Montina ruficornis ( Fabricius, 1803 )

Mejía-Soto, Andrés, Forero, Dimitri & Wolff, Marta, 2022, Taxonomic revision of Montina (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) from Colombia with description of three new species, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 62 (2), pp. 325-381 : 350-352

Montina ruficornis ( Fabricius, 1803)

( Figs 17 ; 18 ; 25C ; 27C ; 29C ; 36 ; 42 )

Zelus ruficornis Fabricius, 1803: 285 (new species).

Aristippus ruficornis: STÂL (1868) : 99 (new generic placement).

Montina (Aristippus) ruficornis: STÂL (1872) : 74 (checklist, new generic placement, Aristippus as subgenus).

Ploeogaster ruficornis: WALKER (1873) : 94 (checklist, new generic placement).

Montina ruficornis: LETHIERRY & SEVERIN (1896) : 195 (catalog, new generic placement); MALDONADO (1990): 235 (catalog).

Type locality. “America Meridionalis” [country unknown].

Type material. LECTOTYPE (here designated): [UNKNOWN COUNTRY]: 1 adult (sex not determined); “ Z. ruficornis ex. Am:mer. Schmid” / (red label) Type / ZMUC 00 103073 / Lectotype Zelus ruficornis Fabricius Desig. by A. Mejía-Soto & D. Forero [http://www. daim.snm.ku.dk/digitized-type-collection-details-simple?catno=zmuc00103073] ( ZMUC). PARALECTOTYPES: [UNKNOWN COUNTRY]: 1 adult (sex unknown, abdomen missing); [illegible manuscript label] / (red label) / ZMUC 00 103072 [http://www. daim.snm.ku.dk/digitized-type-collection-details-simple?catno=zmuc00103072] ( ZMUC) ; 1 adult (sex unknown, abdomen missing); (red label) Type / ZMUC 00 103074 [http://www.daim.snm.ku.dk/digitized-type-collection-details-simple?catno=zmuc00103074] ( ZMUC).

Other specimens examined. COLOMBIA: AMAZONAS: 1 ♀, Leticia, comunidad indígena Monifue Amena, Km 9,8 vía Leticia-Tarapacá; [04.1416°S 69.9232°W]; [80 m]; 11 Oct 2002; A. M. Vélez leg.; MPUJ _ENT0058600 ( MPUJ); 1 ♀, same data; 60 m; 1 May 2002; C. Ortiz leg.; MPUJ _ENT0058513 ( MPUJ); 1 ♂, same data; 27 Ago 2003; MPUJ _ENT0058498 ( MPUJ); 1♀, Leticia; 13 Oct 2002; Cotes et al. leg.; MPUJ _ENT0058523 ( MPUJ). GUAINÍA: 1♀, Puerto Inírida, Río Inírida, reserva indígena “La Ceiba” [resguardo indígena La Ceiba, 28.6km SSE de Inírida]; [03.6283°N, 67.8826°W]; 100 m; 2–9 Nov 1997; M.Sandoval leg.; [colecta] manual; MPUJ _ENT0058516 ( MPUJ).

Diagnosis. Total length, female 20.3 mm (n = 1), male 15.4 mm (n = 1). General coloration brown ( Figs 17B, D ); tubercle of anterior pronotal lobe erect, subconical obtuse apex; posterior pronotal lobe elevation of carina very low ( Figs 17E, F ), posterolateral process with broad base and acute apex ( Figs 17B, C ); pronotum and corium brown, corium sometimes paler than pronotum; head, legs, and antennae reddish brown to pale brown, membrane yellow with a basal translucent area ( Figs 17B, D ); margin of posterior half of each connexival segment with a yellow oblique band on segments 2–6 ( Figs 17A, C ), margin lobed with an acute process on posterior half of each segment.

Variability. Two characters exhibit some sexual dimorphism, the overall coloration in females is darker than in males, and the acute processes of the connexival margin are more acute and projected in males than in females ( Figs 17A, C ).

