Pseudocetherinae Villiers 1963
Creators: name: Castillo, Stephanie
name: Rédei, Dávid
name: Weirauch, Christiane
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Reduviidae

description: Subfamily Pseudocetherinae Villiers, 1963
Pseudocetherinae Villiers, 1963b: 531.
Type genus: Pseudocethera Villiers, 1963 (= Voconia Stål, 1866). Reduviinae Latreille, 1807: 126–127 (in part, new concept).
Diagnosis
Distinguished from other Reduviidae by the combination of the following characters: head and pronotum pubescent with interspersed macrosetae or setigerous tubercles; labial segment II straight, as long as remaining segments, and adpressed to head (Fig. 3E–F); apex of the third visible labial segment bent and slender; antennal insertion near eye, medially in lateral view (Fig. 3E–F); pedicel longer than scape; prosternum drawn into an anteriad-directed process (Fig. 6); absence of dorsal abdominal glands on terga IV–VI; ventral surface of all femora with anterior and posterior rows of spine-like protuberances with macrosetae at base of protuberance (Fig. 4F, I); males with fossula spongiosa on fore and mid legs (except in V. motoensis sp. nov. where the the fossula spongiosa is absent on the midleg) (Fig. 4G–H); females with fossula spongiosa on fore leg, but fossula spongiosa usually absent or vestigial on mid leg; tibiae laterally compressed (Fig. 4H); three-segmented tarsi (Fig. 4H).
Redescription
Usually macropterous, only micropterous morphs are known in three species and one species includes both micropterous and macropterous morphs.
BODY LENGTH. 6.7–12.4 mm.
BODY. Either robust (Fig. 8, e.g., V. motoensis sp. nov.) or slender (Fig. 8, e.g., V. minima sp. nov.) with variable color patterns.
HEAD. Elongate or globose; pubescent with interspersed macrosetae or setigerous tubercles; interocular region with two glabrous lines; scape and pedicel with dense, short macrosetae; scape reaching or slightly surpassing head apex, 0.2–0.3 times length of pedicel; ocelli present in macropterous morphs and minute or absent in micropterous morphs; buccula with ventrolateral swelling; labial segment III drawn into bent, slender apex.
THORAX. Prosternum in lateral view drawn into anteriad-directed process; scutellar spine long, either sub-horizontal or raised.
HEMELYTRON. In macropterous individuals, Cu-An 1 cell triangular, shorter than M-Cu cell (Fig. 4B) or Cu-An 1 cell similar in length to M-Cu cell, slender and tapered apically (Fig. 4A).
LEGS. Fossula spongiosa present on fore tibia, usually present on mid tibia of males; all femora with ventral anterior and posterior rows of spine-like protuberances with macrosetae at base of protuberance (Fig. 4I); tibiae laterally compressed (Fig. 4G–H).
ABDOMEN. Posterolateral margin of dorsal laterotergites with (Fig. 5, e.g., Gerbelius sp. 2) or without single macroseta; anterior margin of terga carinulate; dorsal abdominal glands absent.
Male
PYGOPHORE. Posterior margin with a short median apical process, either straight or bent posteriorly.
PARAMERES. Sinusoidal or rounded.
AEDEAGUS. Basal plate extension long in relation to phallotheca; endosoma covered in spicules.
Habitat and collecting method
Pseudocetherinae have been collected using light traps, but records on habitat and collecting methods are scarce on specimen labels.
Distribution (Figs 17–20)
Pseudocetherinae are widespread, with species distributed in the Afrotropical, Neotropical, Oriental, and Australasian regions. The highest diversity occurs in Southeast Asia (Fig. 20) and the lowest in the Neotropics (Fig. 19).
Key to the genera of Pseudocetherinae
1. Cu-An 1 cell of hemelytron of macropterous individuals similar in length to M-Cu cell, slender and tapering apically (Fig. 4A). Maxillary plates enlarged laterally in dorsal view (Fig. 3A). Labium stout, morphologically ventral surface of labial segment I with dense, long macrosetae (Fig. 3G) ....................................................................................................... Gerbelius Distant, 1903
– Cu-An 1 cell of hemelytron of macropterous individuals shorter than M-Cu cell, triangular (Figs 4B, 6C). Maxillary plates forming ellipsoid projections in dorsal view (Figs 3B, 6B). Labium gracile, morphologically ventral surface of labial segment I with short macrosetae or few long macrosetae (Figs 3E–F, 6E) ..................................................................................................... Voconia Stål, 1866
description: Published as part of Castillo, Stephanie, Rédei, Dávid & Weirauch, Christiane, 2022, Pseudocetherinae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) revisited: phylogeny and taxonomy of the lobe-headed bugs, pp. 1-95 in European Journal of Taxonomy 788 (1) on pages 22-23, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.788.1625, http://zenodo.org/record/5846636