Taurocerus Amyot & Serville, 1843

Jocélia Grazia & Aline Barcellos, 2005, Revision of Taurocerus (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Pentatomini), Iheringia, Série Zoologia 95 (2), pp. 173-181 : 174-175

Taurocerus Amyot & Serville, 1843

Taurocerus AMYOT & SERVILLE, 1843:151 ; DALLAS, 1851:302 (list); WALKER, 1867:391 (list); STÅL, 1867:531 (key); 1872:46; LETHIERRY & SEVERIN, 1893:185 (cat.); KIRKALDY, 1909:150 (cat.); ROLSTON et al., 1980:121 (key).

Canaca WALKER, 1867:404 .

Canoca (sic); KIRKALDY, 1909:150 (cat.).

Type-species: Taurocerus edessoides Amyot & Serville (= Taurocerus achilles Stål, 1862 ), by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Medium to large-sized species. First antennal segment not surpassing apex of head ( fig. 1 ). Jugae shorter than clypeus. Rostrum reaching third to fourth abdominal sternite; first rostral segment projected beyond bucculae. Bucculae anteriorly truncate and posteriorly lobed. Anterior half of pronotum strongly declivent. Humeri strongly produced laterad or anterolaterad, apices not-spinose. Femora distally armed with one dorsal and 1+1 lateral blackish spines. Tibiae dorsally sulcated. Ostiolar rugae short, digitiform. Mesosternum slightly more elevated than metasternum, nearly continuous in profile with it. Metasternum sligthly elevated, compressed. Abdominal venter with a mesial, longitudinal keel; third sternite with a stout median tubercle, apposed to posterior margin of metasternum. Ventral surface of pygophore with 1 + 1 lateral, concave areas. Genital plates tumid. Spiracles of gonocoxites 8 visible. Laterotergites 9 surpassing transverse band linking laterotergites 8.

Description. Head. Jugae shorter than clypeus, apices rounded; outer margins sinuated, convergent toward clypeus. First antennal segment not surpassing apex of head. Rostrum reaching third to fourth abdominal sternite; first rostral segment projected beyond bucculae. Bucculae anteriorly truncate and posteriorly lobed.

Pronotum. Anterior half of the disc strongly declivent. Anterior border slightly concave. Antero-lateral angles toothed. Antero-lateral borders crenulated, more strongly on anterior half. Humeri strongly produced laterad or antero-laterad, apex posteriorly directed (laterally in T. abruptus). Posterolateral borders sinuated, concave on the anterior half and slightly convex posterad. Posterior border rectilinear. Medium-sized punctures distributed more densely around cicatrices and on posterior half of the disc.

Scutellum. Coarse punctures irregularly distributed over basal half, decreasing in size toward apex. Apex with a V-shaped, yellowish callous, variable intraspecifically. In most of the specimens of T. edessoides, the arms of “V” are broad and closer to each other, making it cordiform in appearance; in some specimens, however, the “V” is faded. In T. achilles and the holotype of T. abruptus, the callus is thinner than in T. edessoides. In T. amazonensis sp. nov., the callous is also variable.

Hemelytra. Area between claval suture and R + M vein dull, with small punctures homogeneously distributed. Clavus and costal area shiny, coarsely punctured. Membrane with 12 to 15 longitudinal, parallel veins.

Legs. Femora distally armed with one dorsal and 1+1 lateral blackish spines. Tibiae dorsally sulcated.

Ventral surface of thorax castaneous, more coarsely and densely puntured on ventral surface of prothorax, mesepimeron and metepisternum. Prosternum flat; mesosternum slightly more elevated, almost continuous with metasternum in profile. Metasternum sligthly elevated, laterally compressed; anterior margin entire, posterior margin slightly concave. Ostiolar rugae short, digitiform, reaching about 1/7 to 1/8 of the distance from inner margin of ostiole to lateral margins of metapleura.

Abdominal venter with a mesial, longitudinal keel; surface rarely punctured. Third sternite with a stout median tubercle, apposed to posterior margin of the metasternum. Tricobothria distributed on a longitudinal imaginary line across the middle of spiracles. Apical angles of connexivum acute, blackish.

