Saica erubescens Champion, 1898

María, Valentina Castro-Huertas & Melo, María Cecilia, 2024, Saica Amyot & Serville, 1843 (Reduviidae, Emesinae, Saicini): taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis with morphological characters, Zoosystema 46 (32), pp. 813-845 : 825

Saica erubescens Champion, 1898

( Figs 2 I-L; 5C, L; 6B, I; 7)

Saica erubescens Champion, 1898: 178 [key]. — McAtee & Malloch 1923: 250 [key]. — Maldonado Capriles 1990: 479 [cat.]. — Lucas et al. 2016: 557 [dist.]. — Swanson 2020: 974 [female descript.].

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Holotype. Panama • ♂; Bugaba : Champion; BMNH [ BMNH (E) 1688178] (high-resolution images).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Panama • 1 ♂; Panama Oeste Province : Barro Colorado Is.; 9°9’17”N, 79°50’53”W; 6-7.V.2019; light trap LT-ARM 3-MAY2019 -B; Bobadilla, Lopez, Perez, Ramirez; STRI; BCI169355 . Colombia • 1 ♂; Santander: Carmen de Chucurí ; 6°N, 73°E; 801 m; 25.II.2018; C. Neita E. Torres and M. I. Castro; Trampa de luz UV; IAVH-E; IAVH-E-206089 . Nicaragua • 1 ♀; Rama ; IX.1962; MACN .

DIAGNOSIS. — Recognized by the pale brown to yellowish coloration, with pterostigma, subapical region of femora, and humeral angles reddish ( Fig. 2 I-L); abdomen slender and narrowed basally, posteromedial process of pygophore elevated and angulated medially ( Fig. 5C), and nearly vertical in lateral view with the apex slightly curved anteriorly ( Fig. 5L).

DISTRIBUTION. — Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador ( Champion 1898; McAtee & Malloch 1923; Maldonado Capriles 1990; Lucas et al. 2016; Swanson 2020). First records for Colombia and Nicaragua ( Fig. 7).

REDESCRIPTION

Male

Macropterous. Measurements in Table 2.

Coloration ( Fig. 2I-J). Head: Pale brown to yellowish.Antenna yellowish, pedicel with a pale brown medial band. First and second labial segments brown, third labial segment yellowish. Thorax: Pale brown to yellowish, pronotum laterally brown, spines yellowish. Procoxal cavity, procoxa, and protrochanter pale brown, profemur pale brown with apical portion reddish, protibia and protarsus yellowish; meso- and metalegs similar to proleg. Forewing yellowish with pterostigma reddish to pale brown. Abdomen: Pale brown.

Structure. Thorax ( Fig. 2J): Humeral angle spines three or more times longer than their base. Mesonotal spine straight, three times as long as or longer than its base. Protuberance of the scutellum with the apex and posterior region entire, the lateral margins not expanded in caudal view. Metanotal spine straight, nearly 0.2 times the length of mesonotal spine. Forewing with two closed cells, apex of outer discal cell variable in length. Abdomen: Abdominal tergite 2 conspicuously narrower than posterior segments. Genitalia: Anterior region of genital opening wide in dorsal view, posterior margin of pygophore flat. Posteromedial process of pygophore (mpp) elevated basally and angulated medially ( Fig. 5C). Ramus nearly straight and projected laterally, almost three times longer than its base, apical region narrowed with a rounded and slightly projected apical process. Dorsal phallothecal sclerite (dps) nearly triangular, apex truncated, subapical lateral margin not laterally projected ( Fig. 6B).

Female ( Fig. 2 K-L)

Macropterous. Similar to male in most respects.

Structure. Abdomen: Posterolateral angles of tergite 7 with a pair of acute processes Genitalia: Tergite 9 nearly oval. Apex of the gonoplac with a blunt process, and the external margins sinuate ( Fig. 6I).

REMARKS

Saica erubescens shows a unique coloration pattern as it is the paler species of the genus. The acute processes on the posterolateral angles of the abdominal segment 7 in the females is a characteristic shared with S. meridionalis , but S. erubescens can be easily recognized by the entirely yellowish to pale brown coloration and the usually narrow basal abdominal region. The particular structure of the gonoplac, with a blunt process on the apex, is a character shared with S. tibialis , but these latter species is considerably different by its color pattern, reddish with whitish areas.