Graziaedessa n. gen.

(Figs. 1‒10)

Type species: Graziaedessa anastrephae n. sp., by monotypy.

Etymology: Gender feminine. It is a pleasure to dedicate this genus to Jocélia Grazia, on the occasion of her 75 th birthday, in recognition of her numerous contributions to the systematics of the Pentatomoidea, not only through her own work, but also through the many students she educated and developed over the course of her career.

Description. Medium sized (11.7–12.6), body shape oval, dorsum predominately light brown with darker markings; posterior 1/3 of pronotum with dark brown fascia (Fig. 1); venter pale brown with intersegmental abdominal sutures and extreme lateral margins darker brown (Fig. 2).

Head 1.6 times wider than long; ¾ of eyes protruding beyond lateral margin of mandibular plates; mandibular plates much longer than clypeus, converging and contiguous in front of clypeus. Bucculae well-developed, short, flap-like; first rostral segment exceeding posterior margin of bucculae. Rostrum surpassing procoxae, reaching anterior margin of metasternal process, not reaching mesocoxae; relative length of segments: 2>1>3=4. Antennal segment 1 relatively thick, short; remaining segments elongate and thin; relative length of segments: 4>5>3>2>1.

Pronotum light brown with scattered darker punctation on anterior 2/3, posterior 1/3 with dark brown fascia, fascia notably more densely punctate than remainder of pronotum; humeral angles little developed, narrowly rounded; anterior angles with small tooth; anterolateral margins straight, finely carinate. Scutellum subtriangular, post-frenal portion occupying about 1/3 of scutellar length. Coria mostly dark brown with pale markings. Ostiolar peritreme ruga-shaped, extending about ¾ of distance from ostiole to lateral margin of metapleuron. Evaporatoria shagreened, concolorous with remainder of pleura, impunctate; lateral margin of metapleural evaporatorium almost straight. Legs light brown with small dark macules, mostly at base of setae. Metasternum produced, bilobed posteriorly, simple and broadly rounded anteriorly, extending for short distance onto mesosternum (Fig. 6). Mesosternum carinate mesially, thinner anteriorly, reaching between procoxae, enlarged and divided posteriorly, outlining anterior margin of metasternal process.

Abdominal urosternites 3–6 with small dark tooth at posterolateral limit of segment, segment 7 moderately and acutely produced posteriorly, not reaching posterior margin of laterotergites 8 in females. Mesial trichobothria in line with spiracles, lateral trichobothria just laterad of this line. Urosternite 3 produced into a distinct mesial spine on anterior margin, this spine fitting into void between bifurcations of metasternal process.

Male genitalia: pygophore about as long as wide (Figs. 3, 4); superior processes of genital cup present (Fig. 5); proctiger with distinct dorsal and posterior faces; shank of parameres relatively broad and short, head of parameres large and transversely oriented (Fig. 8, 9). Phallotheca cylindrical, strongly sclerotized, apparently lacking conjunctiva and vessica, its apex with a simple opening (Fig. 10).

Female genitalia: gonocoxites 8 subtrapezoidal (Fig. 7, gonocoxites 8 artificially opened in figure); gonocoxites 9 broadly exposed; apices of laterotergites 9 slightly surpassing band uniting laterotergites 8, the latter longitudinally convex, moderately developed posteriorly. Internal female genitalia not examined in the single female paratype.

Comments: Graziaedessa is readily distinguished from all other genera of Edessinae by the unique structure of the mesosternum and metasternum. It bears a superficial resemblance to Hypoxys in overall appearance and in the slightly developed humeral angles and the black fascia on posterior 1/3 of the pronotum, dark markings on coria, female segment 7 not reaching posterior margin of laterotergites 8, the presence of a superior process of the genital cup, the structure of the proctiger, and the simple, cylindrical phallotheca. The carinate anterolateral pronotal margins distinguish this genus from Hypoxys and most other edessines which have the anterolateral pronotal margins smoothly rounded. Almeida et al. (2018) presented a key to genera of Edessinae and subgenera of Edessa. In this key, Graziaedessa keys to couplet 3 (‘metasternal process projected anteriorly in a simple process’) but does not fit either of the choices of couplet 3, both genera in this couplet having the metasternal process extending over much of the mesosternum.