Brontostoma basalis ( Stål, 1859 ), Stal, 1859

Gil-Santana, Hélcio R. & Baena, Manuel, 2009, Two new species of Brontostoma Kirkaldy (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Ectrichodiinae) from Bolivia, with description of the male genitalia of two other species of the genus, and description of the female of B. doughertyae Gil-Santana, Lopes, Marques & Jurberg, Zootaxa 1979, pp. 41-52 : 42-44

Brontostoma basalis ( Stål, 1859)

B. basalis was described as Daraxa basalis , based on a male from Surinam, without mention of the locality from which it had been collected ( Stål 1859, 1872). Today, the holotype of this species is deposited in the Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, ZMHB) and the label is unclear about the locality where it was found (Figs. 1A, 1B). In this same museum, there is another male of B. basalis labeled as a paratype (Figs. 2A, 2B). Since the latter specimen was not mentioned in the original description ( Stål 1859) and does not have a label written by C. Stål (unlike the holotype), it should not be considered as a paratype for taxonomical purposes.

Subsequently, Wygodzinsky (1951) furnished a short diagnosis for the female of this species, based on a single specimen from Surinam (Fig. 3). B. basalis has already been recorded from Guyana, Surinam, and Brazil ( Stål 1872; Walker 1873; Lethierry & Severin 1896, Haviland 1931; Wygodzinsky 1949, 1951; Maldonado 1990; Dougherty 1995; Gil-Santana 2008). A male recently collected in northern Brazil (Fig. 4) was preferred for studying the male genitalia, since the phallus structures seem to be best observed in fresh specimens.

Male genitalia: pygophore and parameres mildly exposed in situ (Fig. 5). Paramere apices close in resting position (Figs. 5–6). Pygophore sub-heptagonal (Fig. 5). Median portion of posterior process of pygophore short and rounded (Fig. 6). Parameres curved; apices truncated with a single tooth on each in inferior margin (Figs. 7–8). Phallus simple; phallosoma sinuous in anterior margin with lateral margins more sclerotized (Fig. 9); endosoma process united on median portion; sub-hemispherical (Fig. 10); phallosoma support as in Fig. 11; gonopore process caliciform (Fig. 12).

PLATE 1. Specimens of Brontostoma basalis deposited in Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (ZMHB) (courtesy of Dr. Jürgen Deckert). Fig. 1 A, B. A, male holotype, dorsal view; B, labels; Figs. 2 A, B. A, male specimen labeled as “ paratypus,” dorsal view; B, labels. Figs. 3–4. Brontostoma basalis , dorsal view, 3, female from Surinam identified by P. Wygodzinky; 4, male from Brazil; Figs. 5–12. Brontostoma basalis , male genitalia, 5, eighth sternite, pygophore and parameres, ventral view, 6, process of pygophore and parameres, dorsal view, 7–8, left paramere, 7, ventral view, 8, dorsal view, 9–12, dorsal, 9, phallus, 10, expanded phallosoma, 11, phallosoma support, 12, gonopore process.

PLATE 2. Figs. 13–27. Brontostoma deferreri sp. nov., male holotype, 13, habitus, 14–15, head, 14, dorsal view, 15, lateral view, the arrow points the posterior protuberance, 16, antenna, 17–19, legs, lateral view, 17, foreleg, 18, mid leg, 19, hind leg, 20–27, male genitalia, 20–22, pygophore, 20, ventral view, 21, dorsal view, 22, lateral view, 23, process of pygophore, 24–25, paramere, 24, ventral view, 25, dorsal view, 26–27, phallus, 26, lateral view, 27, dorsal view. (The figures 13 and 14 have been obtained stacking several images using the free software CombineZP available at: http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZP/News.htm).

Material examined: SURINAM, one female, Lelydorp, Km 20, 9-XII-1938, Geijskes [leg.], Wygodzinsky, 19?? det. [ B. basalis ], [ex] collectio Wygodzinsky; BRAZIL, one male, Amapá, Macapá, Km 21, X- 2007, P. Magno & C. Costa, leg. [ MNRJ].