Brontostoma diringshofeni Gil-Santana & Baena, 2009

Gil-Santana, Hélcio R., Baena, Manuel & Grillo, Horacio, 2013, Berengeria Gil-Santana & Coletto-Silva, a junior synonym of Ectrichodiella Fracker & Bruner, with new records and taxonomic notes on Ectrichodiinae from Brazil, and with keys to Ectrichodiinae and Reduviinae genera of the New World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Zootaxa 3652 (1) : -

Brontostoma diringshofeni Gil-Santana & Baena, 2009

Brontostoma diringshofeni was recently described based on a male from Bolivia (Gil-Santana & Baena 2009). The specimen examined here is also a male and very similar to the holotype (Fig. 3).

New record. Brazil, Mato Grosso State.

Material examined: BRAZIL, 1 male, Mato Grosso, Pontes e Lacerda, 10-X-1988, [MNRJ].

PLATE 1. Figs. 1–2, holotypes deposited in Swedish Royal Natural History Museum (Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, NHRS) (courtesy of Dr. Bert Gustafsson), dorsal view, 1, Brontostoma alboannulatum , female, 2, Brontostoma rubrovenosum , female, 3, Brontostoma diringshofeni , male, dorsal view, 4–5, Brontostoma discus , syntypes deposited in Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, ZMHB) (courtesy of Dr. Jürgen Deckert), dorsal view, 4, “ typus,” female, 5, male, “ paratypus,” 6, Brontostoma nanus , male holotype, deposited in “Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata” (MLPA) (courtesy of Dr. Diego L. Carpintero), dorsal view, 7–8, fore (A) and middle (B) femora, lateral view, 7, Brontostoma nanus , 8, Brontostoma discus , 9–10, posterior process of pygophore, 9, B. discus , 10, B. nanus .

Brontostoma nanus Carpintero, 1980

As previously mentioned, B. discus and B. nanus were once considered as variations within the same species (Wygodzinsky 1951). B. discus was described based on specimens actually deposited in the Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, ZMHB) (Figs. 4–5).

B. nanus was described based on a single male from Paraguay (Carpintero 1980) (Fig. 6). Maldonado (1990) recorded the species only from Paraguay. However, Dougherty (1995) recorded this species only from Argentina, which may have possibly been a mistake because most of the species described by Carpintero (1980), including Brontostoma spp., were from Argentina.

Until the description of B. nanus , all the variability observed in the Brontostoma discus species group was considered as merely infraspecific variations of B. discus (e. g., Wygodzinsky 1951). Both species seem to be very common in Brazil and many specimens previously identified as B. discus in collections are actually B. nanus .

Among the diagnostic features of B. nanus furnished by Carpintero (1980), the most objective seems to be the presence of short teeth and several hairs on the basal portion of the ventral face of the fore and middle femora (Fig. 7, A–B), which are not observed in B. discus (Fig. 8, A–B). Another objective feature to separate these two species recorded for the first time here is the shape of the median portion of the posterior process of pygophore, being subtriangular in B. discus (Fig. 9) and sub-rectangular with a discrete median notch in B. nanus (Fig. 10).

New record. Brazil.

Material examined: Brontostoma discus : BRAZIL, Ba[h]ia, Jacobina, 1 male, XII.1941, Mangabeira leg., J. C. M. Carvalho det., 1992; Mato Grosso, Serra Caeté, Mirassol d´Oeste, 1 male, 30.XI.1984, Magno & Alvarenga [leg.], J. C. M. Carvalho det., 1992 [MNRJ].

Brontostoma nanus : BRAZIL, Amazonas, Manaus, 1 male, 20.X.1963, G. Marlier leg.,“ Brontostoma discus ,” Maldonado det., 1985 [IRSNB]; Bahia, 1 male, [no date], Camille leg., “ Brontostoma discus ,” Maldonado det., 1985 [IRSNB]; Mato Grosso [do Sul], Urucum, 1 male, I.1955, Comissão I. O. Cruz [leg.], “ Brontostoma discus ,” Wygodzinsky det., 1959; Pará, Taperinha, 1 male, [no date], G. Hagmann leg. “Museu Nacional,” n° [blank], “ Brontostoma discus ,” Wygodzinsky det., 1959, [MNRJ]; São Paulo, Pirapora, 1 female, [no date], J. Whithofs leg., Brontostoma discus ”, Maldonado det., 1985 [IRSNB].

Brontostoma trux (Stål, 1859)

Brontostoma trux was unknown to Wygodzinsky (1951), who misinterpreted the species and confused it with B. rubrovenosum . This mistake can be inferred now by the study of photographs of syntypes of the former species (Figs. 11–12). Specimens of B. trux determined as B. rubrovenosum by P. Wygodzinsky and deposited in MNRJ confirmed this fact, which was reflected in misdiagnosis of both species in his key for species of Brontostoma (Wygodzinsky 1951) . His opinion was followed in the keys provided by Gil-Santana et al. (2004, 2005), in which a specimen of B. trux is wrongly identified as B. rubrovenosum . In the description of B. trux, Stål (1859) recognized two varieties of this species (“a” and “b”; Figs. 11 and 12, respectively) based on the coloration of the corium of hemelytra (reddish with variation in the blackish markings). An additional variation of these color features on the corium of the hemelytra was observed in specimens from two locations in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Specimens from lowland areas (sea level) have darkened corium with reddish markings at basal and distal corial margins (Fig. 13), whereas those from higher altitudes (ca. 1000 m above sea level) have extensive longitudinal reddish stripes (Fig. 14). Additionally, the extremities of the femora, tibiae, and tarsus are darkened or blackish in the specimens from higher altitudes (Fig. 14) and in the type specimens (Stål 1859), whilst these parts have very small or no darkened or blackish markings in the specimens from lowland regions (Fig. 13).

Importantly, the antenna of a nymph (Fig. 15) of this species has seven segments (Fig. 16), as observed in adults.

Material examined: Brontostoma trux : BRAZIL, Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Frio (22º 40’ S – 42º 00’ W), 1 male, 10.I.1997, 1 male, 29.V.2003, at light, 1 female, 28.X.2001, 1 female, 01.II.1999, 1 nymph, IX.2002, on the ground, Gil-Santana leg.; Itaguaí, 500 m, 1 female, 25.II.1948, W. Zikán leg., “ Brontostoma rubrovenosum ,” Wygodzinsky det. [MNRJ]; Nova Friburgo (22º 17’ S – 42º 29’ W), 1049 m, 1 female, 02.II.2003, on the ground, PLATE 2. Figs. 11–16, Brontostoma trux , 11–12, syntypes deposited in Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University (Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, ZMHB) (courtesy of Dr. Jürgen Deckert), dorsal view, 11, female, 12, male, 13–14, females from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, 13, specimen from lowland region, alive, 14, specimen from ca. 1000 m above sea level, dorsal view, 15–16, nymph, 15, dorsal view, 16, right antenna.

W. Zeraik leg., 1 female., 30.III.2003, R. Vassallo Monteiro leg.; Rio de Janeiro, Jacarepaguá, 1 male, [no date], H. Berla [leg.], “ Brontostoma rubrovenosum ,” Wygodzinsky det. [MNRJ].

Discussion. Since the coloration patterns in Ectrichodiinae seem to be aposematic (Dougherty 1995; Gil- Santana et al. 2005), and coloration has been used as the main character to separate the species, future revision of Brontostoma is needed to help understand the species’ limits, reveal potential synonyms among them, and possibly identify cryptic and undescribed species.