Five new species of Neusterensifer from western New Guinea (Heteroptera: Veliidae) with biogeographic notes

Abstract

Five new species of Neusterensifer are described from western New Guinea and adjacent Yapen Island. The new taxa are as follows: Neusterensifer dabrana sp.n. and Neusterensifer terrestris sp.n. from the Mamberamo River basin; Neusterensifer timikana sp.n. from the Ajkwa River basin; Neusterensifer wondiwoi sp.n. from the Wandammen Peninsula; and Neusterensifer yobi sp.n. from Yapen Island. New distribution records are also provided for Neusterensifer gladius Polhemus & Polhemus from the Wandammen and Mangguar peninsulas of western New Guinea. Illustrations of key characters, color dorsal habitus photos, and distribution maps are provided for all new species treated, accompanied by a comprehensive checklist of Neusterensifer species and their geographic distributions, with species assigned to their freshwater areas of endemism within the island. The refined knowledge of species distributions based on these new collections indicates that the Wandammen Peninsula should likely be considered a discrete area of freshwater endemism within New Guinea.