Saica Amyot & Serville 1843
Creators: name: María, Valentina Castro-Huertas
name: Melo, María Cecilia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Saica

description: Genus Saica Amyot & Serville, 1843
Saica Amyot & Serville, 1843: 372. — Champion 1898: 176 [key for five species]. — McAtee & Malloch 1923: 250 [key for six species]. — Maldonado Capriles 1990: 478 [cat.]. — Castro-Huertas & Melo 2023 [Saicinae phylogenetic analyses].
TYPE SPECIES. — Zelus recurvatus Fabricius, 1803, by monotypy.
EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — Head with a tuft of strong setae on the mandibular plates and on the postocular region ventrally (Fig. 1B); pedicel subequal to half the length of the scape; anterior margin of proepisternal supracoxal lobe produced as an acute to subacute process (Fig. 1B); thoracic spines always present of variable length, except on anterior lobe of pronotum (Fig. 1E); prolegs with simple strong setae; protibia conspicuously curved (Fig. 1F); scopula setae dense on ventral surface of all third tarsomeres (Fig. 1G); posteromedial process of pygophore bifid (Fig. 5A); and posterior margin of the abdominal sternite VII of females vertical to subvertical.
DISTRIBUTION. — Species of Saica are widely distributed in the Neotropical region, ranging from Florida in United States to Corrientes Province in Argentina (Figs 7; 8). They are mostly found in the south of the Mesoamerican region and the North-Western Andes, and in the Amazon basin. Saica apicalis has the southernmost record but also the widest distribution within the genus (Fig. 7). Saica elkinsi is the only species showing a Nearctic distribution, ranging from Illinois to Florida in eastern United States (Fig. 7). Some species show discontinuous distributional records probably by information gaps because of inadequate collecting, showing the necessity of research in this area.
REDESCRIPTION
Male
Macropterous
Coloration. Body coloration usually reddish, sometimes yellowish to brownish. Head (Fig. 1B): Uniformly reddish to brownish. Antennae with scape and pedicel reddish to brown. Labium with first and second labial segments usually concolorous, reddish to brownish, third segment usually yellowish. Thorax (Fig. 1E): Uniformly reddish to brownish, some species with darker regions; anterior and posterior lobes usually concolorous; spines of the humeral angles, meso- and metanotum with the apex reddish, yellowish, or brownish; supracoxal lobes with the posterior margins concolorous with the thorax or paler. Legs (Fig. 1F): Variable between species, meso- and metalegs usually similar to prolegs. Forewings (Fig. 1C, D): Semi-hyaline, yellowish to brownish, veins and pterostigma coloration variable between species. Abdomen: Reddish to brownish.
Vestiture. Body with sparse, fine, suberect setae. Head: Densely setose, ventral margin of maxillary plate and posteroventral eye margin with a tuft of strong setae. Scape and pedicel with dense, long setae, nearly twice as long as the diameter of the antennal segments; remaining segments with short setae. First and third labial segments with simple, short setae ventrally; second segment with a tuft of strong setae ventrally (Fig. 1B). Thorax: With sparse, fine, suberect setae. Legs: Procoxae with long setae; protrochanters with a pair of tufts of strong setae ventrally; profemora with a ventral row of strong setae, intermixed with dense decumbent setae, anterodorsal surface with a row of strong setae on medial and apical regions; protibiae with dense, suberect setae; scopula present on ventral surface of third tarsomere of all legs.
Structure. Head (Fig. 1B): Anteocular region nearly as long as postocular region, postocular region globose; interocular sulcus deep, almost straight; clypeus flat. Eyes hemispherical in dorsal view, dorsoventrally ovoid in lateral view. Labium (Fig. 1B): First segment stout; second segment swollen basally, about as long as third; third segment tapering towards apex. Thorax (Fig. 1E): Pronotum longer than wide. Anterior lobe subquadrate, disc rugose, anterior and posterior margins with a pair of lateral blunt protuberances each, anterior pair larger and closer to each other than posterior pair. Posterior lobe trapezoidal, about as long as anterior lobe; humeral angles projecting into spines, usually long (short in some species); transverse furrow deeply impressed. Mesoscutum with a broad base, medially depressed, laterally forming a ridge, apex truncate, tapering into a long, erect spine; scutellum with a posterior blunt process, apically entire or emarginate, and usually concave posteriorly; metanotum with a reclined long or short erect spine. Prosternum with a projected proepisternal process, apex pointed; stridulitrum narrow; prosternal process small; mesosternum longer than prosternum; metasternum slightly shorter than mesosternum. Legs: Procoxae cylindrical; protrochanters triangular; profemora stout; protibiae curved, slightly expanded apically (Fig. 1F), with a flat tibial comb on inner surface; tarsi three-segmented, basal segment the longest; apical segment globose; claws simple, slender and curved. Metalegs slightly longer than mesolegs; meso- and metacoxae ovoid; meso- and metatrochanters triangular; meso- and metafemora, and meso- and metatibiae long and slender; meso- and metatarsi similar to protarsi. Forewings with two or three closed cells, basal cell small, nearly triangular, with short prolongation of the R+ M vein basally; discal cell trapezoidal and elongate. Abdomen: Elongate ovoid (Fig. 2C, D), lateral margins smooth. Segment 8 with the anterior margin slightly concave, posterior margin entire, spiracles not projected. Genitalia(Figs 5, 6): Pygophore ovoid in dorsal view, posteromedial process bifid (mpp) reclined at about 45° or nearly vertical, shape of ramus variable between species, posterior margin next to each ramus (pmr) flat or with a pair of blunt processes; genital opening (go) and anterior opening separated by a narrow transverse bridge (br); anterior opening (ao) anteriorly positioned to longitudinal axis of pygophore; area surrounding paramere socket (ps) with short setae. Paramere (pa) long and gently curving apically, slightly wider on the medial region, apical half slightly sharpening, long delicate setae homogeneously distributed on medial and apical surface, apex acute. Phallus (Fig. 6 A-G): Arms of articulatory apparatus (apt) projecting towards lateral margins in dorsal view; with basal plate bridge (bpb) developed, and variable in length. Phallosoma with dorsal phallothecal sclerite (dps) symmetric, nearly triangular, curved dorsally, rounded to truncate apically, projected laterally or not. Endosoma with a symmetric sclerite ventrally, with elongate sclerites (ese) apically, and triangular short sclerites lateral or apically.
Female
Similar to males in most respects. Macropterous, but S. elkinsi with micropterous form.
Vestiture. Head: Scape and pedicel with dense, long setae, nearly one time as long as the diameter of the antennal segments. Genitalia: Tergite 8 nearly transversely rectangular, wider than long, posteromedial margin entire, medially with long, semierect setae; tergite 9 nearly oval to quadrangular, posteromedial margin entire, medially with long, semierect setae; gonocoxa 8 (gcx8) nearly rectangular to oval, medial posterior angle projecting into a process, anterior and posterior margins straight, lateral anterior prolongation short and wide, medial margin slightly projected; gonoplac (gpl) formed by two triangular fused sclerites, tapering apically, apex sharp, entire or with a blunt process, lateral external margins straight or slightly sinuose; gonapophysis 9 not sclerotized anteriorly; bursa copulatrix (bc) membranous and ovoid (Fig. 6 H-M).
description: Published as part of María, Valentina Castro-Huertas & Melo, María Cecilia, 2024, Saica Amyot & Serville, 1843 (Reduviidae, Emesinae, Saicini): taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis with morphological characters, pp. 813-845 in Zoosystema 46 (32) on pages 817-818, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2024v46a32, http://zenodo.org/record/14532160