Belostoma sayagoi De Carlo, 1966

Stefanello, Fabiano, 2021, The new Belostoma fittkaui species group with supplemental descriptions of B fittkaui De Carlo and B. sayagoi De Carlo, Zootaxa 4942 (4), pp. 583-591 : 586-587

Belostoma sayagoi De Carlo

( Figure 2B )

Belostoma sayagoi De Carlo, 1966: 101 .

Belostoma hirsutum Roback and Nieser, 1974: 39 syn. n.

Supplemental description. Size and shape. Length: male (n=4) = 23.5–26.7, female (n=7) = 24.2–26.8; width: male = 10.4–12.2, female = 10.7–11.8. Body narrow.

External morphology. Head: eyes triangular, with lateral borders straight; anteoculus as long as interoculus, about 0.94–0.98× ( Fig. 1D ); vertex with a poorly elevated carina; article II of labium distinctly shorter than III, about 0.58–0.68×. Thorax: prosternal keel quite elevated with apex rounded, projecting forward; pronotum trapezoidal with lateral margins straight and a narrow fold extending to posterior portion; fore femur slender, subequal in width to middle femur; scutellum distinctly carinate. Abdomen: pilosity entirely covering sterna and connexivum, including second through seventh segments.

Male genitalia. Dorsal arms of phallosoma convergent, covering lateral margins of diverticulum and extending to distal portion of diverticulum in dorsal view; phallosoma slightly curved downward; diverticulum with a poorly developed ventral protuberance in lateral view; diverticulum trapezoidal, with lateral margins straight, becoming abruptly narrow in mesal portion in ventral view.

Diagnosis. Article II of the labium distinctly shorter than III and about 0.58–0.68×, pilosity entirely covering the sterna and connexivum, and the body narrow about 2.3× as long as broad are diagnostic for this species.

Material examined. COLOMBIA, Meta, Puerto Gaitán municipality, F. Stefanello, 2019 det., 2 ³ ( MPUJ _ ENT); VENEZUELA, Apure, morichal between Orinoco and Cinaruco rivers, 06°30’53.9”N 67°32’36.2”W, 17.I.2009, A.E.Z. Short et al. colls., F. Stefanello, 2019 det., 1 ♀ ( SEMC); Bolívar, morichal between Caicara and Los Pijiguaos, 07°20’59.5”N 66°17’54.2”W, A.E.Z. Short et al. colls., F. Stefanello, 2019 det., 1 ♀ ( SEMC); Guárico, San Nicolasito field station, Aguaro river, 08°06’13.5”N 66°26’13.6”W, A.E.Z. Short et al. colls., F. Stefanello, 2019 det., 2 ³ and 5 ♀ ( SEMC). The holotype of B. sayagoi housed in the MACN has been examined by photos of the habitus, head and abdominal pilosity. Unfortunately, the holotype of B. hirsutum deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ( ANSP) as appointed by Roback and Nieser (1974) has been lost.

Distribution. Previous records include Pará state in Brazil ( De Carlo 1966) and Meta Department in Colombia ( Roback & Nieser 1974). New records include Apure, Bolívar and Guárico states in Venezuela ( Fig. 3 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Diagnostic characters of the Belostoma fittkaui group:A—lateral view of the head showing the condition of articles II and III of the labium and prosternal keel; B—ventral view of abdomen showing the pilosity of segments II–VII; C—dorsal view of head and pronotum of Belostoma fittkaui; D—dorsal view of head and pronotum of B. sayagoi. ant = anteoculus, con = connexivum, int = interoculus, lab = labium, prk = prosternal keel, pro = pronotum, ste = sternites. The scale bar applies only to C and D.

FIGURE 2. Habitus of holotypes and labels: A –Belostoma fittkaui and its labels; B –B. sayagoi and its labels.

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Belostoma fittkaui group in tropical South America: red circles = B. fittkaui; blue squares = B. sayagoi, yellow square = B. hirsutum syn. n.