Zelus subimpressus Stal , 1872

Zhang, Guanyang, Hart, Elwood R & Weirauch, Christiane, 2016, A taxonomic monograph of the assassin bug genus Zelus Fabricius (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): 71 species based on 10,000 specimens, Biodiversity Data Journal 4, pp. 8150-8150 : 8150

Zelus subimpressus Stal, 1872

Zelus subimpressus Stål, 1872, p. 91, orig. descr. (subgenus Diplodus ); Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p. 153, cat.; Fracker, 1913, p. 239, 240, key and list (subgenus Diplodus ); Fracker and Bruner, 1924, p. 170, note; Bruner 1926, p. 78, 79, key and note; Leonard, 1933, p. 319, note; Wolcott, 1950, p. 212, note; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 50, checklist; Alayo, 1967, p. 37, note; Hart, 1987, p. 294, redescription, note, fig. and key; Maldonado, 1990, p. 331, cat.

Diplodus subimpressus : Uhler, 1886, p. 24, checklist; Gundlach, 1894, p. 598, checklist.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Bears the following label: Cuba / Stal. Subimpressus Stal / Typus; sex: Adult female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelussubimpressus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Stĺl, 1872; Location: country: CUBA; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS

Description

Figs 184, 185, 186

Male: (Fig. 184a, b) Medium-sized, total length 11.59-12.40 mm (mean 12.13 mm, Suppl. material 2); very slender. COLORATION: Dorsal surfaces brown, darker on postocular lobe of head; corium and apices of femora reddish. Lateral and ventral surfaces yellowish-brown. VESTITURE: Moderately setose. Head with moderately long, recumbent and sparse, erect setae dorsally, less dense and with some longer setae on ventral surface. Anterior pronotal lobe with recumbent setae scattered over entire surface, mainly confined to setal tracts; posterior pronotal lobe with recumbent setae and some erect setae. Abdomen with sparse, erect and recumbent setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Elongated, L/W = 2.64. Postocular lobe moderately long; in dorsal view anteriorly gradually narrowing, posterior portion constant, slightly narrower. Eye smallish; lateral margin only slightly wider than postocular lobe; dorsal and ventral margins removed from surfaces of head. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 1.8: 0.5. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle with inconspicuous subtuberculate projection; medial longitudinal sulcus shallow near collar, deepening posteriorly. Posterior pronotal lobe with rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle armed, with dentate projection. Scutellum long; apex angulate, not projected. Legs: Slender, femoral diameters subequal. Hemelytron: Very slightly surpassing apex of abdomen, not more than length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell small, elongate; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 185) Pygophore: Elongate; mid-lateral fold adjacent to paramere insertion; not expanded laterally in dorsal view. Medial process robust; short; posteriorly directed; nearly straight; apex in posterior view blunt, slightly folded posteriad. Paramere: Cylindrical; short, not reaching apex of medial process; directed posteriad; basally slightly constricted; not distinctly curved; apical part slightly enlarged. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite shield-shaped; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite not distinctly tapered, flat; apex truncate, slightly emarginate in middle; basal margins expanded, then constricted before base; posterior margin of foramen deeply concave. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically separate, connected by bridge; basally mostly separate, moderately fused. Basal plate arm robust; separate; diverging; in lateral view nearly straight, very slightly curved; bridge long; extension of basal plate small and confined to apex of basal plate arm.

Female: (Fig. 184c, d) Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 14.36-16.08 mm (mean 15.06 mm, Suppl. material 2).

Diagnosis

The rather slender body form of Z. subimpressus is characteristic of the Zelus puertoricensis species group (total length/width more than 8x). Both sexes are readily distinguished from Z. puertoricensis by having a sloping dorsal surface on the postocular lobe. Males can be recognized by the robust, posteriorly directed medial process, apex bent and the short, cylindrical paramere. This is larger in Z. subimpressus than in Z. puertoricensis (Fig. 6).

Distribution

The Caribbean, the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (Fig. 186). Countries with records: Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti.