Brontostoma bahiensis Gil-Santana, Costa & Marques 2004
Creators: name: Gil-Santana, Hélcio R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Brontostoma
Brontostoma bahiensis

description: Brontostoma bahiensis Gil-Santana, Costa & Marques, 2004
(Figs. 1–23)
Brontostoma bahiensis Gil-Santana, Costa & Marques (2004: 128) (key), (128–129) (description, figures 1–4); Gil-Santana, Lopes, Marques & Jurberg (2005: 78, 79) (citation, key).
Distribution. Brazil, in the state of Bahia.
Brontostoma bahiensis was described based on a single female.Unfortunately, as commented above, the holotype of B. bahiensis was destroyed during the fire, which destroyed the entire Heteroptera collection of the MNRJ (Escobar 2018). However, images taken before the fire (Figs. 1–3), in addition to the figures and the description presented in the original publication (Gil-Santana et al. 2004), are useful to compare the female holotype with a male of the species described here. Gil-Santana et al. (2004: 129) made a mistake when stating incorrectly the month of collecting of the female holotype as March (“ III.2003 ”), while the label is clear that it was in May (“Maio”) (Fig. 4). They also switched “South” and “West” after the numbers of the coordinates. Therefore, the additional and corrected coordinates of the place of collecting are as follows: 14°43’10’’S 39°22’15’’W. These errors are now fixed, and the correct label information for both species is presented by the author of the present paper, who was the first author of the paper describing B. bahiensis. The male described here (Figs. 5–23) was collected in the same Brazilian state (Bahia) in which the female holotype was found.
Diagnosis. Brontostoma bahiensis seems closer to B. doughertyae with a similar structure and general blackish coloration and large portions of tibiae yellowish. They can be easily separated by the coloration of the corium of hemelytron and connexivum. In B. bahiensis, the blackish corium is mostly pale whitish on the basal portion, with three contiguous longitudinal stripes united distally by a large pale marking over and extending a little downwards on the portion of the base of membranal veins; the connexivum is pale with distal dark markings (Figs. 1, 5, 7). In B. doughertyae the corium is almost completely pale yellowish to pale whitish with a pair of reddish markings on basal and/or distal portions or a reddish lateral margin (recorded only in females so far) and connexivum almost always uniformly yellowish on its external margin (Figs. 26–29), sometimes partially or almost entirely darkened. In the male genitalia, the shape of the struts is quite diverse between these species (Figs. 21, 34); a moderately enlarged and ovoid portion present above the struts in B. doughertyae (Figs. 32, 34) is absent in B. bahiensis (Fig. 21), while the median process of endosoma is subrectangular in B. bahiensis and subtriangular at apicolateral portions in B. doughertyae (Figs. 23, 35).
Description. Male. MEASUREMENTS (in mm): total length: to tip of abdomen 20.0; to tip of hemelytra 19.8; head: length: (excluding neck) 3.0; length of anteocular portion 1.4; length of postocular portion 0.5; width across eyes 2.5; minimum dorsal interocular distance (synthlipsis) 0.9; width of eye 0.8; length of eye 1.0; height of eye 1.4; distance between external margins of ocelli 0.7; distance between ocelli 0.2; maximum width of ocellus 0.2; lengths of antennal segments: scape 2.6; pedicel 3.3;basiflagellomere I 1.5, basiflagellomere II 0.9; distiflagellomeres absent; lengths of labial segments: II (first visible) 1.5; III 1.2; IV 0.8. Thorax: pronotum: fore lobe: length at dorsal midline 1.5; maximum width 3.6; hind lobe: length at dorsal midline 2.3; maximum width 5.3; scutellum length 1.8. Fore legs: length of femur 3.0; maximum width 1.0; length of tibia 3.8; length of spongy fossa 1.0; length of tarsus 1.0; middle legs: length of femur 4.0, maximum width 0.9; length of tibia 3.8; length of spongy fossa 1.0; length of tarsus 1.1; hind legs: length of femur 6.2; length of tibia 6.5; length of tarsus 1.5. Abdomen: length 11.0; maximum width 6.7. COLORATION generally blackish with some pale portions as follows (Figs. 5–11). Head: membranous portion between the apex of antennifer and base of scape pale whitish. Antenna (Figs. 9–10): scape and pedicel blackish, the latter with extreme apex pale whitish; first basiflagellomere blackish with its approximately distal 1/5 whitish; second