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Type: Monograph
Published: 2026-04-09
Page range: 1-68
Abstract views: 70
PDF downloaded: 6

A revision of the Rhagovelia auga subgroup (Heteroptera: Veliidae) on New Guinea, with descriptions of fourteen new species

Dept. of Natural Sciences; Bishop Museum;1525 Bernice St.; Honolulu; HI 96817 USA
Hemiptera Rhagovelia New Guina taxonomy new species

Abstract

A revision is provided for the Rhagovelia auga subgroup, endemic to the higher mountain areas of New Guinea, and a segregate of the larger Rhagovelia novacaledonica group. This treatment covers 3 previously described species—R. auga D. Polhemus, R. crinita Lansbury, and R. thysanotos Lansbury—and also provides descriptions of 14 new species as follows: R. kaindi from the Owen Stanley Range of Papua New Guinea; R. fordi from the Saruwaged Range of Papua New Guinea; R. maai, R. gressitti, R. sinofi and R. nonduglana from the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea; R. microcephala and R. altamontana from the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea; R. bosavi from Mt. Bosavi, Papua New Guinea; R. cyclopica from the Cyclops Mountains of Indonesian New Guinea; R. bintang from the Star Mountains of Indonesian New Guinea; R. dani from the Baliem Valley of Indonesian New Guinea; and R. wapoga and R. ziwa from the Sudirman Range of Indonesian New Guinea. Photomicrographs of the dorsal habitus in both sexes, male genitalia, and other key morphogical characters are provided for all of the new species proposed, accompanied by photographs of representative habitats, distribution maps and a key to the species of the subgroup.

 

References

  1. Brass, L.J. (1964) Results of the Archold Expeditions. No. 86. Summary of the Sixth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1959). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 127 (4), 149–215, pls. 13.
  2. Lansbury, I. (1993) Rhagovelia of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Australia (Hemiptera -Veliidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 136, 23–54.
  3. Polhemus, D.A. (1997) Systematics of the genus Rhagovelia Mayr (Heteroptera: Veliidae) in the Western Hemisphere (exclusive of the angustipes complex). Thomas Say Publications in Entomology: Monographs. Entomological Society of America, Lanham, Maryland, 386 pp. https://doi.org/10.4182/JCRD5977
  4. Polhemus, D.A. (2024) Thirty-four new species of Rhagovelia (Heteroptera: Veliidae) from the East Papua Composite Terrane, far eastern New Guinea. Zootaxa, 5400 (1), 1–214. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5400.1.1
  5. Polhemus, D.A. & Allen, G. (2007) 2.5. Freshwater Biogeography of Papua. In: Marshall, A.J. & Beehler, B.M. (Eds.), The Ecology of Papua. Part One. The Ecology of Indonesia Series. Vol. VI. Periplus, Singapore, pp. 207–245.
  6. Zettel, H. (2009) Rhagovelia dostali sp. n. (Heteroptera: Veliidae), ein neuer Bachläufer von der Insel Sao Tome. Zeitschrift fur Arbeit, Gemeinschaft, und Östasiaticsche Entomologie, 61, 59–64.

How to Cite

Polhemus, D.A. (2026) A revision of the Rhagovelia auga subgroup (Heteroptera: Veliidae) on New Guinea, with descriptions of fourteen new species. Zootaxa, 5790 (1), 1–68. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5790.1.1