Steinovelia vinnula ( Drake, 1951b )

Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, Floriano, Carla Fernanda Burguez, Rodrigues, Higor D. D. & Sites, Robert W., 2020, Revision of the American genus Steinovelia Polhemus & Polhemus, 1993 (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Veliidae), Zootaxa 4729 (1), pp. 77-91 : 83-85

Steinovelia vinnula ( Drake, 1951b)

( Figs. 3 , 7 )

Velia vinnula Drake, 1951b: 375–376 (original description);

Paravelia vinnula: Polhemus 1976: 513 (new combination);

Steinovelia vinnula: Polhemus & Polhemus 1993: 397 (new combination).

Macropterous female holotype ( Fig. 3 ). BL 4.45; HL 0.53; HW 0.65; ANT I 0.83, ANT II 0.75, ANT III 0.78, ANT IV 0.58; EYE 0.15; PL 1.49 ; PW 1.38 ; FORELEG: FEM 1.03, TIB 0.90, TAR I 0.08, TAR II 0.10, TAR III 0.23; MIDLEG: FEM 1.63, TIB 1.63, TAR I 0.10, TAR II 0.34, TAR III 0.33; HINDLEG: FEM 1.63, TIB 1.62, TAR I 0.10, TAR II 0.21, TAR III 0.31.

Head brown, with long brown setae on frons, adjacent to mesal eye margin, and posterolateral angles. Antenna light brown. Eyes dark shining red. Jugum with a patch of silvery setae ( Fig. 3B ). Labium yellowish brown. Pronotum brown on collar, midline and central posterior portion of anterior lobe, and most of posterior lobe; orange brown on sides of anterior lobe, small area on central anterior area of posterior lobe, and humeri; transverse stripe of silvery pubescence present between anterior and posterior lobes and a pair of lateral silvery pubescent marks from middle of anterior lobe to humeri ( Fig. 3A ). Ventral surface of humeri yellow. Thoracic pleura orange brown; lateral surfaces of acetabula yellowish brown; patches of silvery setae arranged in two irregular, interrupted stripes across side of thorax ( Fig. 3B ). Prosternum orange brown; meso- and metasterna dark brown. Wings pale and opaque, with slightly darker veins and scattered irregular brown marks; when closed, with a pair of elongated white maculae starting on humeral angles and slightly passing apex of pronotum ( Fig. 3A ). Coxae and trochanters yellow. Femora yellow on basal halves, then brown to dark brown with a preapical yellow macula or band. Tibiae brown to dark brown with a subbasal and a median yellow band ( Fig. 3C ). Tarsi brown, darker on apexes of tarsomeres. Exposed portion of abdominal laterotergites yellow with brown posterior margins. Side of abdomen with two stripes of silvery setae; dorsal-most row faint and interrupted at posterior portions of sterna II–V, more evident on sterna VI–VII; ventralmost row wider and more uniform on sterna II–VI, becoming faint on sternum VII ( Fig. 3B ). Abdominal sterna dark orange brown.

Posterior margin of eye distant from anterior margin of pronotum by about 50% of dorsal eye length ( Fig. 3A ). Antennomere I thickest, curved laterally; II–III cylindrical; II slightly broader than III; IV fusiform, as broad as III. Buccula with a central punctation. Labium reaching anterior 1/3 of mesosternum. Pronotum not flat, distinctly constricted anterior to humeri, with small, deep punctations; humeri robust, elevated, obtusely projecting laterally ( Fig. 3A ). Propleura with two rows of punctations; another row anteriorly on mesopleura; several punctations on lateral surface of metacetabulum. Metasternum with a pair (1 + 1) of tubercles laterally beneath middle coxae. Wings reaching terminalia, with four closed cells, veins distinct, long setae on lateral margin; these setae also present on abdominal laterotergites. Legs covered by long, brown setae. Posterior surface of the fore tibia, middle femur, and hind tibia with several black spinules. Hind femur incrassate, about 1.5 times as wide as the middle femur, with several spines throughout length; these spines larger near center of femur ( Fig. 3C ). Hind tibia slightly curved.

Discussion. Steinovelia vinnula was described based on a macropterous female from the state of São Paulo, Brazil ( Drake 1951b). Recently, this species was illustrated for the first time, its micropterous form was described, and new records were presented for the states of Amazonas and Maranhão, northern and northeastern Brazil, respectively ( Rodrigues & Álvarez-Arango 2019). These authors demonstrated that S. vinnula and S. virgata are not synonymous, distinguishing the two by the condition of the hind femur. In S. vinnula , the femur is widened medially with large spines on the posterior margin ( Fig. 3C ), whereas in S. virgata , it is not widened medially and the spines are very small ( Fig. 4 ). Additionally, we verified that macropterous specimens of these two species can be separated by the basal white macula, which is present in the forewing of S. vinnula ( Fig. 3A ), but absent in S. virgata ( Figs. 4 A–D).

Distribution ( Fig. 7 ). Brazil: Amazonas, Maranhão ( Rodrigues & Álvarez-Arango 2019), São Paulo ( Drake 1951b).

Type material examined. Macropterous ♀ holotype ( NMNH), Ribeiro Preto [= Ribeirão Preto], Sao Paulo, Brazil, January 26, 1939, E. J. Hambleton, Holotype, Velia vinnula Drake, C J Drake Coll. 1956 .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Steinovelia vinnula. (A) Macropterous female holotype, dorsal view; (B) Macropterous female holotype, lateral view; (C) Macropterous female holotype, hind leg, dorsal view.

FIGURE 4. Steinovelia virgata. (A) Macropterous male, dorsal view; (B) Macropterous male, dorsal view; (C) Macropterous female, dorsal view; (D) Macropterous female syntype, dorsal view; (E) Macropterous male, ventral view; (F) Macropterous female, dorsal view; (G) Macropterous male, lateral view. Figure 4D reproduced from http://www.flickr.com/photos/perth_museum_and_art_gallery.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Steinovelia vinnula and S. virgata. Question marks indicate imprecise records.