Zelus illotus Berg, 1879

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 illotus Berg, 1879

Zelus illotus Berg, 1879, p. 153-154, orig. descr. (subgenus Diplodus ); Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p. 152, cat.; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 49, checklist; Wygodzinsky, 1949b, p. 336, note; Wygodzinsky, 1957, p. 264, 268, list and junior syn. of Z. obscuridorsis ; Hart, 1987, p. 297, redescription, note, fig, key, lectotype desig. and stat. rev.; Maldonado, 1990, p. 330, cat.

Zelus carvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1947, p. 428-431, orig. descr. and fig.; Zikan and Wygodzinsky, 1948, p. 17, list; Wygodzinsky, 1949a, p. 48, checklist; Wygodzinsky, 1949b, p. 336, note; wygodzinsky, 1957, p. 264, 268, list and junior syn. of Z. obscuridorsis ; Hart, 1987, p. 297, junior syn. of Z. illotus Berg.

Materials

Type status: Lectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Designated as lectotype by Hart (1987). Bears the following labels: Typus / Corrientes / 1554 / Lectotype, designated by E.R. Hart; recordedBy: Unknown; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusillotus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Berg, 1879; Location: country: ARGENTINA; stateProvince: Corrientes; locality: Corrientes ; decimalLatitude: -27.484102; decimalLongitude: -58.809555; georeferenceSources: Google map; Identification: identifiedBy: E.R. Hart 1972; Event: eventDate: no date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: Unversidad Nacional de La Plata Type status: Allolectotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Designated as allolectotype by Hart (1987). Bears the following labels: Typus / Corrientes / Zelusillotus Bert / 168(9) / 1554 / Allolectotype, designated by E.R. Hart; recordedBy: Unknown; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusillotus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Berg, 1879; Location: country: ARGENTINA; stateProvince: Corrientes; locality: Corrientes ; decimalLatitude: -27.484102; decimalLongitude: -58.809555; georeferenceSources: Google map; Identification: identifiedBy: E.R. Hart 1972; Event: eventDate: no date provided; Record Level: institutionCode: Unversidad Nacional de La Plata Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Holotype of Zeluscarvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1947, junior synonym of Zelusillotus Berg, 1879 (Hart, 1987); recordedBy: J.C.M Carvalho; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusillotus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Berg, 1879; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: Matto Grosso; locality: Chavantina, Rio des Mortes ; decimalLatitude: -14.66667; decimalLongitude: -52.35; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: E.R. Hart 1972; Event: eventDate: 1947-06; Record Level: institutionCode: Museu Nacionaldo Rio de Janeiro Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paratype of Zeluscarvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1947, junior synonym of Zelusillotus Berg, 1879 (Hart, 1987); recordedBy: J.C.M Carvalho; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusillotus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Berg, 1879; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: Matto Grosso; locality: Chavantina, Rio des Mortes ; decimalLatitude: -14.66667; decimalLongitude: -52.35; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Identification: identifiedBy: E.R. Hart 1972; Event: eventDate: 1947-06; Record Level: institutionCode: Instituto de Ecologia e Experimentacao Agricola, Rio de Janeiro Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: Paratype of Zeluscarvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1947, junior synonym of Zelusillotus Berg, 1879 (Hart, 1987). Present location of specimen not known.; recordedBy: H. Sick; sex: Adult Male; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusillotus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: Berg, 1879; Location: country: BRAZIL; stateProvince: Matto Grosso; locality: Chavantina ; decimalLatitude: -14.66667; decimalLongitude: -52.35; georeferenceSources: Gazetteer; Event: eventDate: 1946-10; Record Level: institutionCode: None

Description

Figs 94, 95, 96

Male: (Fig. 94a, b) Small, total length 9.96-11.91 mm (mean 11.03 mm, Suppl. material 2); slender. COLORATION: Dorsal 1/2 brown to dark brown, ventral surface yellowish-brown. Rostrum yellowish-brown. Antennae reddish-brown to dark brown, bases and apices darker than shaft on scape and pedicel. Anterior pronotal lobe light to dark brown, yellowish-brown lateroventrally. Posterior lobe light to medium reddish-brown; humeral angle usually darkened, brownish-black; lateral surface lighter ventrally. Legs yellowish-brown, femora with reddish-brown to brownish-black bands at apices and basad to apical swelling, tibiae with at least two such dark bands, tibiae darkened toward apex. Hemelytron brown to dark brown. Dorsum of abdomen reddish-brown to dark brown, connexival margins and remainder of surface yellowish-brown. VESTITURE: Entire surface of head with short recumbent setae, short to moderate semi-erect and erect setae on lateroventral and ventral surfaces. Anterior pronotal lobe entire surface with short recumbent setae, confined to setal tracts dorsally, some longer erect setae laterally. Posterior lobe entire surface with short recumbent setae, some erect setae laterally. Recumbent setae over clavus and corium. Abdomen with short erect setae dorsally, lateral and ventral surfaces with short recumbent and scattered erect setae. Exposed surface of pygophore with short recumbent and short to long erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Elongated, L/W = 2.79. 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: 2.0: 0.4. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle subtuberculate to tuberculate; medial longitudinal sulcus shallow near collar, deepening posteriorly. Posterior pronotal lobe with rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle armed, with dentate or short spinous projection. Scutellum short; apex angulate. Legs: Very slender. Hemelytron: Slightly surpassing apex of abdomen, not more than length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell small, elongate; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 95) Pygophore: Ovoid; not expanded laterally in dorsal view. Medial process slender; long, slightly shorter than paramere; laterally somewhat compressed; semi-erect; apically recurved; apex in posterior view acute, without modification. Paramere: Cylindrical; long, achieving apex of medial process; directed posteriad, basal half sharply curved towards medial process; apically slightly recurved; apical part not enlarged. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite shield-shaped; small indentation of lateral margin at about mid-point; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite distinctly tapered, dorsal surface folded in middle, laterally rounded, not forming angle; posterior margin of foramen inversely V-shaped. Struts apical portion missing or not evident; basally separate. Basal plate arm moderately robust; basally fused; in lateral view very slightly curved; bridge extremely short; extension of basal plate heavily sclerotized, laterally expanded onto arm.

Female: (Fig. 94c) Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 12.35-14.28 mm (mean 13.68 mm, Suppl. material 2). Coloration lighter than in male; pronotal coloration not as variable, usually concolorous yellowish-brown to dark brown.

Diagnosis

Among species of the Zelus nugax species group (Fig. 5), males of Z. illotus can be recognized by the paramere slender and long, curved in middle and recurved apically and the medial process also strongly recurved. The males of Z. pedestris and Z. nugax have straight blade-like medial processes. The females of this species cannot be consistently separated based on any character or combination of characters yet discovered from females of Z. pedestris and Z. nugax . Most females of Z. impar have almost no erect setae on the dorsal surface of the posterior pronotal lobe while most females of the other two species have readily noticeable erect setae on this area.

Distribution

South America and adjacent islands of the Caribbean (Fig. 96). Countries with records: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.