w "'%•» ' ■ •■ Dr. Edward L. Kessel, Editor OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE California Academy of Sciences No. 106^ 9 pages ^ 12 figures OCHTERIDAE FROM WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA (Hcmiptera: Hctcroptcra) Nicholas A. Kormil^v / / /r-, , , WW 9 1973 V'^ccfc Hc^u u l«3S3. /() SAN FRANCISCO PUBLISHED BY THE ACADEMY Edward L. Kessel, Editor OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE California Academy of Sciences No. 106, 9 pages, 12 figures. OCHTERIDAE FROM WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA (Hcmiptcra: Hctcroptera) By Nicholas A. Kormilev Research Associate, Entomology, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, California ABSTRACT. This paper treats Ochteridae from western and southern Africa. Two new species of the genus Ochtevus Latreille, 1807, are described: Ochtevus piliferus Kormilev, new species, from Angola, and 0. minor Kormilev, new species, from Angola, Congo, and Nigeria. Members of the Ochteridae, a small family of semi- aquatic, predatory Hemiptera, live on the shores of streams, ponds, and lakes, and are not tied to any one microclimatic area. As a consequence, some of their species have enormous areas of distribution; for example, Ochtevus marginatus (Latreille, 1804), is distributed across three zoogeographical regions: Palaearctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian. Generally very similar to each other, the species show rather great variation in size and color, so that it is necessary to dissect the insect to see the shape of the right paramere, a very good character for the sepa- ration of species. Another character which, it seems, helps to separate, if not species, then at least groups of species, is the pattern of striation on the frontal plate. This trait is' fairly constant in some species. In Africa south of the Sahara only one genus, Oohterus CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Occ. Papers Latreille, 1807, and three species have been recorded so far: Oohterus marginatus (Latreille, 1804), 0. caffer (Stal, 1855) and 0. afrioanus Jaczewski , 1938. The first species, Oohterus marginatus (Latreille), besides being recorded from Spain and Morocco to Japan, was recorded south of the Sahara from Ethiopia to Nigeria and Angola. The second species, 0. caffer (Stal), first described from South Africa, later was recorded also from Kenya, Tanganyika, Nigeria, and even from Sierra Leone (Jaczewski, 1934, p. 607, and 1938, p. 187). The third species, 0. afrioanus Jaczewski, was described on the basis of a single specimen, a female, from former French Congo (Jaczewski, 1938, p. 186), and since then has not been mentioned again. Males of the Ochteridae have asymmetrical abdominal segments and asymmetrical parameres, the right paramere being much larger and more differentiated than the left one. By the shape of the right paramere, the ochterids may be separated into two large groups: to the first belong all Old World species of the genus Oohterus , which have the right paramere with two subapical appendices; to the second group belong all American species of the genus Oohterus as well as the species of the Australian genus Megoohterus Jaczewski, 19 34, all of which have the right paramere with- out appendices. A comparative study of the American and Old World species of the genus Oohterus is necessary before we can decide whether or not the American species should be separated as a different subgenus. The African species of the genus Oohterus Latreille have two different types of right parameres. The species Oohterus marginatus (Latreille) and a new species, which I am naming Oohterus minor, have the stem of the right paramere cylindrical, and the species Oohterus oaffer (St^l) and a new species, which I am naming Oohterus piliferus , have the stem of the right paramere expanded laterally into lamellated, transparent plates, flanking the darker core from both sides. The frontal plates of African species are also of two different types: to the first type, which we may name 'marginatus,' belong species which have the striation of the frontal plate much sharper, particularly on the upper half of the plate. To this type belong the species Oohterus marginatus (Latreille) and Oohterus piliferus Kormilev, new species. To the second type, which we may name 'oaffer , ' belong species with much finer striation, particularly on the upper half of the frontal plate. To this type belong the species Oohterus oaffer (Stal) and Oohterus minor Kormilev, new species. Oohterus piliferus has a body covered with more or less erect stiff bristles, and the