Castolus subinermis ( Stål, 1862 )

Forero, Dimitri & Mejía-Soto, Andrés, 2021, A striking sexually dimorphic new species of Castolus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera Reduviidae) from Colombia, with new records from Neotropical countries and taxonomic notes on the genus, Zootaxa 5048 (4), pp. 538-560 : 550-552

Castolus subinermis ( Stål, 1862)

( Figs. 7–8 )

Castolus annulatus Maldonado & Brailovsky, 1992 , new synonym

Mucrolicter alienus Elkins, 1962 , new synonym

Remarks. Stål (1862) described Repipta subinermis , which he later transferred to Castolus ( Stål 1872) . He based his description on females from Mexico and deposited them at the NHRS and NHMW. We are here designating a lectotype for Repipta subinermis , selecting the syntype deposited at NHMW that fits the length indicated by Stål (1862) and which was figured by Champion (1899, his fig. 6, Tab 17) ( Sehnal 2000), thus following Recommendation 74B of the ICZN (1999). Maldonado (1976) in his synopsis of Castolus stated not having examined specimens of C. subinermis , but nonetheless included this species in his identification key. Brailovsky (1982) provided additional distributional data for species of Castolus including C. subinermis . Maldonado and Brailovsky (1992) later described as new C. annulatus , based on some of those “ C. subinermis ” specimens, indicating that Brailovsky’s (1982) identification of C. subinermis was in error and that they belonged to a new species. Maldonado and Brailovsky (1992) did not provide comparative notes on how to separate these two species. Studying photos of the lectotype and paralectotype of C. subinermis ( Figs. 8A, B ), and the holotype of C. annulatus ( Fig. 7A ), show that both are similar in having rather short humeral angles, and a similar head, pronotal, hemelytral, and ventral abdominal coloration patterns. Given that Maldonado (1976) never stated having examined the syntype series of C. subinermis , he probably had an erroneous concept for this species, and thus the confusion about the identity of C. subinermis (e.g., Maldonado & Brailovsky 1992). Therefore, we formally synonymize C. annulatus under C. subinermis .

Elkins (1962) described Mucrolicter to accommodate the new species M. alienus , and stated that this genus is related to, but different from, Castolus due to its trifid median process of the pygophore. Maldonado (1976) showed that males of Castolus species have a patch of hairs next to the median process of the pygophore, sometimes on raised tubercles giving the impression of a trifid posterior margin on the pygophore (e.g., C. nigriventris [as C. bicolor ], C. spissicornis , C. plagiaticollis ). Nevertheless, the situation is more complex because some species of Castolus apparently exhibit tumescent areas adjacent to the median process (e.g., C. pallidus ), being an intermediate between a non-raised area (e.g., C. lineatus ) ( Maldonado 1976; Swanson & Chordas 2018) and a fully protruding one as the one exhibited by Mucrolicter ( Elkins 1962) . Even when the holotype of M. alienus ( Fig. 7B ) has some minor color differences when compared to the lectotype of C. subinermis , for instance the smaller dark area on the posterior lobe of the pronotum and the darker apex of the femora ( Fig. 8A ), the structure of male pygophore ( Fig. 7B ) is identical to the drawing presented by Maldonado & Brailovsky (1992), in which their holotype ( C. annulatus ) has a color pattern extremely similar to that of the lectotype of C. subinermis . Therefore, because Mucrolicter is monotypic, and given the evidence presented, we here propose the formal synonymy of Mucrolicter under Castolus .

Distribution. Mexico ( Maldonado & Brailovsky 1992; Stål 1862), Guatemala ( Elkins 1962; Zhang & Weirauch 2013), Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, and Panama ( Elkins 1962).

Material examined. Castolus subinermis ( Stål, 1862) . LECTOTYPE: MEXICO • 1 ♀; “ Mexico ” Coll. Signoret. / “ subinermis ” det. Stal / B.C.A. Rhyn. II. Castolus “ subinermis St. ” / Sp. figured. / (red label) Syntypus Repipta subinermis Stål, 1862 etik. Hecher 1996 REDV . 211/1 / Lectotype Repipta subinermis Stål, 1862 Desig. by D. Forero & A. Mejía ( NHMW) .

PARALECTOTYPE: MEXICO • 1 ♀; Mexico. / Signt. / “ subinermis Stål ” / (red label) Typus / NHRS-GULI 000000502 / Paralectotype Repipta subinermis Stål, 1862 Desig. by D. Forero & A. Mejía ( NHRS) .

OTHER TYPE MATERIAL: Holotype of Castolus annulatus . MEXICO — Oaxaca • 1 ♂; “Tuxtepec, Oaxaca”; “29-III-76”; “J. Bueno” leg. / (red label) HOLOTYPE / “ Castolus annulosus Maldonado [and] Brailovsky 1992” ( UNAM).

Holotype of Mucrolicter alienus . GUATEMALA • 1 ♂; “ Guatemala, bananas” / [USA] “Mobile, Ala”; “III/11/37” / “ Mucrolicter alienus Elk. ” 1961 Det. J.C. Elkins / (red label) HOLOTYPE / UCR_ENT 00007989 (bar code) ( USNM) .

Figures

FIGURE 7. Type specimens of synonyms of Castolus subinermis (Stål, 1862). A–B. holotype of C. annulatus Maldonado & Brailovsky, 1992, A. dorsal view and labels, B. ventral view; C–D. holotype of Mucrolicter alienus, C. dorsal view and labels, D. lateral view and detail of the pygophore in caudal view.

FIGURE 8. Dorsal view of female type specimens and labels of Castolus subinermis (Stål, 1862). A. lectotype; B. paralectotype.