Notocyrtus Burmeister, 1835

Gil-Santana, Hélcio R. & Forero, Dimitri, 2009, A new species of Notocyrtus, a new synonym of Coilopus, and new records and notes on other Harpactorini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from South America, Zootaxa 2148, pp. 55-67 : 62

Notocyrtus Burmeister, 1835

The genus Notocyrtus Burmeister, 1835 was initially revised by Carvalho and Costa (1992, 1993). Costa and Gil-Santana 2001, and Gil-Santana and Costa 2001 described additional new species, having Notocyrtus 23 valid species. Despite the revision and subsequent description of additional species, it is clear that there is still a proportion of the diversity of Notocyrtus that remains undescribed.

Species of Notocyrtus have been recognized as mimetics of meliponine bees ( Jackson, 1973; Gil-Santana 2008), in which the mimicry is enhanced by an inflated pronotum ( Haviland 1931; Jackson 1973). Some species of this genus are variable in color, particularly in the pronotum, which may be a result of mimicking different meliponine bees in different localities ( Jackson 1973). On the other hand, the general size, the structure of the head, the shape of the pronotum and tibiae, and, to a lesser extent, the color patterns on head, pronotum, and legs seem to be good features for separating species of Notocyrtus ( Carvalho & Costa 1992, 1993).

PLATE 7. Figs. 26–27. Orbella exceptio , male genitalia in situ, 26, lateral view, 27, posterior view.