basiflagellomere whitish with its apex darkened; other segments absent. Ocellus somewhat paler (Fig. 8). Thorax mostly dark to blackish (Figs. 5–7). Legs (Figs. 5–7, 11): all coxae and trochanters blackish; fore and middle femora blackish, the latter with a small elongated pale yellowish marking on basoposterior portion; hind femur mostly pale yellowish, narrowly blackish at the extreme base and apically, where the dark coloration is more extensive on ventral surface, reaching approximately a fourth of the length of the segment; all tibiae mostly pale yellowish, blackish at basal and apical portions, shortly at basal portion of all tibiae and apex of hind tibia; more extensively on apices of fore and middle tibia, in which almost a third and a fourth of the segment, respectively, are blackish. First two segments of all tarsi pale; third tarsomere generally dark, somewhat paler basally. Hemelytron blackish; clavus and corium mostly pale whitish to yellowish basally, coloration which are contiguous with three longitudinal pale stripes largely extending on the external margin of clavus and over veins R and Cu; the two latter stripes contiguous with a moderately large pale whitish marking over and on basal portion of the cells of the membrane; the basal portion of the veins of the membrane paler for a short (Cu and M) or a longer extent (1A); the external pale portion of clavus ends where it meets with a small transverse paler vein connected with basal portion of membranal vein 1A (Figs. 5, 7). Abdomen (Figs. 5–6): blackish; connexivum pale with distal dark markings on segments III–VI; the dark marking reaching at most a fourth of the length of the segment. VESTITURE: Body mostly glabrous. Head (Figs. 7–10): antenna (distiflagellomeres absent): mid-dorsal portion of scape almost completely glabrous, with only few scattered short thin adpressed setae; remaining portions of present antennal segments, covered by very numerous short, oblique or adpressed thin setae, sparser on dorsobasal portion of pedicel, darker on scape and pale yellowish to whitish on basiflagellomeres; stouter numerous somewhat longer oblique adpressed dark setae along lateral surfaces of scape, pedicel and first basiflagellomere; scape, pedicel and approximately basal half of first basiflagellomere also covered by very numerous long, pale brownish erect setae, which are approximately twice (scape), twice to thrice (pedicel and basal half of first basiflagellomere) the width of the segment, forming a pubescence, which is continued on distal half of first basiflagellomere and second basiflagellomere by progressively shorter thin pale setae; some stout blackish setae on apex and basal half of first and second basiflagellomeres, respectively; additionally, one or two pairs of longer, somewhat stouter, pale yellowish setae, on distal portion of first basiflagellomere and middle third of second basiflagellomere. Labium: last segment with few scattered erect or somewhat curved, thin, pale setae, most of them on its distal half. Thorax: Pronotum and scutellum glabrous, except for a tuft of pale golden setae on inner margin of posterior border of pronotum beside lateral margin of scutellar base; pleurae and hemelytron glabrous; thoracic sterna mostly glabrous; borders of posterior prolongation of prosternum with very numerous thin, golden setae; some scattered pale thin setae on the postacetabular area of prosternum laterally to the prosternal process; numerous pale golden thin setae on anterior margin of mesosternum and on depressed areas below this anterior margin; a small patch of short, golden setae on basomedial wall of the middle coxal cavity. Legs: all coxae and trochanters glabrous; a single elongated, somewhat curved, pale seta on basal portions of basolateral elongated areas of papillae of fore and middle trochanters and femora. Tibiae mostly glabrous, with a mid-ventral fringe of short, straight, somewhat stouter, pale setae, absent at approximately basal fourth of fore and middle tibiae and basal half of hind tibia; the fringe is formed by few setae basally, which become progressively more numerous towards apical portion; apical portion of all tibiae, with exception of middorsal surface and spongy fossa of fore and middle tibiae, covered by golden decumbent setae around the segment, with numerous longer setae beside glabrous spongy fossa of fore and middle tibiae and forming a ventral tuft at the apex of hind tibia; middorsal surfaces