Zelus means 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 means Fabricius, 1803

Zelus means Fabricius, 1803, p. 282. orig. descr.; Stål, 1868, p. 107, descr.; Stål, 1872, p. 89, cat.; Walker, 1873, p. 134, cat; Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p.l62., cat.; Champion, 1898, p. 254, note; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 49, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 329, cat.

Zelus means Eccagoras trimaculicollis Stål 1855

Zelus trimaculicollis Stål, 1866, p. 298, descr.; Stål, 1872, p. 89, cat.; Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p. 153, cat.; Champion, 1898, p. 254, note; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 50, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 331, cat. syn. nov. (current study).

Zelus trimaculatus Champion, 1898, p. 254, orig. descr.; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 50, checklist; Maldonado, 1990, p. 331, cat. syn. nov. (current study).

Materials

Type status: Lectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Lectotype of Zelusmeans Fabricius, 1803 (New Designation by Zhang, Har & Weirauch, 2016). Bears the following labels: Type / Z.means in Am. Mer. Schmidt; recordedBy: Schmidt; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusmeans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: locality: South America (American Meridonali) ; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUC Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: UCR_ENT 00041011 ; occurrenceRemarks: Lectotype of Zelustrimaculicollis Stal 1866 (New Designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016), now synonym of Zelusmeans Fabricius 1803. Verbatim label info: Brasil / Typus / trimaculicollis Stal / Lectotype Zelustrimaculicollis Stal / designated by E.R.Hart / Zelusmeans Fabricius det. E.R. Hart 1972 / NHRS-GULI 000000350; sex: Adult Female; otherCatalogNumbers: NHRS-GULI 000000350; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusmeans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Unknown ; Identification: identifiedBy: G. Zhang; dateIdentified: 2012; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zelustrimaculicollis Stal 1866 (New Designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch 2016), junior synonym of Zelusmeans Fabricius 1803. Verbatim label info: Brasil / Stal / Paratypus; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusmeans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Unknown ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paralectotype of Zelustrimaculicollis Stal 1866 (New Designation by Zhang, Hart & Weirauch, 2016), junior synonym of Zelusmeans Fabricius 1803. Verbatim label info: Brasil / Paratypus; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusmeans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: unknown; locality: Unknown ; Event: eventDate: No date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Holotype of Zelustrimaculatus Champion 1898, junior synonym of Zelusmeans Fabricius 1803. Bears the following labels: Type/B.C.A. Rhyn. II. Zelustrimaculatus Ch / Sp. figured / V. de Chiriqui, 25-4000 ft., Champion; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusmeans; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Fabricius, 1803; Location: country: PANAMA; stateProvince: Chiriqui; Event: eventDate: V. de Chiriqui; Record Level: institutionCode: BMNH

Description

Figs 136, 137

Male: Unknown.

Female: (Fig. 136) Large, total length 16.94-19.31 mm (mean 18.29 mm, Suppl. material 2); slender. COLORATION: Reddish, orangish, mixed with black; pattern variable. VESTITURE: Densely setose. Head with short recumbent setae and some scattered longer setae. Anterior pronotal lobe with erect spine-like setae, short to moderate in length; posterior pronotal lobe with short, erect, spine-like setae. Abdomen with short, recumbent and short to moderately long, erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Stout. Postocular lobe 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: 1.5: 0.4. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle rounded, without projection; medial longitudinal sulcus evident throughout, deepening posteriorly. Posterior pronotal lobe with rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle rounded, without projection. Scutellum moderately long; apex blunt, not projected. Legs: Moderately robust. Hemelytron: Surpassing apex of abdomen by about twice length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell large and broad; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel.

Diagnosis

The humeral angle rounded; the pronotum with spine-like setae; and the colors usually consisting of yellow, orange, red and black. The anterior pronotal lobe is rather small, margins not laterally expanded, nearly continuous with lateral margins of posterior lobe, dorsally nearly flat, not bulging. The small anterior lobe together with the regularly sized posterior lobe gives the pronotum a triangular appearance. Most similar to Z. fuliginatus , but the postocular lobe is shorter.

Distribution

Southern Central America and South America (Fig. 137). Countries with records: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Taxon discussion

On the basis of the spine-like setae on the head and pronotum and the rounded humeral angle, Zelus means would be placed in either the Zelus longipes species group or the Zelus vagans species group. Due to its close resemblance to Z. fuliginatus , this species is most likely part of the Zelus vagans species group.

This species appears to have a highly variable color pattern in all areas of its distribution. The clavus and corium range from entirely brownish-black to almost entirely light yellowish-brown. The dorsum of the pronotal lobe may be entirely brownish-black, but is usually variably patterned brownish-black and reddish-brown.