Hiranetis Spinola, 1840

Gil-Santana, Hélcio R., 2024, Hiranetis vanderheydeni sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae), an example of how a superficial evaluation may impair the taxonomy, Revista Chilena de Entomología (Rev. Chil. Entomol.) 50 (2), pp. 353-373 : 356

Hiranetis Spinola, 1840

Hiranetis Spinola 1840a [1837]: 112-113 [description]; 1840b: 112-113 [description]; Stål 1859: 367 [key], 371 [citation, species included]; Stål 1866: 294 [key]; Stål 1872: 69 [diagnosis, key], 82-83 [catalog]; Walker 1873a: 64 [key]; Walker 1873b: 129 [catalog]; Lethierry and Severin 1896: 178 [catalog]; Champion 1899: 280 [comments]; Wygodzinsky 1949: 40 [catalog]; Elkins 1969: 459 [citation]; Putshkov and Putshkov 1985: 46 [catalog]; Maldonado 1990: 218 [catalog]; Maldonado and Lozada 1992: 165 [key]; Froeschner 1999: 206 [catalog]; Forero 2011: 15 [checklist]; Gil-Santana et al. 2013: 348, 358 [citations], 359 [separation from Graptocleptes ]; Gil-Santana 2015: 29-30 [citations], 35-36 [separation from Graptocleptes and Parahiranetis ], 37 [key]; Gil-Santana 2016: 92 , 107 [citations, comments], 94 [bibliographical list]; Gil-Santana et al. 2017: 20, 41-42 [comments with related genera], 43 [separation from Graptocleptes and Parahiranetis ]; Gil-Santana and Oliveira 2023: 164 [citation], 165 [comments with related genera], 198-199 [separation from Graptocleptes , Quasigraptocleptes and Parahiranetis ], 200 [key].

Type species. Hiranetis membranacea Spinola, 1840a [1837]: 113-114, by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Hiranetis can be separated from other Neotropical wasp-mimicking Harpactorini genera by the key provided by Gil-Santana and Oliveira (2023) and the following set of characteristics: General appearance: wasp-mimetic. Head gibbous, large, swollen ventrally, subequally as long as wide across eyes; densely covered with long setae on ventral and postocular portions; postantennal tubercles very short to almost imperceptible or even absent, acute or rounded; in dorsal view, postocular portion clearly separated from a distinct neck; legs elongated, slender; fore femur longer than head and pronotum together, thicker basally. Hemelytra long, surpassing the abdomen by about half of the length of the membrane.

Currently, three species considered as valid are included in Hiranetis : H. atra , H. braconiformis (Burmeister, 1835) and H. membranacea Spinola, 1840 ( Maldonado 1990; Gil-Santana et al. 2013; Gil-Santana 2016). While H. atra can be securely separated from the other species of the genus by its coloration, which is predominantly blackish, including the entirely dark hemelytra, the other two species ( H. braconiformis and H. membranacea ), which have the pattern of yellowish or straw-colored hemelytra, with a median, transverse band and a dark apex, have uncertain validity or limits ( Gil-Santana 2016). As discussed by the latter author, although some synonymies have been proposed to H. braconiformis and H. membranacea , the lost of the type specimens of H. membranacea does not allow to be sure about the validity or an accurate definition of this situation without a taxonomic review, even more taking into consideration the intraspecific variation in color that occurs in Harpactorini in general (e.g., Stål 1872; Champion 1899; Gil-Santana 2008, 2022; Zhang et al. 2016), including in some wasp-mimicking Harpactorini ( Champion 1899; Gil-Santana et al. 2013, 2017; Gil-Santana and Oliveira 2023). Hiranetis atra , however, because of its distinct pattern of dark general coloration with yellowish bands on middle and hind femora may be distinguished from other species of the genus. The male of H. atra was described and compared with the female of the species by Gil-Santana (2016), allowing a good comparison with the new species described here. Hiranetis atra has been recorded from Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica ( Stål 1872; Gil-Santana 2016).