Ovatametra obesa Kenaga, 1942

Mazzucconi, Silvia Ana, Reyes, Cristina Armúa De & Estévez, Ana Lía, 2022, Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera) from Iberá Natural Reserve (Corrientes Province, Argentina), Zootaxa 5104 (4), pp. 451-505 : 468

Ovatametra obesa Kenaga, 1942

( Fig. 20 )

Ovatametra obesa Kenaga, 1942 : J. Kansas Ent. Soc., 138–139.

Material examined. Laguna Iberá RS: 3 ♀, artificial channel, 16.ii.2018. San Ignacio RS: 1 ♀, vehicle path, roadside marshland and ditches, 27°49’26.64’’S, 56°50’52.38’’W, 17.xi.2018; 4 ♂, 12 ♀, Camping Monterrey, Aguará pedestrian path, marshland, 27°52’14.10’’S, 56°52’59.70’’W, 18.xi.2018; 3 ♂, 6 ♀, Camping Monterrey, Aguará pedestrian path, long walkway, marshes, 27°52’14.58’’S, 56°52’59.76’’W, 18.xi.2018; 1 ♂, 3 ♀, Camping Monterrey, Aguará pedestrian path, flood-prone areas, 27°52’22.08’’S, 56°52’57.84’’W, 19.xi.2018.

General distribution. Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia ( Floriano et al. 2017; Moreno-R et al. 2018). Argentina: Corrientes (this work).

Habitat. This species has been found in pools, ponds, lakes, and streams and rivers which are slow to moderately fast-flowing ( Nieser 1970b; Pereira & Melo 2007; Moreira et al. 2011a; Moreno-R et al. 2018; Rodrigues et al. 2021b).

At the INR, O. obesa was collected from the densely vegetated margins of sunny marshlands ( Fig. 15 ), marshes and flood-prone areas ( Fig. 16 ). Occasionally this species was found in moderately shaded margins of ditches and artificial channels.

Remarks. The neotropical genus Ovatametra includes eight species ( Polhemus & Polhemus 1995). So far, only O. gualeguay Bachmann had been recorded from Argentina ( Coscarón 2017). The collection of O. obesa from INR extends the known range of this species from eastern Brazil and Bolivia to northeastern Argentina. The color pattern of the mesonotum in apterous females, with a large oval yellow spot surrounded by black on each side of the median dark band in O. obesa and a longitudinal yellow band on each side of the median dark band in O. gualeguay , differentiate the two species. Both species share the presence of a tuft of setae medially on abdominal tergum VII.

Figures

FIGURES 18–22. Dorsal habitus of 18, Curicta granulosa; 19, Neogerris celeris; 20, Ovatametra obesa; 21, Paravelia rotundanotata; 22, Steinovelia vinnula. Scale: 18, 5.88 mm; 19, 2.33 mm; 20, 1.33 mm; 21, 1 mm; 22, 1.30 mm.

FIGURES 14–17. 14, Habitat of Neogerris celeris at Reserva Privada Don Luis in roadside ditches (San Ignacio RS). 15–16, Habitat of Ovatametra obesa at Camping Monterrey (San Ignacio RS): 15, in marshes; 16, in flood-prone areas. 17, Habitat of Curicta granulosa at Lobo Cuá Stream (Laguna Iberá RS).