Castolus plagiaticollis Stål, 1858

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 : 556

Castolus plagiaticollis Stål, 1858

( Fig. 9D , 10C )

Remarks. Castolus plagiaticollis is a conspicuous species with red head, red femora, dark tibiae, a large ovoid marking on the posterior lobe of the pronotum, mostly yellowish corium and clavus with the apex of the corium black, and a black membrane except its apex which is translucent ( Maldonado 1976). Nonetheless, it is variable regarding its hemelytral color pattern. Champion (1899) had already mentioned that some specimens from Mexico and Guatemala had a more darkened clavus and corium.Among the specimens examined and the observations from iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=castolus%20plagiaticollis), several instead of a yellow corium have a whitish one; a few ones have a more extended dark area on the apex of the corium, reaching in some specimens almost half the corial length, or on the other hand have a completely yellow corium without dark areas. Very rarely, the specimens have a mostly black corium being yellow only the costal area and the base of clavus. Because color patterns are important to delimit species in Castolus ( Maldonado 1976) , the observed color variation in C. plagiaticollis highlights the importance of understanding the intraspecific color variation to adequately assess the specific limits for other species in Castolus .

Quiroz & Carmona (2011) listed two specimens identified as C. plagiaticollis from MEFLG. We examined two additional specimens from MEFLG and corroborated their initial identification. The examined Colombian specimens all have a yellow corium and small apical dark area on the corium.

Distribution. Originally described from Mexico ( Stål 1858), with subsequent records from Honduras ( Maldonado 1990), Guatemala, and Panama ( Champion 1899). It represents the first formal record of the species from South America, and a new country record from Colombia, extending the known distribution into South America ( Fig. 10C ).

Material examined. COLOMBIA — Antioquia • 1 ♂; V . [alle] de Medellin; [06.2416°N, 75.5775°W]; Feb 1949; Gallego ( MEFLG) • 1 ♂; same data; Aug 1945; Gallego; en maleza; No. Catal. 6845 ( MEFLG) • 2 ♀♀; Medellín; [06.2416°N, 75.5775°W]; 1538m; Mar 1937; F. Gallego; en Zea mais (maiz); No. catal. 113 ( MEFLG) .

Figures

FIGURE 9. Images of species of Castolus present in Colombia. A. C. lineatus Maldonado, 1976 (Colombia; photo L.M. Constantino); B. C. pallidus Maldonado, 1976 (Panama; photo A. Anker); C. C. multicinctus Stål, 1872, dorsal and lateral views (Cundinamarca, Colombia); D. C. plagiaticollis Stål, 1858 (Mexico; photo C.G. Velazco-Macias); E. C. rufomarginatus Champion, 1899 (Costa Rica; photo G. Kunz); F–G. Castolus sp. (Medellín, Colombia; photos J.C. Fernández and R. Sánchez).

FIGURE 10. Distribution map of Castolus species based on data from examined specimens and iNaturalist observations. A. C. multicintus Stål, 1872; B. C. pallidus Maldonado, 1976; C. C. plagiaticollis Stål, 1858; D. C. rufomarginatus Champion, 1899.