with only some scattered setae on distal margin. All tarsi almost completely glabrous on their dorsal surface, with numerous yellowish to golden setae ventrally.STRUCTURE: Integument mostly shiny and smooth. Head (Figs. 5–10) moderately elongated, shorter than pronotum; anteocular portion approximately three times longer than postocular portion (excluding neck); ratio between the total length (excluding neck) and maximum width across eyes of the head: 1.2; minimum distance between eyes in dorsal view (synthlipsis) slightly longer than width of eye; clypeus wider basally and elongated in dorsal view, rounded in lateral view; base of antennifer adjacent to the anterior margin of the eye, their integument rugous, with shallow curved or irregular striations; integument between antennifers with transverse thin linear striations; vertex slightly elevated; antenna inserted somewhat posterior to apex of the head; scape somewhat curved and enlarged towards apex, shorter than pedicel and longer than anteocular portion of head; pedicel slightly curved at midportion, somewhat thicker apically; basiflagellomeres straight and approximately as thick as the pedicel; distiflagellomeres absent; eyes prominent, rounded in dorsal view; in lateral view, suboval, slightly surpassing dorsal margin of head and not reaching ventral margin. Transverse sulcus anterior to the ocellar tubercle shallow, somewhat deeper, curved, and narrower laterally, reaching inner posterior angle of eye; ocellar tubercle prominent, undivided, ocellus rounded. Labium thick, length ratio between labial (visible) segments approximately 1.8:1.5:1.0; apex of labial segment II (first visible) approximately at level of anterior margin of eye; segment III somewhat less thick basally, larger at middle third, its apex approximately at level superoposterior margin of eye; labial segment IV shorter, tapering, reaching stridulatory sulcus at its basal portion. Ventrolateral surface of the head below antennifer with numerous slightly curved, transverse, shallow impressions; ventral surface of head with deeper, linear, parallel, transverse impressions more numerous below level of eye. Constriction between postocular region and neck distinct. Thorax (Figs. 5–7, 11): integument shiny, smooth on fore lobe of pronotum and somewhat rugous on hind lobe; collar thin; anterolateral angles rounded and small; fore lobe rounded on anterior and lateral margins, shorter and narrower than hind lobe; midlongitudinal furrow on fore lobe very thin, almost imperceptible anteriorly, while on posterior portion, it is represented by a median depression, just above an elevated portion of the integument which interrupts the furrow and lies above a median fovea, with the remaining posterior part of the mid-longitudinal sulcus, on hind lobe, represented by few punctations, the two more anterior ones deeper and larger, followed by three progressively smaller and shallower punctations towards posterior margin, ending on anterior half of the hind lobe; transverse sulcus shallow, interrupted at median portion by the median fovea and a pair of short, narrow and shallow ridges beside the small median fovea; at its mid-lateral portion, on posterior margin, short, shallow parallel ridges; slightly sinuous at laterodorsal margin, continuing laterally on propleura, where it forms a curved sinuous lateral furrow which ends on posteroventral elongated processes of propleura. Posterolateral furrows of pronotum well marked, more pronounced towards posterior portion; humeral angles rounded; posterior margin of pronotum slightly curved, almost straight. Scutellum sculptured, with a shallow, wrinkled, median depression; scutellar prongs short, narrowly separated at the base and strongly convergent towards their apices; supracoxal lobes of propleura somewhat prominent, those of mesopleura and metapleura not; integument of posterior portion of fore supracoxal lobe with linear shallow parallel striations; anterior portion of propleura with few deep irregular punctations. Integument of mesopleura somewhat rugose, mostly smooth on central portion; metapleura coarsely rugose, with several linear subparallel irregular ridges, superior margin thickened and curved. Prosternum wider on its approximately anterior third in which there is a pair of short, moderately prominent rounded lateral processes, directed forward; on posterior half, the prosternum forms a cylindrical elongated median process, which surpasses fore coxae