Rhagovelia whitei (Breddin 1898)

Rodrigues, Juliana Mourão Dos Santos, Cordeiro, Isabelle Da Rocha Silva, Floriano, Carla Fernanda Burguez, Paiva, Nathália De Oliveira, Magalhães, Oséias Martins, Júnior, Evaldo Alves Joaquim, Martins, Thaynara De Souza, Silva, Rafaella Cardoso Da, Siqueira, Gabriel Vieira, Salles, Frederico Falcão, Viala, Séverine, Khila, Abderrahman & Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, 2023, Descriptions of new species and new records of water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha & Nepomorpha) from southeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 5393 (1), pp. 1-86 : 69-70

Rhagovelia whitei (Breddin 1898)

Fig. 49A, B, D

Diagnosis. Member of the whitei group ( Moreira et al. 2012). Body length 4.0– 4.1 mm; major portion of male meso- and metacetabula not covered by black denticles; male hind femur usually enormously incrassate (Moreira 2012).

Comments. Among other characters, Polhemus (1997) distinguished R. scitula and R. whitei based on the color of the central marks on abdominal mediotergites V–VII. They would be yellowish-brown in the former species and dark-brown in the latter. However, we examined specimens that conform to R. whitei both with lighter ( Fig. 49A ) and darker ( Fig. 49B ) marks.

New records. BRAZIL — Minas Gerais • São Sebastião do Oeste , Trindade Waterfall; −20.2594, −44.9158; 02. V.2015; FFF Moreira, IRS Cordeiro , A Khila, S Viala leg.; 1 male, CEIOC 27941 • Pimenta , stream in farm; −20.6003, −45.8150; 30. IV.2015; FFF Moreira, IRS Cordeiro , A Khila, S Viala leg.; 21 males, CEIOC 27939 .— Rio de Janeiro • Casimiro de Abreu / Silva Jardim, Aldeia Velha, Andorinhas Waterfall; −22.4342, −42.2934; 25. III.2015; FFF Moreira, IRS Cordeiro , JMS Rodrigues, TS Martins leg.; 1 male, CEIOC 27940 .

Distribution in Brazil. BA, GO, MG, MS, MT, PA, RJ*, SP.

Figures

FIGURE 49. Collected specimens (A–C), and distribution in southeastern Brazil and adjacent areas (D, E). Gerromorpha, Veliidae. A, B. Rhagovelia whitei, apterous males from Pimenta, Minas Gerais (−20.6003, −45.8150), genital capsules removed. C. Rhagovelia zela, apterous male from Macaé, Rio de Janeiro (−22.3173, −42.1859). D. Rhagovelia whitei. E. Rhagovelia zela. Stars indicate new records; circles indicate previous records. Scale bars: 2 mm.