Mesovelia mulsanti White, 1879

Canejo, Rafael P. R., Melo, Alan Lane De & Rodrigues, Higor D. D., 2023, Gerromorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, including a new synonymy, Zootaxa 5357 (2), pp. 151-185 : 174

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) .

Figures

FIGURE 14. Species of Mesovelia from state of Rio Grande do Norte. (A–C) Mesovelia amoena, (A) dorsal view of apterous female, (B) dorsal and (C) ventral views of macropterous female. (D–J) Mesovelia mulsanti, (D) dorsal view of apterous female, (E) dorsal and (F) ventral views of macropterous male, (G–H) ventral view of male abdomen apex showing variations in distance between packed clusters of black spinules on male abdominal sternum VIII, white arrow indicates packed of black spinules, (I–J) dorsal view of mesofemur showing variations in number of ventral black spinules. Scale bars = 1.00 mm.

FIGURE 15. Distribution records for species of Gerromorpha in state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil.