Fusius hflavus ( Reuter, 1881 ) Liu & Li & Cai, 2023

Liu, Yingqi, Li, Hu & Cai, Wanzhi, 2023, Taxonomic revision of the African assassin bug genus Fusius (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Peiratinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 910, pp. 25-55 : 42-45

Fusius hflavus ( Reuter, 1881) stat. rev. et comb. nov.

Figs 10–11

Pirates (Fusius) H-flavum Reuter, 1881: 310. Type locality: Gabon.

Fusius hargreavesi Miller, 1957: 62 . Type locality: Sierra Leone: Njala. Syn. nov.

Pirates H-flavum – Lethierry & Severin 1896: 125.

Fusius rubricosus var. H. flavum – Villiers 1948: 237.

Fusius hargreavesi – Villiers 1963: 514. — Maldonado Capriles 1990: 358.

Fusius rubricosus var. H-flavum – Dispons 1969: 2.

Diagnosis

Body color black and yellowish brown in large part; anterior lobe of pronotum black with yellowish brown stripes that are thin and obscure, or only anterior margin of anterior lobe yellowish brown; legs dark brown, apices of coxae, bases of trochanters, and apex of fore femur with irregular yellow markings, basal half of hind femur yellow; fore and hind tibiae with basal half yellow and apical half dark brown, mid tibia dark brown except most base yellow; clavus blackish brown except most base yellowish brown; sub-apical margin of sixth abdominal sternite of male strongly sclerotized and distinctly irregular; median pygophore process somewhat fusiform with basal part narrower than middle part, apical half twisted in caudal view, inner side of apex with a small process in lateral view.

Material examined

Lectotype (designated by present study)

GABON • ♂; “Typus; gabon; Fusius H-flavum Typ. Reut.”; NHRS-GULI 00000125 ( Fig. 10 ).

Holotype of Fusius hargreavesi Miller, 1957 SIERRA LEONE • ♂; “HOLOTYPE; Type; NJALA SIERRA LEONE E. Hargreaves . DATE 1-VIII-26.; Pres. by Com. Inst. Ent. B.M. 1948-548.; Fusius hargreavesi sp. n. (holotype) N.C.E. Miller det.

1956; F.”; NHMUK 013586528 ( Fig. 11 ).

Additional material

NIGERIA • 1 ♀; “ Kano 4.X.55; Exped. Mus. G. Frey Nigeria-Kamerun Bechyne 1955-56; Pres. by Com. Inst. Ent. B M. 1957-96”; NHMUK .

Redescription

MEASUREMENTS [in mm, ♂, (n = 1, holotype of Fusius hargreavesi Miller, 1957 ), ♀ (n = 1)]. Body length 8.43 (♂), 9.19 (♀); maximum width of abdomen 2.91 (♂), 2.88 (♀); head length 1.40 (♂), 1.39 (♀); length of anteocular part 0.65 (♂), 0.69 (♀); length of postocular part 0.38 (♂), 0.38 (♀); head width 1.08 (♂), 1.10 (♀); eye width in dorsal view 0.12 (♂), 0.13 (♀); width of interocular space 0.75 (♂), 0.79 (♀); width of interocellar space 0.27 (♂), 0.31 (♀); lengths of visible labial segments I:II:III = 0.44:0.88:0.34 (♂), 0.47:0.93:0.55 (♀); lengths of antennal segments I:II:III:IV = 0.48:1.33:?:? (♂), 0.62:1.27:0.65:0.91 (♀); length of anterior pronotal lobe 1.50 (♂), 1.48 (♀); length of posterior pronotal lobe 0.78 (♂), 0.76 (♀); width of anterior pronotal lobe 2.10 (♂), 2.09 (♀); width of posterior pronotal lobe 2.57 (♂), 2.54 (♀); scutellum length 0.76 (♂), 1.14 (♀); maximum width of scutellum 1.28 (♂), 1.30 (♀); hemelytron length 6.20 (♂), 6.59 (♀).

COLORATION. Body color black and yellowish brown in large part ( Figs 10–11 ); head black with labium yellowish brown; antenna with scape brown, remaining segments blackish brown ( Figs 10–11 ); anterior lobe of pronotum black with yellowish brown stripes, stripes thin and obscure ( Fig. 10A ), or even only anterior margin of anterior lobe yellowish brown ( Fig. 11A ), posterior lobe of pronotum yellowish brown ( Figs 10A , 11A ); scutellum, pleura and sterna dark brown to black ( Figs 10–11 ); coxae, trochanters and femora dark brown, apices of coxae, bases of trochanters, and apex of fore femur with irregular yellow markings, basal half of hind femur yellow; fore and hind tibiae with basal half yellow and apical half dark brown, mid tibia dark brown except most base yellow; tarsi brown ( Figs 10–11 ); clavus blackish brown except most base yellowish brown; corium yellowish brown with a triangular black spot on area between Cu and Pcu; membrane blackish brown with obscure yellow marking crossing two cells, apical part of membrane paler ( Figs 10A , 11A ); connexivum yellowish brown ( Figs 1–4 ); second to sixth abdominal sternites blackish brown with lateral part yellowish brown, seventh sternite yellowish brown in large part with diffused brown markings, eighth sternite and genitalic part dark brown to blackish brown ( Figs 10B–C , 11–C ).

STRUCTURE. As in generic description. Sub-apical margin of sixth abdominal sternite of male strongly sclerotized and distinctly irregular ( Figs 10B , 11B ).

MALE GENITALIA. Median pygophore process somewhat fusiform with basal part narrower than middle part, apical half twisted in caudal view ( Fig. 11B ), inner side of apex with a small process in lateral view ( Fig. 11C ); left paramere slightly longer than right paramere [according to Miller’s illustration (1957: 63, fig. 19c)].

Distribution

Gabon; Sierra Leone: Njala; Nigeria: Kano; Guinea: Mount Nimba ( Villiers 1963); Senegal ( Dispons 1969); Ivory Coast ( Maldonado Capriles 1990).

Remarks

Pirates (Fusius) H-flavum Reuter, 1881 was regarded as a variety of F. rubricosus ( Stål, 1855) by Villiers (1948), and he mentioned that this variety indicates individuals with the posterior lobe of the pronotum and the hemelytron yellow. The holotype of F. hargreavesi Miller, 1957 ( Fig. 11 ) and the lectotype of P. ( Fusius ) H-flavum ( Fig. 10 ) share the same color pattern. This color pattern is peculiar in Fusius as other species are all black and red in large part, which indicates that the above two nominal species could be a synonymy.

From the observation of the holotype of F. hargreavesi ( Fig. 11B ) and Miller’s illustrations ( Miller 1957: 63, fig. 19c), we could find that the median pygophore process of this species is somewhat fusiform with the basal part narrower than the middle part, the apical half twisted in caudal view, which is quite different from that of F. rubricosus (median pygophore process robust with basal half somewhat rectangular, apical half suddenly narrowed and tapered to apex, see Fig. 15A–B ).

Therefore, here we revalidate the species status of P. ( Fusius ) H-flavum Reuter, 1881 and regard F. hargreavesi Miller, 1957 as its junior subjective synonym. According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN 1999, Arts 28, 34.2 & 32.5.2.3), the current name of this species should be Fusius hflavus ( Reuter, 1881) with the lower-case initial letter ‘h’, removing the hyphen and changing the gender accordingly.

Figures

Fig. 10. Fusius hflavus (Reuter, 1881) stat. rev. & comb. nov., lectotype, ♂ (NHRS-GULI 00000125), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 11. Fusius hargreavesi Miller, 1957, holotype, ♂ (NHMUK 013586528), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar: = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 1. Fusius dilutus Miller, 1957, holotype, ♂ (NHMUK 013586560) habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 2. Fusius dilutus Miller, 1957, paratype, ♀ (NHMUK 013586562), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 3. Fusius gowdeyi Miller, 1957, holotype, ♂ (NHMUK 013586565), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 4. Fusius liberiensis Miller, 1957, holotype, ♂ (NHMUK 013586567), habitus. A. Dorsal view. B. Ventral view. C. Lateral view. Scale bar = 2.00 mm.

Fig. 15. Male genitalia of Fusius rubricosus (Stål, 1855), non-type specimen from South Africa (NHMUK). A–C. Pygophore. D. Left paramere. E. Right paramere. F–I. Phallus. A, G. Ventral view. B. Caudal view. C, H–I. Lateral view. D–E. Outer ventrolateral view. F. Dorsal view. Scale bar: A–E = 1.00 mm; F–I = 0.85 mm.