Male genitalia. Pygophore subtrapezoidal to quadrangular. Dorsal rim slightly sinuous. X segment trapezoidal, wider basally. Parameres well-developed. Ventral rim excavated medially, with a median process, varying from an inconspicuous to acute tubercle; lateromedially, 1 + 1 processes, variable in shape and size. Posterolateral angles of pygophore mutic or with a small, acute tubercle. Phallus. Conjunctiva present, bearing or not processes. Phallotheca with 1 + 1 long and slender ventral processes. Ductus seminis distalis surpassing or not conjunctiva. Vesica with a ventral process, not visible in T. achilles.

Female genitalia. Genital plates tumid. Sutural borders of gonocoxites 8 convergent toward apex; posterior borders sligthly to conspicuously concave. Spiracles on laterotergites 8 present. Laterotergites 8 with acute, blackish apex. Laterotergites 9 much shorter than laterotergites 8, rounded at apex, surpassing transversal band linking laterotergites 8. Gonapophyses 9 with a mesial and 1 + 1 lateral, secondary thickenings variable interespecifically in shape. Pars intermedialis with a median constriction; annular crests convergent to each other; capsula seminalis with three tooth-like projections.

Distribution. MEXICO (Veracruz), GUATEMALA (Alta Verapaz), COSTA RICA (Guanacaste), PANAMA (Panama, Canal Zone), GUYANA (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), BRAZIL (Amazonas, Pará, Acre, Rondônia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo), COLOMBIA (Distrito Capital, Meta, Amazonas), ECUADOR (Napo), PERU (Loreto, Amazonas, San Martin, Ucayali, Huánuco, Madre de Dios, Junín, Cuzco), BOLIVIA (Cochabamba).

Comments. The apical spines at femora, the mesial tubercle on third sternite, apposed to metasternal carena, and the morphological pattern of the phallus, make Taurocerus similar to Arvelius Spinola , from which can be distinguished by the darker general color, jugae apically rounded, shorter than clypeus; bucculae lobed posteriorly; obtuse apex of humeri, and, on ventral rim of the pygophore, the presence of a median and two lateromedian processes.

Key to species of Taurocerus .

1. Apex of humeri black ................................................. 2

Apex of humeri yellowish ......................................... 3

2. General color castaneous. Humeral angles somewhat curved, directed antero-laterad. Gonocoxites 8 almost rectangular, two and a half wider than long ( fig. 25 ) ................................ Taurocerus achilles Stål, 1862

General color reddish to dark reddish-castaneous. Humeral angles almost straigth, directed laterad ( fig. 2 ). Gonocoxites 8 quadrangular, one and a half wider than long ( fig. 3 ) ............................................................ ............................ Taurocerus abruptus ( Walker, 1867)

3. Ventral rim of pygophore with an inconspicuous median tubercle and lateral-median processes truncate ( fig. 11 ). Apex of parameres slightly curved laterad ( fig. 8 ) .......................... Taurocerus amazonensis sp. nov.

Ventral rim of pygophore with a conspicuous and acute median tubercle; latero-median processes conical ( fig. 12 ). Apex of parameres strongly curved ventrad ( fig. 9 ) ................ Taurocerus edessoides ( Spinola, 1837)

Figures

Fig. 1. Taurocerus amazonensis sp. nov., holotype. Scale bar, 2 mm.

Figs. 25-26. Genital plates, ventral view: 25, T. achilles Stål, 1862; 26, T. edessoides (Spinola, 1837) (gc8, gonocoxite 8; gc9; gonocoxites 9; la8, laterotergite 8; la9, laterotergite 9; VII, seventh abdominal sternite; X, tenth segment). Scale bar, 1 mm.

Figs. 2-3. Taurocerus abruptus (Walker, 1867), holotype: 2, dorsal aspect; 3, genital plates, ventral view (gc8, gonocoxite 8; gc9; gonocoxites 9; la8, laterotergite 8; la9, laterotergite 9; VII, seventh abdominal sternite; X, tenth segment).

Figs. 4-12. Pygophore, respectively dorsal, caudal and ventral views: 4, 7, 10, Taurocerus achilles Stål, 1862; 5, 8, 11, Taurocerus amazonensis sp. nov.; 6, 9, 12, Taurocerus edessoides (Spinola, 1837) (dr, dorsal rim; lmp, lateral-median process; mp, median process; pa, paramere; vr, ventral rim; X, tenth segment). Scale bar, 1 mm.