Apiomerus maya Dispons 1971
Creators: name: Masonick, Paul
name: Weirauch, Christiane
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae
Apiomerus
Apiomerus maya

description: Apiomerus maya Dispons, 1971
Figs 1B, 2B, 2H, 3B, 3F, 4
Apiomerus maya Dispons, 1971: 9. Holotype: ♂, Guatemala; ISNB.
Apiomerus maya: Maldonado (1990: 6) (catalog).
Revised diagnosis: Recognized by a combination of the following characteristics: (1) small size (<14 mm in length) and predominantly brown body and forewings, (2) males with lyre-shaped medial process of the pygophore with broadly spaced, slightly curved rami, (3) pair of strongly developed triangular projections near base of the dorsal phallothecal sclerite, (4) short, broad, flat, and round basal dorsolateral sclerites of the endosoma with longitudinal striations, and (5) about 26 endosomal denticles that are arranged into two longitudinal rows of about 13 pairs.
Redescription: Male: Small, 11.91–12.53 mm in length, width across humeral angles 3.67–3.96 mm (n=5). COLORATION: Mostly black; anterior pronotal lobe dark brown, posterior pronotal lobe brown (Fig. 1B); corium brown, only veins near forewing membrane white or pale-yellow, quadrate cell of the corium is not outlined in white or pale-yellow; entire forewing membrane brown; basal spot of connexivum 7 roughly twice the size of marking on the preceding segment (from dorsal view); lateral spots of abdominal sterna absent. STRUCTURE: Medial process of pygophore lyre-shaped in caudal view, rami widely separated and slightly bent away (laterally) from one another midway along their length (Fig. 2B); paramere weakly bent, with bristles subequal to or slightly longer than its maximal width (Fig. 2H); dorsal phallothecal sclerite arrow-shaped in dorsal view, with pair of strongly developed triangular projections near base (tp: Fig. 3B), apex of dorsal phallothecal sclerite strongly reflexed and deeply notched; basal dorsolateral sclerites of endosoma short, broad, flat, and round; dorsal surface of endosoma with about 26 denticles arranged into about 13 pairs forming two longitudinal rows; dorsolateral surface of endosoma with slight sclerotization near base.
Female: Small, about 11.75 mm in length, width across humeral angles about 3.47 mm (n=1).
Biology: This species has been collected from April to June at elevations ranging between 45–335 meters.
Distribution: Apiomerus maya inhabits the coastal lowlands of southeastern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.
Discussion: This species is represented by relatively few specimens compared to the other species in the A. maya species group. It is easily separated from both A. pipil and A. venosus by its small size, color, and from A. immundus by the unique morphology of the male aedeagus.
Type material examined: Holotype: ♂, GUATEMALA: exact locality and date unknown, leg. Rodriguez (UCR _ ENT 00038047) (ISNB).
Additional specimens examined: 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (see Appendix).
description: Published as part of Masonick, Paul & Weirauch, Christiane, 2022, Taxonomic revision of the Apiomerus maya species group (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae), pp. 537-556 in Zootaxa 5154 (5) on pages 542-544, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5154.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/6655680