Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803

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 errans Fabricius, 1803

Zelus errans Fabricius, 1803, p. 282, orig. descr.; Stål, 1868, p.108, descr., note and senior syn. of Z. cursitans ; Stål, 1872, p.88, cat.; Walker, 1873, p. 135, cat.; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 49, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 326, cat.

Zelus cursitans Fabricius, 1803, p. 284, orig. descr.; Blanchard, 1840, p. 101, descr.; Stål, 1868,p. 108, junior syn. of Z. errans .

Materials

Type status: Lectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Lectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Labels: Zeluserrans in Am. mer. Schmidt / Type; recordedBy: Dom. Smidt; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: unknown; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Habitat in America meridionali ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC Type status: Paralectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Labels: Zeluserrans in Am. mer. Schmidt / Type; recordedBy: Dom. Smidt; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: unknown; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Habitat in America meridionali ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC Type status: Paralectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zeluserrans Fabricius, 1803 (New designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016). Label: Zeluserrans; Taxon: scientificName: Zeluserrans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC

Description

Figs 65, 66, 67

Male: (Fig. 65a, b) Medium-sized, total length 13.62-17.91 mm (mean 14.10 mm, Suppl. material 2); slender. COLORATION: Many specimens with wasp-like habitus, with alternating black and yellow areas; anterior pronotal lobe usually dark brown, posterior lobe and proximal portion of corium yellowish; some specimens with nearly entire dorsal surface dark. Legs vary from nearly uniformly yellow or blackish-brown to yellow-brown banded. VESTITURE: Densely setose. Head with dark, erect, spine-like setae dorsally and light, recumbent setae ventrally. Anterior pronotal lobe with short, dark, spine-like setae, confined to setal tracts; posterior pronotal lobe with short, spine-like setae dorsally, fine, recumbent and erect setae on lateral surfaces. Abdomen with sparse, short, semi-erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Cylindrical, L/W = 2.28. Postocular lobe long; in dorsal view distinctly narrowing through anterior 2/3, posterior 1/3 constant, tube-like. Eye prominent; lateral margin much wider than postocular lobe; dorsal margin removed from postocular transverse groove, ventral margin attaining ventral surface of head. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 1.6: 0.4. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle rounded, without projection; medial longitudinal sulcus evident only on posterior 1/2, deepening anterior to transverse sulcus of pronotum. Posterior pronotal lobe with smooth surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle rounded, without projection. Scutellum long; apex angulate, not projected. Legs: Very slender. Hemelytron: Greatly surpassing apex of abdomen by about 3x length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell large and broad; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 66) Pygophore: Ovoid; mid-lateral fold adjacent to paramere insertion; not expanded laterally in dorsal view. Medial process cylindrical; extremely slender; moderately long; semi-erect; apex in posterior view blunt, slightly folded posteriad. Paramere: Cylindrical; long, surpassing medial process; directed posteriad, slightly curved towards medial process; slightly curved ventrad; apical part very slightly enlarged. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite elongated; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite not distinctly tapered, convex, laterally indistinctly angulate; apex truncate, medially emarginate; posterior margin of foramen deeply concave. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically separate, connected by bridge; basally almost completely fused. Basal plate arm slender; separate; converging; in lateral view very slightly curved; bridge moderately long; extension of basal plate small, marginally expanded onto arm.

Female: (Fig. 65c, d, e) Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 18.30-20.18 mm (mean 18.97 mm, Suppl. material 2). Coloration pattern more variable than in male.

Diagnosis

May be confused with Z. vespiformis and Z. gracilipes , species that have similar appearances. Distinguished from Z. vespiformis by the more elongated body; the longer medial process (Fig. 10), the Cu and Pcu of quadrate cell subparallel, and the Cu-Pcu2 (posterior cross vein) less than 1/2x length of Cu. Males of Z. errans can be separate from Z. gracilipes by features of the genitalia, the latter belonging to a different species group. Females typically have the anterior membrane of the hemelytron semi-translucent, whereas the entire membrane is colored or opaque in Z. gracilipes .

Distribution

South America (Fig. 67). Countries with specimen records: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

Taxon discussion

Zelus errans is quite closely related to Z. vespiformis , and they are possibly sister species. These two species appear to be allopatric, with their boundaries roughly lying across central Colombia and southern Venezuela.