venter covered with dense, inclined, and long hairs, the first case of this character in the family Ochteridae to be noted. It is interesting to mention that Oohterus piliferus has the right paramere of the type 'caffer' and the frontal No. 106] KORMILEV: AFRICAN OCHTERIDAE plate of the type ' marginatus . ' Ochterus minor has them reversed, the paramere of the type ' marginatus ' and frontal plate of the type ^caffev. ' Measurements were taken with a micromillimeter eye- piece, 25 units equal 1 mm. In ratios the first figure indicates the length and the second the width of measured portion. Length of head was taken perpendicular to the frontal plate, and the measurements of the abdomen on the ventral side, as the hemelytra cover the abdomen completely. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Paul H. Arnaud, Jr., Curator and Chairman, Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, for the privilege of studying this relatively small, but very interesting lot of Ochteridae housed in the collections under his care. GENUS OCHTERUS Latreille Ochterus Latreille, 1807, Gen. Crust. Ins., vol. 3, p. 142. Pelogonus Latreille, 1809, Gen. Crust. Ins., vol. 4, p. 384 (The name change was unnecessary. Latreille thought that Ochterus was preoccupied by Ochthera Latreille, 1804, in Diptera. ) Type-species. Acanthia marginata Latreille, 1804. Ochterus marginatus (Latreille, 1804). Acanthia marginata Latreille, 1804, Hist. Nat. Crust. Ins., Paris, vol. 12, p. 242. Ochterus marginatus Latreille, 1807, Gen. Crust. Ins., Paris, vol. 3, p. 143. Pelogonus marginatus Latreille, 1809, Gen. Crust. Ins., Paris, vol. 4, p. 384. Pelogonus indicus Guerin, 1843, Rev. Zool., Paris, vol. 6, p. 113. Pelogonus armeniacus Kolenati , 1857, Bull. Soc. Nat., Moscou, vol. 29, p. 455 (1856). Pelogonus flavomarginatus Scott, 1874, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. 14, p. 446. Pelogonus formosanus Matsumura, 1915, Ent. Mag. (Japanese), vol. 1, p. 103. Ochterus marginatus Kiritshenko, 1918, Mem. Mus . Cauc, Tiflis, ser. A, vol. 6, p. 172. Ochterus marginatus (Latreille, 1804), has a rather sharp striation on the frontal plate (fig. 1) , and a right paramere with cylindrical stem (figs. 2 and 3). The parameres examined are slightly different from the parameres CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Occ. Papers described by Jaczewski (1934, p. 603) for specimens col- lected in Spain, Ethiopia, Ceylon, Vietnam, and Japan, or by me (1971, p. 434) for Philippine specimens, but the type is the same, the frontal plates being similar to those of specimens from the Palaearctic or Oriental regions, and the general aspect of the body is the same. Differences in size are rather pronounced, males rang- ing from 4.08 to 5.68 mm., and females from 4.12 to 5.40 mm. MATERIAL EXAMINED. CONGO, 3 66 & 1 9, 39 km. S. of Walikale, 700 m. , 25 July 1957, E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech; 1 c5, 47 mi. N. of Uvira, 900 m. , 23 August 1957, E. S. Ross St R. E. Leech; 1 c5 , 19 km. W. of Kolwezi, 1370 m. , 29 Janu- ary 19 58, E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech; ANGOLA 1 9, Vila Luso, Mexico, 25 September 1949, B. Malkin; CAMEROON, 16 & 1 9, Ya Daude, 23-27 July 1949, B. Malkin; NIGERIA, 2 99, Ogbomosho, Prov. Oyo, 13 July 1949, B. Malkin; 1 c5 & 1 9 Kabba, 20 February 1949, B. Malkin; 1 6, Ilorin, Prov. Ilorin, 18 February 1949, B. Malkin. f Oohterus minor Kormilev, new species. MALE. Elongate ovate, naked; pronotum, scutellum, and hemelytra finely punctured. Head shorter than width across eyes {6-25:33 , 9-26:32.5); frontal plate shiny and finely striate {' aaffer' type), (fig. 4); anterior border of frontal plate not raised; posterointerior portions of eyes and occiput opaque. Relative length of antennal segments I to IV are: (5-2:3:5:6, 9-2:3:5:6. Labium reaching behind fore border of sternum IV (6), or sternum III (9). Pronotum shorter than its maximum width {6-22 :53 , 9-22:32.5); lateral expanded and lamellate borders slightly convex, rounded anteriorly; hind border trisinuate; interlobal depression obsolete. Scutellum shorter than its basal width (c5-22:29, 9-22:30); basal border convex, lateral borders straight, tip acute, disc convex. Hemelytra covering abdomen com- pletely. Abdomen shorter than maximum width across sternum III (d-40:50, 9-40:53); ratio of medial length of sterna IV and V is 3:7 {6), 3:6 (9). Right paramere similar to that of 0. marginatus (fig. 5). Color. Black, opaque; frontal plate black, shiny; fore border of frontal plate, lamellated borders of pronotum, hind border of the same medially and laterally, basolateral borders and two round spots on exterior borders of corium, tip of clavus , exterior borders of pro-, meso- , and metapleurae, and acetabulae , are pale yellow to yellow brown; femora ochraceous with brown dots inferiorly, brown superiorly; tibiae and tarsi reddish brown; labium dark reddish brown to almost black. Pronotum and hemelytra with a few bluish spots easily rubbed off; base of clavus slate grey, opaque. No. 106] KORMILEV: AFRICAN OCHTERIDAE MEASUREMENTS. Total length: cJ-3.92, 9-4.0 8 mm.; width of pronotum: 6-2.12, 9-2.10 mm.; width of abdomen: d-2.00, 9-2.12 mm.; width across hemelytra: c5-2.20, 9-2.24 mm. HOLOTYPE. 