Zelus prolixus ( Stal , 1860)

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 prolixus ( Stal, 1860)

Euagoras prolixus Stål, 1860, p. 74, orig. descr.; Walker, 1873, p. 118, cat.

Zelus prolixus : Stål, 1872, p. 89, cat. (subgenus Zelus ); Lethierry and Severin, 1896, p. 153, cat.; Champion, 1898, p. 255, note; Wygodzinsky, 1949a; p. 50, checklist; Elkins, 1954, p. 39, 40, note; Hart, 1987, p. 297-299, redescription, note, fig. and key; Maldonado, 1990, p. 330, cat.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: occurrenceRemarks: The specimen bears the following labels: Brasil / F. Sahib. / Typus / prolixus Stal / 167-53; recordedBy: F. Sahib.; sex: Adult Female; Taxon: scientificName: Zelusprolixus; family: Reduviidae; genus: Zelus; scientificNameAuthorship: ( Stål, 1860); Location: country: BRAZIL; locality: unknown ; Identification: identifiedBy: E.R. Hart; dateIdentified: 1972; Record Level: institutionCode: NHRS

Description

Figs 161, 162, 163

Male: (Fig. 161a, b) Small, total length 8.64-10.10 mm (mean 9.35 mm, Suppl. material 2); very slender. COLORATION: Pale or greenish-brown. Single ring near femoral apices; tibiae banded. VESTITURE: Sparsely setose. Dorsum of head and anterior pronotal lobe with very sparse short, erect and recumbent setae. Head ventrally with long, erect setae. Posterior pronotal lobe and hemelytron with dense, short, recument setae. Abdominal venter with moderately dense, short, recument and short to moderately long, erect setae. Paramere apex with sparse, short setae. Anteocular lobe nearly glabrous except for some sparse, erect setae; recumbent and erect setae on remainder of surface of head. Dorsal surface of anterior pronotal lobe nearly glabrous, some recumbent setae on lateral surface; recumbent setae on entire surface of posterior pronotal lobe. Abdomen with scattered, short, recumbent setae, sparse erect setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Dorsoventrally flattened, L/W = 2.25. Postocular lobe short; in dorsal view anteriorly gradually narrowing, posterior portion constant, slightly narrower. Eye moderately sized; lateral margin only slightly wider than postocular lobe; dorsal margin removed from postocular transverse groove, ventral margin attaining ventral surface of head in lateral view. Labium: I: II: III = 1: 2.3: 0.5. Basiflagellomere diameter larger than that of pedicel. Thorax: Anterolateral angle rounded, without projection; medial longitudinal sulcus evident only on posterior 1/2, deepening anterior to transverse sulcus of pronotum. Posterior pronotal lobe with rugulose surface; disc distinctly elevated above humeral angle; humeral angle rounded, without projection. Scutellum long; apex angulate, not projected. Legs: Very slender. Hemelytron: Surpassing apex of abdomen by about length of abdominal segment seven; quadrate cell small and slender; Cu and M of cubital cell subparallel. GENITALIA: (Fig. 162) Pygophore: Ovoid; not expanded laterally in dorsal view. Medial process broadly triangular; very short; semi-erect; nearly straight; apex in posterior view blunt, without modification. Paramere: Cylindrical; short, not reaching apex of medial process; directed posteriad; nearly straight; apical part not enlarged. Phallus: Dorsal phallothecal sclerite somewhat squarish; small longitudinal dorsolateral ridge; apical portion of phallothecal sclerite not distinctly tapered, flat, laterally rounded, not forming angle; apex truncate; posterior margin of foramen broadly concave. Struts attached to dorsal phallothecal sclerite; apically fused; basally almost completely fused. Basal plate arm slender; separate; subparallel; in lateral view nearly straight, very slightly curved; bridge moderately long; extension of basal plate expanded onto arm.

Female: (Fig. 161c, d) Similar to male, except for the following. Larger than male, total length 10.29-11.79 mm (mean 11.10 mm, Suppl. material 2). Hemelytron attaining apex of abdomen.

Diagnosis

Distinguished by the greenish coloration; the veins of membrane darker than the cells; the smallish size; the rather slender body and very delicate legs; the head somewhat dorsoventrally flattened; and the eye somewhat elongated. Males can be separated from most species of Zelus by the broadly triangular medial process. The short paramere not exceeding the medial process separates Z. prolixus from Z. minutus .

Distribution

South America and adjacent islands of the Caribbean (Fig. 163). Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.