Montina testacea (Stål, 1859)

(Figs 21; 22; 25E; 27E; 29E; 39; 42)

Ploeogaster testaceus Stål, 1859: 197 (new species).

Aristippus testaceus: STÂL (1868): 99 (new generic placement, key).

Montina (Aristippus) testacea: STÂL (1872): 74 (checklist, new generic placement, Aristippus as subgenus).

Montina testacea: LETHIERRY & SEVERIN (1896): 195 (catalog); MALDONADO (1990): 235 (catalog).

Type locality. Brazil, Bahia.

Type material. LECTOTYPE (here designated): [BRAZIL]: 1 ♀, (green label) “ Bahia Tello. Fr. ” / “ Ploeogaster testaceus Stål ” / (red label) Typus / 2564 / Lectotype Ploeogaster testaceus Stål, 1859 Desig. by A. MejíaSoto & D. Forero (ZMHB). PARALECTOTYPE. [SURINAM?]: 1♀, (green label) “ Surin. Volxem ” / “* Ploeogaster testaceus Stål ♀” / (red label) Paratypus / “ 2564 ” (ZMHB).

Other specimens examined. COLOMBIA: META: 1 ♂, La Macarena; 25 Mar 1997; L. Solórzano leg.; UNAB No. 4858 (UNAB); 2 ♀♀, Villavicencio,vía Puerto Colombia, Finca El Naranjal; 4°2′91″N, 73°36′15″W; 150 m; Dic 1997; J. G. Molano leg.; ICN 027674, ICN: 027670 (ICN); 1 ♀, Llanos orientales; Jun 1950; Medem leg.; ICN 029951 (ICN); 1 ♀, Puerto López; 300 m; 18 Mar 1993; D. Díaz leg.; [colecta] manual; MPUJ _ENT0061389 (MPUJ); 1 ♀, Puerto López, Remolinos, Cafam llanos [Puerto López,Remolinos,Centro Cafam Llanos, ~ 55km W Puerto Gaitán]; [04.2751°N 72.5408°W]; 140 m; 20 Abr 2011; Coral et al. leg.; [colecta] manual; MPUJ _ENT0058578 (MPUJ); 1 ♂, Puerto Gaitán, Hacienda Yamato; 4°31′29.8″N, 71°48′29.8″W; 105 m; 2–9 Nov 1996; D. Forero leg.; MPUJ _ENT0058572 (MPUJ).

Diagnosis. Total length, female 24.0– 24.5 mm (n = 3), male 19.4–20.1 mm (n = 2). General coloration red to dark red; membrane translucent yellow (Figs 21B, D); scutellum apically pale red; tubercle of anterior pronotal lobe slightly curved anteriad, slender, subcylindrical and apically obtuse (Fig. 21E), posterior pronotal lobe elevation of carina very prominent and truncated (Fig. 21E); posterolateral process acute (Figs 21B, D); margin of connexivum nearly straight (Figs 21A, C), connexivum with dorsal laterotergites black with lateral margin pale yellow (Figs 21B, D), ventral laterotergites uniformly colored (Figs 21A, C); abdominal sternites with an area of erect black setae near the posterior margin of segments 3–7, surrounding setae decumbent and golden which in males can be of silver coloration (Figs 21F, G).

Differential diagnosis. Montina testacea is similar to M. confusa because of the overall red coloration (Figs 7B, D; 21B, D), but it can be separated from it because in M. testacea the scutellum is elongated apically, the tubercles of the anterior lobe of the pronotum are subcylindrical (Fig. 21E), the ventral laterotergites are uniformly colored (Figs 21A, C, F), and the abdominal sternites have a conspicuous cluster of black erect setae (Figs 21F, G). On the other hand, in M. confusa the scutellum is apically rounded (Fig. 7F), the tubercles of the anterior lobe of the pronotum have a preapical constriction and markedly globose apically (Fig. 7E), the ventral laterotergites 3–5 have a black band on the lateral half contrasting with the pale yellow on the medial half (Figs 7A, C), and the abdominal sternites have uniform golden decumbent setae (Figs 7A, C). In addition, in M. testacea the medial process of the pygophore is nearly parallel (Fig. 22C), whereas in M. confusa it is basally much wider than the apex (Figs 8A, C).

Distribution. Brazil (STÂL 1859), Suriname, and Colombia (Meta), with records from 100–300 m (Fig. 42).

Remark on types. STÂL (1859) described Ploeogaster testaceus from an undefined number of female specimens from “Brasilia”, and he did not indicate where the depository was of these specimens. At ZMHB we found three specimens that are under “ testaceus ” and are labelled as types. We are selecting one female as the lectotype because it fits its description, and it bears a label of “Bahia” (Fig. 39). One of the other specimens is designated as a paralectotype, because it fits the description, although it has a label from “Surin.” (probably Surinam). The third specimen, though, despite having a similar reddish coloration and a label indicating that this is a “ testaceus ” specimen, does not match certain diagnostic characters for the species, such as the setal area on the abdominal sternites, and more importantly the coloration of the ventral laterotergites. In this specimen the coloration of the dorsal laterotergites is as in M. distincta, where the lateral half of each connexival segment is pale yellow and the medial half is black. Furthermore, this specimen bears a label from “ Para ” which is the same locality as the lectotype of M. distincta . Therefore, we are assigning this specimen to the type series of M. distincta (see above).