Zelus aithaleos Zhang & Hart, 2016

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

Zelus aithaleos Zhang & Hart, 2016 sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00047314 ; recordedBy: J. C. Pallister; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusaithaleos; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Zhang & Hart, 2016; Location: country: PERU; stateProvince: Huanuco; locality: Aerro Puerto, Tingo Maria ; verbatimElevation: 671 m; decimalLatitude: -9.3; decimalLongitude: -76.01666; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2013; Event: eventDate: 1946-10-22; Record Level: institutionCode: AMNH Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00009327 ; recordedBy: L. Pena; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusaithaleos; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Zhang & Hart, 2016; Location: country: BOLIVIA; stateProvince: La Paz; locality: Guanay ; decimalLatitude: -15.4833; decimalLongitude: -67.8833; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2013; Event: eventDate: 1993-10-01 to 1993-11-01; Record Level: institutionCode: USNM Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00009328 ; recordedBy: L. Pena; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusaithaleos; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Zhang & Hart, 2016; Location: country: BOLIVIA; stateProvince: La Paz; locality: Guanay ; decimalLatitude: -15.4833; decimalLongitude: -67.8833; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2013; Event: eventDate: 1993-10-01 to 1993-11-01; Record Level: institutionCode: USNM Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00071251 ; recordedBy: Unknown; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusaithaleos; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Zhang & Hart, 2016; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: Goias; locality: Annapolis ; decimalLatitude: -16.3333; decimalLongitude: -48.9667; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2013; Event: eventDate: 1936-02-07; Record Level: institutionCode: TAMU Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00071252 ; recordedBy: Foerster; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusaithaleos; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Zhang & Hart, 2016; Location: country: PARAGUAY; stateProvince: Guaira; locality: Paso-Yobai ; verbatimElevation: 280 m; decimalLatitude: -25.72344; decimalLongitude: -55.9969; georeferenceSources: Google Earth; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2013; Event: eventDate: 1951-09-28; Record Level: institutionCode: TAMU

Description

Figs 16, 17, 18

Male: (Fig. 16) Medium-sized, total length 13.47 mm (n=1, Suppl. material 2); slender. COLORATION: Entirely dark, nearly black; inconspicuous, light-colored, thin, medial longitudinal stripe on postocular lobe. Membrane of hemelytron semi-translucent. VESTITURE: Densely setose. Dorsum of anteocular lobe with moderately dense, short, recumbent and sparse, short, erect, spine-like setae. Dorsum of postocular lobe nearly glabrous; spine-like setae anteriorly between eyes; stripe of longitudinal whitish recumbent setae laterally. Ventral surface of head with moderately dense, recumbent setae, intermixed with erect setae. Scape nearly glabrous. Pronotum with dense, short, erect, stout, spine-like setae, also on lateral surfaces and pleura; scutellum with dense, apically curved, stout setae. Legs with sparse setation. Sundew setae on profemur sparse. Abdomen with moderately dense, short, semi-erect, fine setae. Ventral surface of pypophore with sparse, long, erect setae; posteroventral rim with long, erect setae; Paramere apically with dense, short to long, erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Cylindrical, L/W = 2.30. Postocular lobe short; in dorsal view anteriorly gradually narrowing, posterior portion constant, slightly narrower. Eye moderately sized; dorsal margin attaining postocular transverse groove, ventral margin removed from ventral surface of head. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 1.7: 0.5. Basiflagellomere diameter slightly larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle rounded, without projection; medial longitudinal sulcus evident throughout, deepening posteriorly. Posterior pronotal lobe with rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle rounded, without projection. Scutellum long; apex angulate, slightly projected upward. 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. 17) Pygophore: Elongate ovoid; mid-lateral fold adjacent to paramere insertion; slightly expanded laterally near base of paramere in dorsal view. Medial process somewhat laterally compressed, cone-shaped; anterior and posterior surfaces angulate medially; long, nearly as long as paramere; posteriorly directed, nearly horizontal; basally slightly curved; apex in posterior view blunt, without modification. Paramere: Cylindrical; moderately long, not reaching apex of medial process; directed posteriad, slightly curved towards medial process; nearly straight; apical part slightly enlarged, depression along inner side. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite elongated; slightly constricted near middle; apical 1/3 of phallothecal sclerite tapering to apex, dorsal surface strongly convex; apex medially notched; posterior margin of foramen deeply concave. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically separate, connected by bridge; basally separate. Basal plate arm extremely slender; separate; subparallel; bridge short; extension of basal plate well developed, only slightly expanded laterally.

Female: Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 13.87-17.61 mm (mean 16.27 mm, Suppl. material 2). Abdomen expanded beyond margins of wings. Metafemoral diameter smallest, mesofemoral diameter significantly larger than that of profemur. Occasional specimens with orange posterior pronotal lobe and mesopleuron. Setae on some specimens golden.

Diagnosis

The nearly colorless cells of the membrane of the hemelytron contrast markedly with the dark veins, making Z. aithaleos an easily recognizable species in this genus. Also recognized by the following combination of characters: the postocular lobe short, 1.7x of the length of anteocular lobe in males and 1.2x in females; the anterior pronotal lobe short, abbreviated; the pronotum strongly convex; the humeral angle of pronotum rounded, unarmed; the cranium, the pronotum, the pleura and the scutellum with spinelike, short, stout setae (the last two characters also seen in the Zelus longipes species group and the Zelus vagans species group).

Males can also be recognized by the medial process laterally compressed, posteriorly directly and almost horizontal (also seen in the Zelus vagans species group). Within the Zelus vagans species group (Fig. 11), the medial process of Z. aithaleos is comparatively long, exceeding 1/2 length of the main body of the pygophore, whereas all other species in this group have the medial process less than 1/2 length of the pygophore. The basal plate arm is remarkably more slender than those in the same species group.

A unicolourous near-black dorsum, including the head, the pronotum and the corium, separates Z. aithaleos from both sexes of Z. gracilipes , Z. vagans , and Z. means (known from females only), all of which have some orange, yellow or reddish colors. The dark dorsal profile is shared with Z. championi (only the male is known) and Z. fuliginatus . A longitudinal lateral patch of whitish recumbent setae on the postocular lobe serves to separate this species from Z. fuliginatus . It is distinguished by a dark abdomen from Z. championi , which has a brightly red abdomen.

Etymology

From Greek aithales.

Distribution

South America (Fig. 18). Countries with specimen records: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.