Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus Berg, 1879

Viana, Renata Santos, Franco, Cleilton L., Ramos, Aiala Alana P., Mariano, Rodolfo, Silva De Azevêdo, Carlos A. & Stefanello, Fabiano, 2023, Pelocoris Stål, 1876 of northeastern Brazil (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Naucoridae) first records and a key to the species, Zootaxa 5375 (2), pp. 193-213 : 194-196

Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus Berg, 1879

Naucoris binotulatus Stål, 1860: 83 (original description)

Pelocoris nigriculus Berg, 1879: 188 (original description)

Pelocoris binotulatus : Kirkaldy & Torre Bueno, 1909: 184 (combination change)

Pelocoris (Pelocoris) binotulatus nigriculus López-Ruf, 1989: 720–724

( Figs. 1 , 7A, 7G , 8A , 9A , 10A , 11A , 13 )

Diagnosis: Body length 8.5−9.8 mm; hemelytra punctate, dark-brown with irregular yellowish markings and scutellum mostly black, with only the posterior corner yellowish ( Figs. 1A, C ) ( López-Ruf 1994); male abdominal tergum VII with two small rounded lobes medially ( Fig. 7A ); phallosoma with lateral margins slightly converging to apex ( Fig. 7G ) (Rodrigues et al., unpublished data).

Material examined: All specimens macropterous. 5 males and 3 females, BRAZIL, Maranhão, Aldeias Altas municipality, Faz. São Raimundo , 4°37'48.1"S 43°28'11.4"W, 21.VII.2017, 02.VIII.2019, C. A. S. Azevêdo coll., LEAq 00227, 00233, C. L. Franco, 2022 det .; 1 male 1 female, Poção stream, 4°40'26.4"S 43°32'27.6"W, 20.VII.2022, LEAq 00234, C. L. Franco, 2022 det . 1 male, Caxias municipality, Batatal stream, 4°57'42.0"S 43°23'21.0"W, 07.VIII.2019, C. L. Franco et al. colls., LEAq 00116, C. L. Franco, 2022 det .; 2 males and 1 female, Buriti do Meio pool, 4°54'28.96"S 43°06'45.42"W, 21.XI.2018 and 14.VII.2017, LEAq 00241, 00244, R. S. Viana, 2022 det .; 1 male, Ponte stream, 4°52'43.40"S 43°21'53.62"W, 23.VIII.2013, LEAq 00248, R. S. Viana, 2022 det .; 1 female, Primavera stream, 4°50'32.5"S 43°29'29.3"W, 06.VIII.2019, C. L. Franco et al. colls., LEAq 00109, C. L. Franco, 2022 det .; 6 males and 6 females, Riachão stream, 4°54'36"S 43°7'1.2"W, 20. VI.2013, LEAq 00220, C. L. Franco, 2022 det .; 1 male, Seixo stream, 4°53'43.4"S 43°20'11.7"W, 23.VIII.2013, LEAq 00251, R. S. Viana, 2022 det .; 2 males, Soledade stream, 4°53'29.2"S 43°25'16.4"W, 20.VIII.2014, LEAq 00352−00353, R. S. Viana, 2022 det . 1 male, Codó municipality, Baixa Grande II stream, 4°43'55.2"S 43°42'21.6"W, 29.IX.2022, C. C. Martins, F. B. S. Barros, M. A. G. Almeida, R. S. Viana colls., LEAq 00254, R. S. Viana, 2022 det . 2 males and 3 females, Parnarama municipality, Bueiro stream, 5°41'53"S 43°12'0"W, 14.VII.2022, C. L. Franco, F. Stefanello, R. S. Viana colls., LEAq 00235−00236, C. L. Franco, 2022 det .

Distribution: ARGENTINA ( Berg 1879). BOLIVIA ( Moreira et al. 2011). BRAZIL ( Melo & Nieser 2004): Maranhão *, Minas Gerais ( Melo & Nieser 2004) ( Fig. 13 ). COLOMBIA ( Morales-Castaño & Molano-Rendón 2008).

Comments: The subspecies P. b. nigriculus shares some morphological characteristics with P. poeyi , such as size and the coloration of the scutellum and hemelytra ( Fig. 4 ); however, they differ in the shape of the phallosoma since P. poeyi presents the right lateral margin widened ( Fig. 7J ) (Rodrigues et al., pers. comm.). It is not possible to differentiate between the females of these two species based on external morphology and genitalia because both have the third abdominal sternum with a low median carina ( Fig. 8A ), the female subgenital plate posterior margin is shallowly concave medially ( Figs. 9A, D ), abdominal tergum VIII is trapezoidal with the distal portion almost flat ( Figs. 10A, D ), and valvulae 1 are entirely dentate along the dorsal and lateral margins ( Figs. 11A, D ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal and ventral habitus of Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus. (A–B): male; (C–D) female. Scale bar: 2 mm.

FIGURE 4. Dorsal and ventral habitus of Pelocoris poeyi. (A–B): male; (C–D) female. Scale bar: 2 mm.

FIGURE 7. (A–F): Male abdominal terga VI and VII.A, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; B, P. bipunctulus; C, P. magister; D, P. poeyi; E, P. politus; F, P. subflavus. (G–L): Male genital capsule and phallosoma. G, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; H, P. bipunctulus; I, P. magister; J, P. poeyi; K, P. politus; L, P. subflavus.

FIGURE 8. (A–D): Lateral view of abdominal sterna. A, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; B, P. bipunctulus; C, P. magister; D, P. politus. Arrows indicate condition of median carina at sternum III. (E–F): Dorsal view of abdomen showing the lateral margins. E, P. bipunctulus; F, P. subflavus. Arrows indicate posterolateral corner of tergum III.

FIGURE 9. Female subgenital plate, ventral view. A, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; B, P. bipunctulus; C, P. magister; D, P. poeyi; E, P. politus; F, P. subflavus. Arrows indicate the median concavity of the posterior margin.

FIGURE 10. Female abdominal tergum VIII, dorsal view.A, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; B, P. bipunctulus; C, P. magister; D, P. poeyi; E, P. politus; F, P. subflavus. Arrows indicate different conditions of the posterior margin.

FIGURE 11. Female valvulae 1 and valvulae 2, dorsal view. A, Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus; B, P. bipunctulus; C, P. magister; D, P. poeyi; E, P. politus; F, P. subflavus. Arrows indicate different conditions in the valvulae.

FIGURE 13. Distribution of Pelocoris binotulatus nigriculus and P. bipunctulus in Brazil.