Gerromorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, including a new synonymy Author Canejo, Rafael P. R. 0000-0003-4296-8936 Departamento de Biologia Celular e Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil. & Laboratório de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. & rafaelcanejo 17 @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 4296 - 8936 rafaelcanejo17@gmail.com Author Melo, Alan Lane De 0000-0001-7118-7210 Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. & aldemelo @ icb. ufmg. br; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7118 - 7210 aldemelo@icb.ufmg.br Author Rodrigues, Higor D. D. 0000-0002-9649-4142 Laboratório de Entomologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. & higorddr @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 9649 - 4142 higorddr@gmail.com text Zootaxa 2023 2023-10-18 5357 2 151 185 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5357.2.1 journal article 273362 10.11646/zootaxa.5357.2.1 c39430f3-fede-41b0-ac9b-1b067676d6ea 1175-5326 10017897 053C3B6A-8D97-4DB2-AA2B-863B6DE6053F Mesovelia mulsanti White, 1879 ( Figs. 14D–J , 15 ) Mesovelia mulsanti White, 1879b: 268 (original description). Identification. Our specimens were identified based on the row of black spinules on the ventral surface of the middle femur ( Figs. 14D–F, I, J ), as well as a pair of tightly-packed cluster of black spinules on male abdominal sternum VIII ( Figs. 14G–H ) ( Moreira et al . 2008 ; Floriano et al . 2016a ). Discussion. This species is distributed across the American continent, occurring from southern Canada to Argentina ( Moreira et al . 2008 ) .As is common in widely distributed species, M. mulsanti has a series of intraspecific variations, which were studied by Neering (1954) . In that study, the author found variation in the black spines on the ventral surface of the middle femur, the pair of tightly-packed clusters of black spinules on male abdominal sternum VIII, the male paramere, and the lobes and prongs of female abdominal sternum VII. In the specimens examined in the present study, we observed variation in the number of spines on the middle femur ( Figs. 14I–J ), in the distance between the pair of tightly-packed clusters of black spinules on the male abdominal sternum VIII ( Figs. 14G–H ), and in the shape of the paramere. Material examined. BRAZIL , Rio Grande do Norte: Caicó , Represa Itans , 6°29’19.1”S 37°03’52.7”W , 9- XI-2018 , A.L. Melo leg. (2♂, 3♀ apterous, 1♂ macropterous, DPIC ) ; Canguaretama , Rio Curimataú , 6°24’13.7”S , 35°08’03.8”W , 31-X-2020 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. ( 1♀ apterous, 4♂, 3♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Ceará-Mirim , Rio Ceará-Mirim , 5°37’50.4”S , 35°25’16.9”W , 03-XI-2018 , 21-IX-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (2♂, 2♀ apterous, 5♂, 2♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Extremoz , poça temporária próxima ao rio Ceará-Mirim , 5°40’40.4”S , 35°13’19.8”W , 14-V-2018 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (4♂, 3♀ apterous, 3♂, 5♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Extremoz , Lagoa Azul , 5°42’49.4”S , 35°18’45.5”W , 03-XI-2018 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (1♂, 1♀ macropterous, 2♀ apterous CEAAVF ) ; Extremoz , Rio Doce , divisa Natal / Extremoz , 5°43’09.5”S , 35°13’59.5”W , 11-I-2020 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (3♂ apterous CEAAVF ) ; Extremoz , CTA - Manguezal , 5°40’42.6”S , 35°14’28.2”W , 22-X-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (1♂ macropterous, 1♂, 5♀ apterous CEAAVF ) ; Genipabu , APA de Genipabu , 5°42’12.2”S , 35°12’26.4”W , 10- IX-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (8♂, 15♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Itajá , açude em Itajá , 5°43’36.0”S , 36°46’20.9”W , 02-X-2020 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (14♂, 5♀ apterous, 2♂, 2♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Natal , Rio Pitimbu , EMPARN , 5°55’18.7”S , 35°11’42.4”W , 15-V-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. ( 1♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Natal , Rio Pitimbu - BR101 , 5°52’48.1”S , 35°13’32.6”W , 22-XII-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (1♂ macropterous, 1♀ apterous CEAAVF ) ; Natal , lagoas de captação da Av. Ayrton Senna , 5°52’04.9”S , 35°12’26.6”W , 27-X-2018 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. ( 1♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Parnamirim , Rio Pitimbu , Vale Encantado , 5°55’41.1”S , 35°10’46.5”W , 13-VII-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. ( 1♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Macaíba , Riacho do Sangue , 5°51’58.5”S , 35°21’46.1”W , 15- XII-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (19♂, 15♀ apterous, 6♂, 2♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Nísia Floresta , riacho beira da praia de Búzios , 6°00’55.3”S , 35°06’32.2”W , 20-IX-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (25♂, 44♀ apterous, 10♂, 4♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Nísia Floresta , lagoa na FLONA , 6°04’31.8”S , 35°10’37.0”W , 28-VI-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. ( 1♀ apterous CEAAVF ) ; Parnamirim , Riacho Taborda , 5°57’14.3”S , 35°09’41.7”W , 20-IX-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. ( 1♀ apterous, 4♂, 5♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Poço Branco , Rio Ceará-Mirim - represa, 5°38’00.5”S , 35°39’11.0”W , 21-IX-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. ( 1♀ apterous, 3♂, 8♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Santa Cruz , Riacho após açude, 6°13’20.4”S , 36°01’46.5”W , 26-IX-2020 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (8♂, 12♀ apterous, 2♂ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Santana do Matos , Açude Alecrim , 5°57’51.3”S , 36°39’26.0”W , 28-XI-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (5♂, 3♀ apterous CEAAVF ) ; São José de Mipibu , Lagoa BR-101 RN, 6°00’17.0”S , 35°15’30.9”W , 12-XI-2021 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (5♂, 1♀ apterous, 1♂ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Serra de São Bento , poças d’água nas rochas, 6°25’07.4”S , 35°42’22.4”W , 13-VIII-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (7♂, 5♀ apterous, 12♂, 12♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Serra de São Bento , Riacho Macacos , 6°24’30.8”S , 35°41’45.1”W , 13-VIII-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (10♂, 8♀ apterous, 24♂, 12♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Serra de São Bento , Riacho Macacos , 6°24’32.8”S , 35°41’29.5”W , 13-VIII-2022 , R .P. R . Canejo leg. (2♂, 1♀ apterous, 3♂, 1♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Serra Negra do Norte, açude do rio Espinharas , 6°40’31.0”S , 37°23’02.4”W , 08-XI-2018 , A.L. Melo leg. (7♂, 11♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; same data, except 26-IX-2019 (5♂, 4♀ ) ; Tabatinga , lago ao lado do condomínio Mar de Tabatinga , 6°03’59.5”S , 35°06’00.4”W , 20-IX-2019 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (2♂ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Touros , Lagoa do Boqueirão , 5°16’31.2”S , 35°33’31.4”W , 02-XI-2018 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (7♂, 1♀ apterous, 17♂, 5♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) ; Touros , Lagoa da Capivara , 5°11’50.7”S , 35°28’26.7”W , 02-XI-2018 , R .P. R . Canejo , A.L. Melo leg. (8♂, 2♀ apterous, 3♂, 2♀ macropterous CEAAVF ) .