Zelus annulosus ( Stal , 1866)

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 annulosus ( Stal, 1866)

Diplodus annulosus Stål, 1866, p. 299, orig. descr.; Walker, 1873, p. 126, cat.

Zelus annulosus : Stål, 1872, p. 92, cat. (subgenus Diplodus ); Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p. 151, cat.; Fracker and Bruner, 1924, p. 170, note; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 48, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 326, cat.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00040999 ; occurrenceRemarks: Verbatim label info: Amazon / Stevens. / annulosus Stal. / Typus / NHRS-GULI 000000319; recordedBy: Stevens; sex: Adult Female; otherCatalogNumbers: NHRS-GULI 000000319; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusannulosus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: ( Stål, 1866); Location: country: unknown; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Amazon ; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2012; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS

Description

Figs 25, 26, 27

Male: (Fig. 25) Large, total length 14.57 mm (n=1, Suppl. material 2); very slender. COLORATION: Yellowish with dark brown patches; green on posterior pronotal lobe and corium. Most surface of head yellowish, dark stripe between eye and antennal insertion, on postocular lobe behind ocellus, and on lateral surface. Scape dark brown with three yellowish bands. Labium yellowish, dark band on first and second segments. Anterior pronotal lobe yellowish, anterior medial brown patch, anterolateral angle dark brown, connected to dark brown patch on lateral surface. Posterior pronotal lobe, anterior part of corium green; rest of hemelytron brown to dark brown. Pleura yellowish with dark brown patch. Femora and tibiae with alternating yellow and dark brown bands, six of each on femora, four of each on tibiae, yellow band smaller, more so on tibiae. VESTITURE: Moderately setose. Entire dorsal surface, including corium and clavus, with dark, dense, short to moderately long, erect, spine-like setae. Ventral surface of head, pleura with short, semi-erect to recumbent setae. Abdomen with moderately dense, short, semi-erect to recumbent setae, intermixed with long, erect setae. Sundew setae on profemur sparse. STRUCTURE: Head: Elongated, L/W = 2.13. Postocular lobe very long; in dorsal view distinctly narrowing through anterior 1/2, posterior 1/2 constant, tube-like. Eye prominent; lateral margin much wider than postocular lobe; dorsal margin attaining postocular transverse groove, ventral margin removed from ventral surface of head. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 1.5: 0.4. Basiflagellomere diameter subequal to that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle bearing small protuberance; medial longitudinal sulcus shallow near collar, deepening posteriorly. Posterior pronotal lobe with finely rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle armed, with short tuberculate processes. Scutellum moderately long; apex angulate. Legs: Slender. Hemelytron: Slightly surpassing apex of abdomen, not more than length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell small and slender; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 26) Pygophore: Ovoid; not expanded laterally in dorsal view; broad lightly sclerotized expansion between paramere and medial process. Medial process expanded laterally; short; semi-erect; basally slightly protruding; apex in posterior view truncate, with small sharp lateral projections. Paramere: Cylindrical; long, nearly reaching apex of medial process; directed toward medial process; apically recurved. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite shield-shaped; sharp, dorsad projection arising close to base; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite not distinctly tapered, flat, laterally distinctly angulate, ridge-like; apex truncate, not emarginate; posterior margin of foramen broadly inversely v-shaped. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically separate, not connected by bridge; basally fused. Basal plate arm moderately robust; separate; converging; in lateral view slightly curved; bridge moderately long; extension of basal plate expanded onto arm.

Female: Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 21.19-22.72 mm (mean 21.91 mm, Suppl. material 2). Some dry-preserved specimens have posterior pronotal lobe and corium not green but brown, probably a result of preservation artifact.

Diagnosis

Recognized by the following combination of characters: the posterior pronotal and corium dark green; the legs with four to five alternative yellow and black bands; the head, pronotum, scutellum and corium with moderately dense, black, erect, spine-like setae; the rather long and slender legs, the profemur 1/2 of body length; the rather long postocular lobe, enlarged at posterior 3/4; and the quadrate cell on corium rather slender, length more than 2x width.

Males can also be recognized by the long paramere, reaching apex of medial process; the apex of paramere recurved; the medial process apically with two lateral sharp projections; the membranous sclerite between paramere and medial process, not distinctly protruding posteriorly; and the dorsal phallothecal sclerite with lateral expansion close to basal arm, sharp, dorsad.

Distribution

South America (Fig. 27). The Colombian and Brazilian Amazonia and Frech Guiana. Countries with records: Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana.