visible; scutellar disc bearing woolly hairs over its entire surface. Anterior part of mesopleuron coarsely punctured, evaporative area rounded, elongated, reaching lateral margin of mesopleuron. Corium black, blackish brown or dark brown, punctures somewhat larger than those of scutellum and pronotum, and with numerous woolly hairs; costal margin without setigerous punctures bearing long hair-like setae, its surface only with numerous woolly hairs; membrane brown, semihyaline, with pale patches basally, reaching the tip of abdomen (macropterous form - Fig. 28 View Fig ), or shortened, almost reaching the intersegmental suture 4/5 or 5/6 of abdomen (brachypterous form - Fig. 29 View Fig ); veins dark brown, straight, not reticulate.

Metathorax. Metapleural evaporatorium large, almost reaching lateral margins of metapleuron.

Legs. Not specifically modified; femora dark brown with pale hairs; tibiae straight, armed with a few black spines.

Abdomen. Sterna convex, black, coarsely punctured; surface of sterna with numerous short semi-erect hairs, lateral margins of each segment without or with a single setigerous puncture bearing a long hair-like seta, and with a very small posteriorly projecting spine. Female genital plates narrow ( Fig. 32 View Figs 30–32 ), bearing numerous golden brown short hairs.

Material examined. Holotype (macropterous female) and 4 paratypes (2 macropterous and 2 brachypterous females): QUEENSLAND: 1 female (holotype), Queensland, Mt. Coot-tha , Brisbane, 1.viii.1966, R.A. Crowson ( UQIC) ; 1 female, Queensland, Mt. Coot-tha , Brisbane, 1.viii.1966, R.A. Crowson ( UQIC) ; 2 females, Queensland, Mt. Coot-tha , Brisbane, R.A. Crowson, ex litter ( UQIC, DBUO) ; 1 female, Queensland, Forest Station, 2000' Bulburin State Forest , via Many Peaks, 2-5.IV.1972, G.B. Monteith ( UQIC) .

Etymology. The species name refers to its dense body pilosity.

Comparative notes

This new species is characterized by the following characters: clypeus convex; each paraclypeus with 5 long hair-like setae, among them 3 submarginal ones; second antennal segment minute, shorter than both the 1st and the 3rd; prosternal carinae well developed, bearing golden-brown woolly hairs; lateral margins of pronotum serrated, each submarginally with a row of 8—10 long hair-like setae; costal margin without setigerous punctures bearing long hair-like setae.

Brachypterous females are similar to B. tamasi , the only other species with distinctly shortened wings, but the latter has staphylinoid like wings (hemelytra reaching to intersegmental suture 3/4 of abdomen). Moreover, both species can easily be separated on the basis of the number of submarginal setigerous punctures on head and pronotal margins (3 and 8—10 respectively in B. hirta , 1 and 5—6 respectively in B. tamasi ).

Macropterous females are similar to those of B. serrata , but differs in having minute second antennal segments, as well as a dense pilosity on head, pronotum, scutellum and abdomen.

Distribution. Queensland.