Buninotus niger Maldonado Capriles, 1981

Gil-Santana, Hélcio R. & Oliveira, Jader, 2024, First record of Buninotus Maldonado Capriles and B. palikur Castro-Huertas, Forero & Melo from Brazil, with taxonomic notes (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Emesinae) and an updated key to the genera of Saicini of the New World, ZooKeys 1213, pp. 29-39 : 29-39

Buninotus niger Maldonado Capriles, 1981

Figs 1–5 , 6–8 , 9–15

Type material examined.

Buninotus niger . Female holotype: [printed label:] Panama-Chiriqui / Fortuna , 1050 m. / 8 44 ' N; 82 15 ' W, / [handwritten:]? 2 [printed:] - [handwritten:] July [printed:] - 197 [handwritten:] 7 / Henk Wolda // [handwritten label:] Buninotus / niger [in red:] TYPE / 1978 Maldonado // [printed red label:] HOLOTYPE // [printed label:] [at left side:] USNM _ ENT [at right side:] QR CODE / UCR_ENT 00008023 ; Female paratype: [printed label:] Panama-Chiriqui / Fortuna , 1050 m. / 8 44 ' N; 82 15 ' W, / [handwritten:] 10 [printed:] - [handwritten:] Nov [printed:] - 197 [handwritten:] 6 / Henk Wolda // [handwritten:] Buninotus / niger / Maldonado / [printed:] det. J. Maldonado C. [handwritten:] 81 // [printed label:] Drake Colln ex / J. Maldonado C. / Coll. 1996 // [printed red faded label:] PARATYPE // [printed label:] USNMENT / QR CODE / 01918179 ( NMNH) .

Maldonado Capriles (1981) described B. niger based on two females from Panama (Figs 1 – 7 , 9–14 ). It seems like the definition of the species coloration was primarily based on the holotype, which is deep blackish and aligns with other details recorded by Maldonado Capriles (1981) (Figs 1 – 7 ). In contrast, the paratype exhibits a general pale-brownish coloration that does not match the aforementioned description (Figs 9–14 ).

Castro-Huertas (2023) examined four females of Buninotus from Panama, also identified them as B. niger , and noted a dark-brownish general coloration.

Comments.

The holotype of B. niger exhibits a characteristic not observed in any other specimen of Buninotus so far: a deep blackish, piceous general coloration (Figs 1 – 6 ). In contrast, all other specimens of Buninotus display a general brownish coloration ( Castro-Huertas et al. 2023; Figs 16–20 ), including the paratype of B. niger (Figs 9 , 13 ). Additionally, the spiniform setae of the femur [only the left one was present when examined] are longer (Fig. 1 ) than those of the paratype (Fig. 9 ). Therefore, it is hypothesized here that the paratype of B. niger belongs to a different species than that of the holotype. In this case, the specimens identified by Castro-Huertas et al. (2023) as B. niger probably belong to this undescribed species. Finding more specimens, preferably including males, may help in confirming or disproving the hypothesis made here.

Distribution.

Panama.

Figures

Figures 1–5. Buninotus niger Maldonado Capriles, 1981, female holotype deposited in NMNH 1, 2 dorsal view 3–5 lateral view 2, 3 head 4 head, anterior portion of prothorax and fore coxa 5 upper portion of hind lobe of pronotum and meso- and metathorax. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (1); 0.5 mm (2–5).

Figures 6–8. Buninotus niger Maldonado Capriles, 1981, female holotype deposited in NMNH 6, 7 forewings, dorsal view 6 basal two thirds 7 basal third 8 labels. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (6, 7).

Figures 9–15. Buninotus niger Maldonado Capriles, 1981, female paratype deposited in NMNH 9, 10 dorsal view 10, 11 head 11, 12 lateral view 11 except upper surface 12 head and anterior portion of thorax 13, 14 dorsal view 13 pronotum 14 basal half of forewings 15 labels. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (9); 1.0 mm (14) 0.5 mm (12); 0.2 mm (10, 11, 13).

Figures 16–21. Buninotus palikur Castro-Huertas, Forero & Melo, 2022, female specimen from Brazil 16 dorsal view 17 anterior portion of head, prothorax and some portions of the legs, lateroventral view 18, 19 lateral view 18 anterior portion of prothorax 19 spine of mesoscutum and scutellum 20, 21 dorsal view 20 hind lobe of pronotum and forewings 21 left fore tibia. Scale bars: 3.0 mm (16); 1.0 mm (20) 0.5 mm (17, 19, 21); 0.2 mm (18).