Rhagovelia cardia Padilla-Gil 2011
Creators: name: Galindo-Malagón, Ximena Alejandra
name: Morales, Irina
name: Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Veliidae
Rhagovelia
Rhagovelia cardia

description: Rhagovelia cardia Padilla-Gil, 2011
(Figs. 5F, 6F, 7F, 8F, 19J, 20J, 25A)
Rhagovelia cardia Padilla-Gil, 2011: 207.
Rhagovelia carina Padilla-Gil, 2015: 77 (new synonym).
Holotype apterous male. BL 3.87; HL 0.41; HW 1.00; INT 0.35; ANT I 1.35, ANT II 0.75, ANT III 0.85, ANT IV 0.95; EYE 0.37; PL 0.21; PW 1.23; FORELEG: FEM 1.65; TIB 1.75; TAR I 0.06; TAR II 0.04; TAR III 0.38; MIDLEG: FEM 2.80; TIB 1.80; TAR I 0.10; TAR II 1.05; TAR III 1.00; HINDLEG: FEM 2.35; TIB 2.15; TAR I 0.12; TAR II 0.16; TAR III 0.42.
Head dorsally black, covered with golden pubescence; longitudinal midline and a pair of oblique indentations at base impressed and shiny. Venter of head black. Buccula brown. Labium brown. Eye dark red. Antenniferous tubercle brown. Base of antennomere I yellow; most of I and rest of antenna brown. Pronotum dark orange between eyes behind vertex of head, dark brown laterally and posteriorly. Meso- and metanota black, covered by golden pubescence. Propleuron with small yellow macula; meso- and metapleura black, covered with greyish pubescence. Pro-, meso- and metasterna black, covered with greyish pubescence. Proacetabulum black with yellow ventral spot. Mesoacetabulum black. Metacetabulum black with yellow margins. Fore and hind coxae yellow. Middle coxa black. Fore and hind trochanters black with brown macula. Middle trochanter black. Femora, tibiae and tarsi black. Abdominal mediotergites black, covered with golden pubescence; VII with a central shiny black spot; tergum VIII shiny black, covered with short golden setae. Abdominal laterotergites black, covered with golden pubescence, with lateral margins shiny black. Abdominal sterna black, covered with greyish and golden pubescence, except for VII with a shiny black mark and slightly marked median carina.
Head short, covered with short setae; frons with longer setae. Antenna covered with short brown setae, denser on antennomere IV; antennomere I with at least six longer, thick brown setae; II with two of these setae near middle. Antennomeres I– III cylindrical; IV fusiform; I and IV subequal in width at the middle; II subequal in width to III, slightly thinner than I and IV. Labium short. Ocular setae present. Pronotum short, not covering mesonotum, covered with short golden setae, denser laterally; posterior margin slightly concave. Mesonotum covered with short golden setae, denser on the posterior margin; posterior margin convex centrally. Metanotum short; posterior margin straight centrally. Sides of thorax with long brown setae. Legs covered with short golden setae, with rows of longer, thicker setae on femora and tibiae. Trochanters without spines. Fore tibia slightly curved distally, with weak preapical depression; grasping comb extending slightly beyond apex. Hind femur distinctly surpassing apex of abdomen, slightly wider than middle femur, with posterior margin sinuous; distal half with a row of about 14–16 spines decreasing in size towards apex. Hind tibia slightly curved, with 22–23 subequal short denticles, apex with straight spur. Abdominal mediotergites subrectangular. Abdominal laterotergites raised, but not vertical, with short golden setae. Abdominal sterna covered with short golden setae, without black denticles, with weak median carina on segments VII–VIII. Proctiger subtriangular, basal lobes rounded, strong, short; apex rounded, densely covered with setae. Paramere elongated, subtriangular, curved and rounded at the edges, with thick setae at apex.
Paratype apterous female. BL 4.38; HL 0.50; HW 1.05; INT 0.34; ANT I 1.35, ANT II 0.73, ANT III 0.83, ANT IV 0.60; EYE 0.50; PL 0.25; PW 1.20; FORELEG: FEM 1.65; TIB 1.68; TAR I 0.06; TAR II 0.04; TAR III 0.38; MIDLEG: FEM 2.88; TIB 1.75; TAR I 0.10; TAR II 1.05; TAR III 1.00; HINDLEG: FEM 2.35; TIB 2.20; TAR I 0.08; TAR II 0.22; TAR III 0.42.
Similar to apterous male in structure and color. Hind femur relatively shorter and less sinuous than in male, with about 6–8 spines on distal half. Shiny black central spot on dorsum of abdominal segments VI –VIII. Abdominal sterna without carina; VII with shiny brown mark.
Comments. When describing R. carina, Padilla-Gil (2015) compared it with R. cardia and R. espriella (= R. rosensis, new synonym). According to this author, R. carina could be distinguished from R. cardia by the absence of a heart-shaped shiny black spot on the mesonotum (present in the latter), the male hind femur 7.3 times as long as wide (7.6 in the latter), and by the shape of the paramere. The mesonotum of the types of R. cardia deposited in the ICN is slightly more bare and reflective than in most Colombian species of the angustipes complex, but a heartshaped shiny black spot could not be observed. Evident shiny black mesonotal areas, similar to those that commonly occur on the abdominal mediotergites of species of the complex, are found, for example, in R. calopa (Fig. 5E) and R. sabrina Drake, 1958, but not in R. cardia. The mentioned difference in the length / width ratio of the male hind femur between R. carina and R. cardia (ca. 4%) is very small and can be regarded as intraspecific variation. The development of the hind femur in male Rhagovelia is related to sexual selection and can be quite variable in a single species, with more extreme cases occurring in the collaris and robusta complexes (Crumiére et al. 2019, Magalhães 2019). The differences in paramere shape between R. carina and R. cardia (compare Padilla-Gil 2015: Fig. 30 and Fig. 31) are due to innapropriate preparation of the drawings. The actual paramere of R. cardia (Fig. 19J) is more similar to that drawn for R. carina by Padilla-Gil (2015: Fig. 30). Considering that these differences are either misinterpretations or of minor importance for species discrimination in the angustipes complex, and that no other major differences have been found between the types of both species, we propose the synonymy between R. carina and R. cardia. As can be seen below, both were described from the same area in southern Colombia.
Distribution. Colombia: Cauca (Padilla-Gil 2019b, Padilla-Gil 2020), Nariño (Padilla-Gil 2011, Padilla-Gil 2015), Tolima (Parra-Trujillo et al. 2014) (Fig. 25A).
Type material examined. Holotype ♂ apterous of R. cardia (ICN 054104): ‘ Colombia \ Nariño \ municipio de Barbacoas \ Altaquer \ río Ñambi \ 16.V.2008 \ Col: G. Montenegro’. Paratype ♀ apterous of R. cardia (ICN 054105): same data as holotype. Holotype ♂ apterous of R. carina (ICN): ‘ Colombia \ Nariño \ Altaquer \ Reserva Natural Río Ñambi \ 2010-IV-29 \ Col: D. N. Padilla’. Paratypes of R. carina, 6 ♂ apterous, 7 ♀ apterous, 1 ♀ macropterous (ICN): same data as holotype.
description: Published as part of Galindo-Malagón, Ximena Alejandra, Morales, Irina & Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, 2021, Revision of the Rhagovelia angustipes complex (Insecta: Hemiptera: Veliidae from Colombia, pp. 167-225 in Zootaxa 4958 (1) on pages 188-189, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4958.1.11, http://zenodo.org/record/4691515