Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803

Zhang, Guanyang, Hart, Elwood R & Weirauch, Christiane, 2016, A taxonomic monograph of the assassin bug genus Zelus Fabricius (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): 71 species based on 10,000 specimens, Biodiversity Data Journal 4, pp. 8150-8150 : 8150

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e8150

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:262DB958-2422-46B6-92E6-1675C3C07DB1

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AE487420-30B3-1B28-D8B4-41D5BBEA3FEC

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scientific name

Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803
status

 

Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803 View in CoL

Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803, p. 282, orig. descr.; Stål, 1868, p.108, descr., note and senior syn. of Z. cursitans ; Stål, 1872, p.88, cat.; Walker, 1873, p. 135, cat.; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 49, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 326, cat.

Zelus cursitans Fabricius, 1803, p. 284, orig. descr.; Blanchard, 1840, p. 101, descr.; Stål, 1868,p. 108, junior syn. of Z. errans .

Materials

Type status: Lectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Lectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Labels: Zeluserrans in Am. mer. Schmidt / Type; recordedBy: Dom. Smidt; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: unknown; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Habitat in America meridionali ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC Type status: Paralectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Labels: Zeluserrans in Am. mer. Schmidt / Type; recordedBy: Dom. Smidt; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: unknown; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Habitat in America meridionali ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC Type status: Paralectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Label: Zeluserrans; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC

Description

Figs 65, 66, 67

Male: (Fig. 65a, b) Medium-sized, total length 13.62-17.91 mm (mean 14.10 mm, Suppl. material 2); slender. COLORATION: Many specimens with wasp-like habitus, with alternating black and yellow areas; anterior pronotal lobe usually dark brown, posterior lobe and proximal portion of corium yellowish; some specimens with nearly entire dorsal surface dark. Legs vary from nearly uniformly yellow or blackish-brown to yellow-brown banded. VESTITURE: Densely setose. Head with dark, erect, spine-like setae dorsally and light, recumbent setae ventrally. Anterior pronotal lobe with short, dark, spine-like setae, confined to setal tracts; posterior pronotal lobe with short, spine-like setae dorsally, fine, recumbent and erect setae on lateral surfaces. Abdomen with sparse, short, semi-erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Cylindrical, L/W = 2.28. Postocular lobe long; in dorsal view distinctly narrowing through anterior 2/3, posterior 1/3 constant, tube-like. Eye prominent; lateral margin much wider than postocular lobe; dorsal margin removed from postocular transverse groove, ventral margin attaining ventral surface of head. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 1.6: 0.4. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle rounded, without projection; medial longitudinal sulcus evident only on posterior 1/2, deepening anterior to transverse sulcus of pronotum. Posterior pronotal lobe with smooth surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle rounded, without projection. Scutellum long; apex angulate, not projected. Legs: Very slender. Hemelytron: Greatly surpassing apex of abdomen by about 3x length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell large and broad; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 66) Pygophore: Ovoid; mid-lateral fold adjacent to paramere insertion; not expanded laterally in dorsal view. Medial process cylindrical; extremely slender; moderately long; semi-erect; apex in posterior view blunt, slightly folded posteriad. Paramere: Cylindrical; long, surpassing medial process; directed posteriad, slightly curved towards medial process; slightly curved ventrad; apical part very slightly enlarged. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite elongated; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite not distinctly tapered, convex, laterally indistinctly angulate; apex truncate, medially emarginate; posterior margin of foramen deeply concave. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically separate, connected by bridge; basally almost completely fused. Basal plate arm slender; separate; converging; in lateral view very slightly curved; bridge moderately long; extension of basal plate small, marginally expanded onto arm.

Female: (Fig. 65c, d, e) Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 18.30-20.18 mm (mean 18.97 mm, Suppl. material 2). Coloration pattern more variable than in male.

Diagnosis

May be confused with Z. vespiformis and Z. gracilipes , species that have similar appearances. Distinguished from Z. vespiformis by the more elongated body; the longer medial process (Fig. 10), the Cu and Pcu of quadrate cell subparallel, and the Cu-Pcu2 (posterior cross vein) less than 1/2x length of Cu. Males of Z. errans can be separate from Z. gracilipes by features of the genitalia, the latter belonging to a different species group. Females typically have the anterior membrane of the hemelytron semi-translucent, whereas the entire membrane is colored or opaque in Z. gracilipes .

Distribution

South America (Fig. 67). Countries with specimen records: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

Taxon discussion

Zelus errans is quite closely related to Z. vespiformis , and they are possibly sister species. These two species appear to be allopatric, with their boundaries roughly lying across central Colombia and southern Venezuela.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hemiptera

Family

Reduviidae

Genus

Zelus