Differential diagnosis. Montina ruficornis is similar to M. lobata due to the pale oblique bands on the posterior margin of each connexival segment. Nonetheless, M. ruficornis has a shorter total length (females 20.3 mm, males 15.0 mm), the pronotal carina is less elevated ( Figs 17E, F ), and it is mostly brown or reddish-brown in its overall coloration ( Figs 17B, D ). On the other hand, M. lobata is larger (females 28.0 mm, males 19.8 mm), mostly black with yellow pronotum ( Figs 15B, D ), and the carinas of the posterior pronotal lobe are much more elevated ( Fig. 15E ). Likewise, M. ruficornis is similar to M. fenestrata because of the overall brown coloration and the non-prominent elevation of the carina of the posterior lobe of the pronotum ( Figs 32A, B ). Montina fenestrata is only known from Brazil ( MALDONADO 1990) and has not been found in Colombia. Nevertheless, M. ruficornis can be differentiated from M. fenestrata because it has the tubercles of the anterior pronotal lobe smaller and spine like ( Figs 17E, F ), and a pale-yellow band on the posterior margin of each connexival segment, each one lobed with an acute posterior process ( Figs 17A, C ); whereas in M. fenestrata the tubercles of the anterior pronotal lobe are subconic and larger ( Fig. 32A ), the connexivum is uniformly brown without contrasting areas, and its margin is nearly straight with the processes blunt ( Fig. 32B ).

STÂL (1868) mentioned that the membrane of M. ruficornis has the forewing membrane darkened, with a pale basal macula (“membrana fuscescente, macula maxima ante medium sita subdecolore”). FABRICIUS (1803) did not mention this character in his original description, but the specimen selected as the lectotype (see below) has the membrane yellow with a basal translucent area. In the Colombian specimens the apex of the membrane is apparently slightly darker and with a paler area covering most of the basal and discal cells, thus agreeing with the lectotype in this character.

The male genitalia have the distal lateral lobes (dll) of the endosoma poorly sclerotized ( Figs 18D ). The U-shaped sclerotization in the bursa copulatrix of females, present in most of the species examined, was not observed in M. ruficornis ( Figs 27C ; 29C ). Because only one female was examined, additional specimens are needed to confirm the state of this structure. The gonocoxa 8 has a very slight curvature in the distal portion of its anterolateral area ( Fig. 25C ).

Distribution. “America Meridionalis” (ambiguous locality in tropical South America) ( FABRICIUS 1803, LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1896), “ Guiana ” (ambiguous area in the Guianas) ( STÂL 1872), and Colombia (Amazonas, Guainía), with records between 0–100 m ( Fig. 42 ).

Remark on types. Three syntype specimens belonging to Zelus ruficornis are deposited at ZMUC. One is badly damaged preserving only the head, thorax and a few legs; the other is missing the abdomen; and only one is complete and in a good shape, bearing Fabricius’s labels of “ Zelus ruficornis ” and “America Meridionalis” fitting his description ( FABRICIUS 1803) ( Fig. 36 ). We are designating the latter as the lectotype.

Figures

Fig. 17. Montina ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803). A – male, lateral view. B – male, dorsal view. C – female, lateral view. D – female, dorsal view. E – pronotum, female, lateral left view. F – pronotum, male, lateral left view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 18. Montina ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803), male genitalia.A – pygophore, dorsal view. B – pygophore, lateral right view. C – pygophore, caudal view. D – phallus, ventral view. E – phallus, lateral right view. F – phallus, dorsal view. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 25. Montina spp., external female genitalia, ventral view.A – M. gladiator Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov.; B – M. lobata Stål, 1859; C – M. ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803); D – M. scutellaris Stål, 1859; E – M. testacea (Stål, 1859); F – M. tikuna Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 27.Montina spp., bursa copulatrix, dorsal view.A – M. gladiator Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov.; B – M. lobata Stål, 1859; C – M. ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803); D – M. scutellaris Stål, 1859; E – M. testacea (Stål, 1859); F – M. tikuna Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 29. Montina spp., detail of the anterior portion of the bursa copulatrix, dorsal view. A – M. gladiator Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov.; B – M. lobata Stål, 1859; C – M. ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803); D – M. scutellaris Stål, 1859; E – M. testacea (Stål, 1859); F – M. tikuna Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 36. Lectotype (sex undetermined) of Zelus ruficornis Fabricius, 1803 [now Montina ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803)], deposited at ZMUC. A – dorsal view; B – labels. Scale bar: 5 mm.

Fig. 42. Distribution map of Montina ruficornis (Fabricius, 1803), M. scutellaris Stål, 1859, M. testacea (Stål, 1859), and M. tikuna Mejía-Soto & Forero sp. nov. in Colombia.

Fig. 15. Montina lobata Stål, 1859. A – male, lateral view. B – male, dorsal view. C – female, lateral view. D – female, dorsal view. E – pronotum, male, lateral left view. Scale bar: 1 mm. Scale bar: 1 mm.

Fig. 32. Female holotype of Aristippus fenestratus Stål, 1867 [now Montina fenestrata (Stål, 1867)], deposited at NHRS.A – lateral left view; B – dorsal view; C – labels. Scale bar: 10 mm.