6 (California Academy of Sciences) , CONGO, Matadi, 22 July 1957, E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech. ALLOTOPOTYPE. 9 (California Academy of Sciences), collected with holotype. PARATYPES. CONGO, 1 c5 & 2 9 9 , 12 mi . N. of Matadi, 28 July 1957, E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech; ANGOLA, 16 & 1 9, Huambo, Vila Flor, 25 September 1949, B. Malkin; 1 9, Malange, 11 September 1949, B. Malkin; NIGERIA, 2 99, Kabba, 20 February 1949, B. Malkin. (California Academy of Sciences and collection of the author) . Ochterus minor is related to 0. marginatus , 1804, but is smaller, has a frontal plate with a very fine striation {' aaffer' type) and its right paramere, though of 'marginatus' type, is slightly different. Ochterus oaffer (Stal), 1855. Pelogonus oaffer Stal, 1855, Oefv. K. Vet.-Akad. Forh. , vol. 12, p. 46. Pelogonus marginatus Stal, 1865, Hem. Afr. , vol. 3, p. 170. Oohterus marginatus oaffer Jaczewski , 1934, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 10, vol. 13, p. 606. Stal firstly described Ochterus oaffer as a separate species, but 10 years later synonymized it with 0. marginatus (Latreille). In his "Notes on the Old World Species of Ochteridae" (1934, p. 597), actually a revision of the Old World Ochteridae, Jaczewski separated it as a subspecies of 0. marginatus , basing this conclusion on the different shape of the right paramere. I held it to be a different species, (1) because the right paramere is not only different from that of 0. marginatus , but of a differ- ent type, with lamellated stem borders; (2) because it has a different type of striation on the frontal plate; and (3) because both species, 0. marginatus and 0. oaffer, have overlapping areas of distribution. Jaczewski has not redescribed 0. oaffer, limiting himself only to remarks about the shape of the right parameres, so I am giving a short redescription. MALE. Elongate ovate, naked; pronotum, scutellum, and hemelytra finely punctured. Head shorter than width across eyes ((5-30:42, 9-28:41); frontal plate with much finer striation than in 0. marginatus (fig. 6). Relative length of antennal segments I to IV are: d-2. 5:4:6:7, 9-2.5:3.5:5.5:5.5. Labium reaching behind fore border of sternum IV in both sexes. Pronotum shorter than its maximum width ( bristles which cover the body. LITERATURE CITED JACZEWSKI, T. 19 34. Notes on the Old World speci (Heteroptera) . Annals and History, ser. 10, vol. 13, 19 38. Eine neue Ochteriden-Art aus faunistischen Angaben uebe Arten dieser Familie (Hete berichte der Gesellschaft Freunde, Berlin, 1937, pp. KORMILEV, N. A. 1971. Ochteridae from the Oriental Regions (Hemiptera-Heterop Insects, vol. 13, fascs. 3 es of Ochteridae Magazine of Natural pp. 597-613. Africa, nebst r einige andere roptera) . Sitzungs- naturforschender 186-187. and Australian tera) . Pacific -4, pp. 429-444. CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Occ. Papers tKl FIGURES 1 to 11. FIGURES 1-3. Ochtevus mavginatus (Latreille), i . FIGURE 1. Frontal plate of specimen from Congo. FIGURE 2. Right paramere of specimen from Congo. FIGURE 3. Right paramere of specimen from Nigeria. FIGURES 4-5. Oahterus minor Kormilev, new species, c5 . FIGURE 4. Frontal plate of specimen from Congo. FIGURE 5. Right paramere of specimen from Congo. FIGURES 6-8. Oahterus Gaffer (Stal), <^ . FIGURE 6. Frontal plate of specimen from South Africa. FIGURE 7. Right paramere of specimen from South Africa. FIGURE 8. Right paramere of specimen from Dahomei. FIGURES 9-11. Oahterus piliferus Kormilev, new species, 6. FIGURE 9. Dorsal aspect (legs are omitted). FIGURE 10. Frontal plate. FIGURE 11. Right paramere of the holotype from Angola. No. 106] KORMILEV: AFRICAN OCHTERIDAE FIGURE 12. Map of Africa south of the Sahara showing approximate collection localities for Oahterus marginatus (Latreille) (+) , 0. aaffer (Stal) (a), 0. piliferus Kormilev, new species ( * ) , and 0. minor Kormilev, new species ( + ) . MBL WHOI UBRARY liJH ITFZ N