Eldarca Signoret, 1864

Faúndez, Eduardo I., 2015, Synopsis of the genus Eldarca Signoret, 1864 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae), Zootaxa 3915 (2), pp. 287-294 : 287-288

Eldarca Signoret, 1864

Eldarca Signoret, 1864: 557 (original description). Type species. Merocoris haematomerus Spinola, 1852 .

Eldarca: Stål (1867): 549 (key); Lethierry & Severin (1894): 73 (catalog); Reed (1899): 14 (translation of original description); Packauskas (2010): 125 (catalog).

Diagnosis. Medium to small size (i.e. about 8 to 10 mm), elongated body, usually dark coloration, a broad antennal segment I, antenniferous tubercule with a little tooth (nearly vestigial in some species), bucculae elongated and evanescent in the posterior end, rostral segment I surpassing the bucculae, pronotum subtriangular with two rounded convex processes oriented posteriorly near humeral angles, anterolateral angles with two spine-like processes projected anteriorly, scutellum equilaterally triangulate, ostiolar peritreme short (reaching 1/3 of metapleuron), tibiae sulcate, and base of abdomen with a median truncate process.

Bionomics. The biology of the species of Eldarca is nearly unknown, only E. nigroscutellata sp. nov. is known to be associated with dunes, lower vegetation and alkaline environments; however I have observed different photos of E. haematomera and E. rufa , collected in dunes and/or lakes shores. Therefore I believe that this behavior and niche is shared by all the species on this genus. Additionally I believe possible the presence of several more undescribed species, but more collecting efforts are needed to get more specimens available to study.

Distribution. The genus Eldarca is currently represented by 4 species distributed from Central Chile, to Southern Patagonia in Chile and Argentina ( Fig. 12 ), showing a classical Andean distribution. Eldarca haematomera is distributed in the Central Zone and surrounding area of Chile (mainly in highlands of Mediterranean zone) from Coquimbo to Maule Regions. This species was cited from Argentina by Pennington (1920, 1922) and Breddin (1897), but those records belong mainly to E. nigroscutellata ; and the presence of the species in the middle of the country needs verification. Eldarca nigra was described just from “ Chili ” and the only exact known location is in the Araucanía Region, south of Chile. Eldarca rufa is distributed from Maule to Araucanía Regions in the south of Chile. Eldarca nigroscutellata is restricted to Magallanes Region in Chile and Santa Cruz province in Argentina, both in Southern Patagonia, which makes this species the southernmost distributed Coreid in South America.

Figures

FIGURES 12 – 14. 12 — distribution map of Eldarca species; 13 – 14 — Eldarca nigroscutellata sp. nov.: 13 — spermatheca, 14 — right paramere.