Rhagovelia colombiana
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 colombiana

description: Rhagovelia colombiana (Polhemus & Manzano, 1992)
(Figs. 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 19B, 20B, 22B)
Trochopus colombianus Polhemus & Manzano, 1992: 318.
Rhagovelia columbiana; Polhemus (1997: 379) (incorrect subsequent spelling).
Rhagovelia colombiana (Polhemus & Manzano, 1992); Padilla-Gil (2010: 63).
Rhagovelia aguaclara Padilla-Gil, 2010: 65 (new synonym).
Diagnosis. Body length ~ 3.30 mm in the male and ~ 3.60 mm in the female. Eye not covered with abundant setae. Tarsal formula 2-2-2. Male fore tibia straight or slightly curved (Figs. 1B, 21B). Posterior surface of male hind femur with about 6 spines basally, followed by two larger spines before middle, then about 5–6 smaller spines towards apex. Central shiny areas on dorsum of abdominal segments VII–VIII in the male and VI–VIII (sometimes also V) in the female (Figs. 1B, 3B). Male abdominal segment VIII large, longer dorsally than mediotergite VII (Fig. 1B). Paramere and proctiger as in Figs. 19B, 20B. Female abdominal laterotergites elevated (Fig. 3B).
Distribution. Colombia: Cauca (Polhemus & Manzano 1992), Chocó (Molano et al. 2018), Nariño (Padilla-Gil 2010, Padilla-Gil & Arcos 2011, Padilla-Gil 2012), Valle del Cauca (Polhemus & Manzano 1992) (Fig. 22B).
Comments. During our visit to the ICN, we were able to examine the types of several Rhagovelia species described by Padilla-Gil. After thoroughly studying this material, we noticed that these descriptions and the poorly prepared accompanying drawings can be very far from the reality. The measurements provided in the descriptions are particularly problematic and are always distinctly greater than those we obtained from the specimens. Finally, male proctigers and parameres can also be very different from those depicted in the descriptions, and not necessarily drawn from their usual perspectives, i.e. dorsally for proctigers and laterally for parameres. Considering these issues, the first synonymy that we must propose is between R. aguaclara and R. colombiana. After examining the types of both species and additional material, we found no significant differences between them, only minor coloration variations that are common to occur intraspecifically in this group. The differences in the paramere shape of the two species (compare Polhemus & Manzano 1992: Fig. 53 and Padilla-Gil 2010: Fig. 7) are due to problems in the positioning of the structure and preparation of the drawings by Padilla-Gil (2010).
Type material examined. Holotype ♂ apterous of R. colombiana (NMNH): ‘ Colombia \ Valle, Buenaventura \ Soldado estero \ 1968-XII-14 \ Col: Venero-Punteno & M. R. Manzano’. Holotype ♂ apterous of R. aguaclara (ICN): ‘ Colombia \ Nariño \ Tumaco \ Aguaclara \ 2009-IX-04 \ Col: O. Arcos’. Paratypes of R. aguaclara, 6 ♂ apterous, 4 ♀ apterous (ICN): same data as holotype.
Additional material examined. Chocó: Nuquí, Pangui, Chigüi Stream, 2017-X-23 (F. Molano & I. Morales): 1 ♀ apterous (UPTC). Nuquí, Coquí, Manglar - Estuario, 2017-X-20 (F. Molano & I. Morales): 2 ♀ apterous (UPTC). Nuquí, Coquí, Boca vieja, Bejuquillal, 2017-X-19 (F. Molano & I. Morales): 13 ♂ apterous, 8 ♀ apterous (UPTC). Bahía Solano, PNN Utria, Manglar, 2016-XI-05 (F. Molano): 9 ♂ apterous, 3 ♀ apterous (UPTC).
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 171-172, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4958.1.11, http://zenodo.org/record/4691515