by about its distal half and reaches mesosternum, with its ventral surface mostly occupied by the stridulitrum. Mesosternum posterior to its elevated anterior margin mostly flattened and with dull setose integument; the median portion depressed on anterior margin, just posterior to apex of process of prosternum, below which, a small depression on midline, with elevated borders; just above middle coxae, integument smooth, shiny and somewhat elevated; middle coxae bordered by elevated sharp margins anteriorly and medially, between them and hind coxae, mesosternum and metasternum continuous, with a moderately elevated subrectangular median area; integument shiny with linear transverse, impressions, more numerous and curved laterally, between middle and hind coxa. Fore coxae close, separated by a distance shorter than approximately half the width of each of them; middle and hind coxae distant from each other, the former almost twice and the latter approximately 1,5 times the width of each of them, respectively. Ventral surface of fore and middle trochanters (Fig. 11) with a pair and one elongated group of papillae, respectively. Fore and middle femora (Fig. 11) moderately thickened; on their ventral surface: a linear longitudinal thin shallow groove, anterior to ventral midline; a basal elongate row of papillae, longer on middle femur, closely posterior and anterior to the thin shallow groove on fore and middle femora, respectively; a small subdistal blunt tubercle, almost imperceptible. Hind femur straight, slender, slightly enlarged subapically, with a small ventral rounded prominence at this portion; ventral shallow linear thin groove, anterior to ventral midline, evident only on approximately the distal half of the segment. Tibiae generally straight, fore and middle tibiae slightly curved outwards at apex. Apex of fore tibia conspicuously thicker; anterior surface prominent; inner surface depressed with a subdistal mesal comb. Middle and hind tibiae progressively less thickened apically. Spongy fossa on fore and middle tibiae occupying around 1/4 of the length of the segment; they extend as long as the thickened portion of these tibiae. All tarsi slender, three-segmented. Hemelytra generally dull; short of reaching distal margin of abdomen. Abdomen. Sternites (Fig. 6) with mostly shiny integument; sternite II narrower than the following segments, somewhat elevated at mid portion, where the integument is rugose; shallowly transversely striated laterally, separated from sternite III partially by canaliculae which are more prominent just lateral to the median elevation of sternite II, and progressively less developed more laterally in direction to connexivum; sternites III–VII, mostly smooth, with several thin shallow transverse linear striations; intersternite furrows well marked, with lateral portions between sternites III–VI with shallow canaliculae; sternites III–VI, except on their basal and distal margins, and basal half of sternite VII, longitudinally, shallowly depressed at midline; spiracles on sternites II–VII elliptical, diagonally oriented in relation to the abdominal margin, close to the connexival suture; on sternite II, the spiracle is at the midportion of basal half of the segment; on sternites III–VI, the spiracles are placed slightly anterior to the medial point between the intersegmental furrows; on sternite VII, the spiracle is slightly above mid distance between the level of the basal portion of pygophore and last intersegmental furrow. Segment VIII completely concealed, sclerotized on ventral portion, which becomes wider towards posterior margin, which is somewhat elevated and narrowly larger at lateral portions (Fig. 12); dorsal portion membranous and narrower; spiracles on dorsal margin of ventral portion. Male genitalia (Figs. 13–23): Pygophore in ventral and lateral views: exposed portion of pygophore subpentagonal (Fig. 13) and rounded, respectively, integument glabrous, smooth, and shiny; less pigmented in the ventral non-exposed portion; in dorsal view (Fig. 14): between anterior and posterior genital openings, a narrow and short dorsal (transverse) bridge (br); membranous areas of posterior genital opening smooth; proctiger (pt) subrectangular, posterior margin slightly curved, with an apical row of thin elongated setae; medial process of pygophore sclerotized, subtriangular, short (Fig. 15). Parameres (pa) mildly exposed when genital capsule is in situ or in ventral view (Fig. 