Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Swanson, Daniel R., 2021, Four new species of Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville (Heteroptera: Reduviidae Harpactorinae) from the Neotropics, Zootaxa 4958 (1), pp. 366-379 : 367

Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843

Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843: 374 . Type species: Reduvius binotatus Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, 1825: 277 ; by monotypy.

Remarks: The following morphological description applies to all four species of Heza herein erected. If a character varied in one the four species, it was described individually for each species. This more general genus-level description does not necessarily apply to the whole of the genus Heza , as I have not examined and compared specimens of all species.

Description: Structure: Head. Elongate cylindrical, integument smooth, with short appressed pale setae and sparse erect setae. Anteocular region armed with spines behind antennae, clypeus roundly declivitous, mandibular plates roundly quadrate, somewhat acute and prominent apicoventrally. Interocular region with deep nearly straight transverse sulcus at posterior margin of eyes and shallow Y-shaped median sulcus in front. Postocular region with integument smooth, converging slightly and inconspicuously to neck. Neck smooth, slightly narrower than postocular region, unarmed. Ventral surface of head straight, except slightly tumid directly under eyes, unarmed. Antennae with segments cylindrical, scape slightly thicker than succeeding segments, with mostly short appressed to semi-erect setae. Eyes moderate-sized, reniform (posteriorly concave), glabrous, in lateral view not reaching base of interocular sulcus and nearly reaching ventral margin. Ocelli present, moderate-sized, raised on small tubercles, separated from each other by slightly more than twice diameter of ocellus, separated from eye by nearly diameter of ocellus. Rostrum curved, with sparse erect setae, otherwise glabrous.

Thorax. Pronotum with anterior pronotal lobe trapezoidal, integument smooth, disc armed with two spines or tubercles. Posterior pronotal lobe trapezoidal, integument transversely wrinkled, disc armed with two spines, humeral angle with single spine. Scutellum triangular, integument smooth, with central disc raised, unarmed, rounded apically. Postscutellum not visible. All pleura with smooth integument, covered with short appressed pale setae, unarmed. Propleuron punctate above procoxal cavity and transversely wrinkled in posterior half. Mesopleuron with plica distinct. All sterna with smooth integument, covered with short appressed pale setae, unarmed. Procoxal cavities of prosternum open posteriorly. Mesosternum with broadly sulcate medially. Insect macropterous, hemelytra slightly surpassing abdominal apex, slightly or not at all exposing connexiva.

Legs. Forelegs with procoxa roundly quadrate, contiguous, covered with short appressed pale setae and sparse longer erect setae, unarmed. Protrochanter unarmed, covered with short appressed pale setae and sparse longer erect setae but with dense patch of setae ventrally. Profemur cylindrical, thicker than other femora, unarmed, with dense linear patch of setae ventrally. Protibia cylindrical, unarmed, covered with short appressed pale setae and sparse longer erect setae on other faces, with dense linear series of setae ventrally, subapically with quadrate tubercle bearing setal antennal-cleaning comb dorsomesally. Protarsus three-segmented, cylindrical, sparsely setose above, more densely so ventrally. Tarsal claws appendiculate. Middle legs similar to fore legs, except mesofemur less thickened and ventral series of setae shorter and dense ventral patch of setae absent. Mesotibia straight, never curved. Mesocoxae closer to metacoxae than procoxae. Hind legs similar to middle legs, with metafemur not reaching abdominal apex.

Abdomen. Elongate oval, widest at sixth and seventh tergites. Connexiva of second tergite with short but distinct, apically-rounded, cylindrical tubercle, other connexiva unarmed. Venter convex, with second through fourth ventrite carinate medially, with short appressed pale setae and sparse longer erect setae generally distributed. Spiracles circular, near connexival margin and midway along segment.