Brachysandalus wroughtoni ( Bergroth, 1915 ) Swanson, 2019

Swanson, Daniel R., 2019, Doomed to a vile lot: new taxa, notes, and an updated generic key for the Old World corsairs (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Peiratinae), Zootaxa 4700 (2), pp. 196-228 : 199-201

Brachysandalus wroughtoni ( Bergroth, 1915) comb. nov.

( Fig. 3 )

Lestomerus wroughtoni Bergroth, 1915: 177 .

Lestomerus wroughtoni: Putshkov & Putshkov, 1987: 127 .

Lestomerus wroughtoni: Maldonado Capriles, 1990: 361 .

Lestomerus wroughtoni: Ambrose, 2006: 2402 .

Bergroth (1915) described L. wroughtoni from India, a species unmentioned in the literature since description, other than catalogs and faunal lists (i.e., Putshkov & Putshkov 1987, Maldonado Capriles 1990; Ambrose 2006). Hereto- fore, it is one of three species of Lestomerus Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 known from India ( Ambrose 2006), the other two being Lestomerus affinis ( Audinet-Serville, 1831) ( Fig. 26 ) and Lestomerus sanctus ( Fabricius, 1787) ( Fig. 31 ).

Material Examined. S. INDIA: Pondicherry St., Karikal, October 1963, P. S. Nathan, det. D. R. Swanson 2019, AMNH _ICZ 00321067 [1 female] ( AMNH); idem. July 1964, det. D. R. Swanson 2019, AMNH _IZC 00321066, 00321068, 00321069, 00321070 [3 males, 1 female] ( AMNH).

Remarks. Examination of a series of peiratines from southern India initially identified as a disjunct population of Brachysandalus bicolor were found to largely agree with Bergroth’s original description of L. wroughtoni . Type material of Lestomerus wroughtoni is not present in MZH, where much of Bergroth’s collection is located (H. Viljanen, pers. comm., 2019), thereby preventing further confirmation of the identity. Thus, they were identified as L. wroughtoni . Even so, based on comparison with the specimens of Brachysandalus bicolor , the specimens from southern India are morphologically similar to that taxon, differing in intraspecifically variable posterior pronotal angles (see below), ventral mesofemoral setation (thinner brush-like setae in L. wroughtoni vs. thicker spinous setae in B. bicolor ), and the slightly smaller size (male: 13, female: 13–14 mm in L. wroughtoni vs. male: 14, female: 15–16 mm in B. bicolor ). Additionally, the color pattern of L. wroughtoni differs in possessing occasionally medially infuscate femora (mentioned in original description, vs. wholly pale in B. bicolor ) and a blackish venter (vs. testaceous in B. bicolor ). Given this close similarity to B. bicolor , coupled with Bergroth’s remarks, viz. “narrower head, narrower and much less prominent eyes…unarmed middle femora”, which are characters that better match species of Brachysandalus , this species is hereby transferred from Lestomerus to Brachysandalus , resulting in Brachysandalus wroughtoni ( Bergroth, 1915) comb. nov.

The large geographical disjunction between B. bicolor and purported congeners has always been vexing, and the updated generic assignment of Bergroth’s species narrows the gap between B. bicolor and the Southeast Asian and Australasian species of Brachysandalus . Examination of other peiratines from that region, particularly in the genus Lestomerus , might reveal additional species that belong in Brachysandalus .

The posterior margin of the pronotum varies from smoothly convex to possessing small rounded posterior angles in the examined series of this species ( Fig. 3 E–H). To my knowledge, such intraspecific variability of the posterior pronotal margin is previously unknown in Peiratinae .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Brachysandalus wroughtoni comb. nov.: (A) adult male, dorsal habitus; (B) adult female, dorsal habitus; (C) adult male, lateral habitus; (D) adult female, lateral habitus; (E–H) posterior pronotal lobe, highlighting posterior margin. Scale bar =2 mm.

FIGURES 24–32. Dorsal habitus of various Peiratinae, continued: (24) Ectomocoris tibialis, adult female; (25) Ectomocoris vishnu, adult female; (26) Lamotteus ornatus, adult male; (27) Lestomerus affinis, adult male; (28) Lestomerus basilewksyi, adult male; (29) Lestomerus dubius, adult female; (30) Lestomerus femoralis, adult male; (31) Lestomerus funebris, adult male; (32) Lestomerus sanctus, adult female. Scale bar =2 mm.