13), their apices in contact in resting position; symmetrical, elongated, very curved at approximately middle third, with apex truncated (Figs. 13–14, 16); a subapical rounded and somewhat enlarged prominence with a short blunt tooth on its apex; mostly glabrous, with somewhat numerous thin short setae around the subapical prominence; a subapical group of setae on posteroapical margin and a row of somewhat curved, moderately long setae on approximately apical third of anteroventral margin (Fig. 16). Phallus (Figs. 17–20): articulatory apparatus with basal plate extension (bpe) much shorter than basal plate, the latter with moderately long, narrow and curved basal plate arms (bpa) connected by an elongated narrow basal plate bridge (bpb); dorsal phallothecal sclerite (dps) symmetrical, enlarged to the apex, quite sinuous in center of anterior margin; mid-lateral portions with several grooves (gr); apico-lateral portions mostly smooth, wrinkled laterally, endosomal struts (es) formed by a pair of parallel arms, somewhat larger at basal portion, slightly converging toward apex of dps, united at base and fused at apex, which is enlarged (Figs. 18, 20–21); endosomal wall longitudinally striated on basal portion, ventrally (Fig. 19) and mostly densely rugous by very numerous minute small rounded or spiny protuberances; endosoma with a basal subrounded large process (bp) (Figs. 19–20, 22), and a flat subrectangular median process (mp) weakly sclerotized (Figs. 18, 20, 23).
Type material. [BRAZIL]: Holotype: ♀, [printed labels:] Brontostoma / bahiensis / Gil-Santana et al. // [framed labels:] [red label:] HOLOTIPO [= holotype] // BRASIL: BA / Lomanto Júnior [currently, Barro Preto] / Maio [May] 2003 // QR code / MNRJ-ENT 3-140 (formerly in MNRJ, now destroyed).
Additional specimen examined. BRAZIL, Bahia, Arataca Municipality, 15°15’46’’S, 39°24’50’’W, III.1997, leg. J. da Silva, 1 male (MNRJ).
Comments. The male examined here is generally very similar to the female holotype. The main recorded differences are the following. In relation to the measurements, the total length and width of the abdomen: female: 24.0 / 8.0 mm; male: 20 / 6.7 mm, respectively. Regarding the coloration, while the posterior prolongation of prosternum was slightly paler in the female, the pale to yellowish markings on the hind femur, all tibiae, and tarsi were less extensive than those in the male (Figs. 1–2; 5–7). The connexivum of the female had a narrow dark marking on the distal portion of segment II (Fig. 1), absent in the male; the dark markings of the following connexival segments (III–VI) were larger, reaching approximately a third of the length of the segment (Fig. 1) (in the male reaching at most a fourth of this length; Fig. 5). About the vestiture, in the female the scape was glabrous, and the pedicel had only short setae on the dorsal surface and around the segment at approximately its distal half; the latter had some longer sparse setae too; flagellomeres had a similar vestiture of the distal half of the pedicel. The overall structural characteristics were similar between male and female. However, the eyes were somewhat smaller, and the fore and middle femora were thicker in female (Figs. 1–3; 5–8).
Discussion. Many of the differences between the male and female specimens of B. bahiensis are in accordance with the sexual dimorphic features recorded in several other species of Ectrichodiini such as larger eyes and scape, pedicel and basal half of the first flagellomere with a pubescence formed by numerous long erect setae in male (Figs. 7, 9–10) and thicker fore and middle femora in females (Figs. 1–3; 5–7). On the other hand, the slight differences observed in the coloration and measurements may be due to inter-individual variation and not to sexual dimorphism. Therefore, only future examination of more specimens of B. bahiensis will make it possible to ascertain to what extent these features vary among individuals and whether there is any additional sexual dimorphism.
description: Published as part of Gil-Santana, Hélcio R., 2023, A new species of Brontostoma Kirkaldy, description of the male of Brontostoma bahiensis Gil-Santana, Costa & Marques and notes on Brontostoma doughertyae Gil-Santana et al. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Ectrichodiinae), pp. 62-86 in Zootaxa 5382 (1) on pages 64-68, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5382.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/10279822