Doomed to a vile lot: new taxa, notes, and an updated generic key for the Old World corsairs (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Peiratinae)
Author
Swanson, Daniel R.
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-11-19
4700
2
196
228
journal article
24865
10.11646/zootaxa.4700.2.2
0ffab461-7a40-4216-88cf-a1727e05ccdf
1175-5326
3548390
DEB691E4-EEA2-4821-84B4-BA9145E5706B
Brachysandalus bicolor
(
Villiers, 1948
)
(
Fig. 1
)
Lestomerus
(
Brachysandalus
)
bicolor
Villiers, 1948: 241
.
Pirates
sin
:
Linnavuori, 1984: 17
. Synonymized by
Coscarón & Linnavuori, 2007: 65
.
Lestomerus (Brachysandalus) bicolor
was described by
Villiers (1948)
from several localities in northern and central Africa, being separated from regional congeners primarily by color pattern.
Villiers (1968a)
later raised
Brachysandalus
Stål, 1866
to full generic status, thereby treating his species as
Brachysandalus bicolor
. Sixteen years later,
Pirates
sin
Linnavuori, 1984
was described from
Iraq
.
Coscarón (1997)
transferred Linnavuori’s species to
Brachysandalus
, and the two authors subsequently synonymized that species with
L.
(
B.
)
bicolor
in a redescription based on specimens of
Pirates
sin
in Linnavuori’s collection, as well as examination of Villiers’
holotype
in Paris (
Coscarón & Linnavuori 2007
) (
Fig. 1
A–C). The species has remained enigmatic in being largely disjunct from most other members of
Brachysandalus
, a genus comprising 17 other species, with 13 species known from
Australia
,
Tasmania
, and
New Zealand
, and four species from
Malaysia
and
Indonesia
.
Material Examined.
KENYA
:
Meru
National Park
,
Bwatherongi Campsite
,
30 April–30 June 1987
,
Stanton Braude
, det. D. R.
Swanson 2017
[
1 female
] (
UMMZ
) (
NEW
COUNTRY RECORD
); [SOUTH]
SUDAN
:
Upper Nile
,
Renk-Malakal
,
3–5 January 1963
,
Linnavuori
, det. D. R.
Swanson 2018
,
AMNH
_
IZC 00321062
,
00321063
[
1 male
,
1 female
] (
AMNH
)
;
TANZANIA
:
Ilonga
,
light trap
,
November 1966
,
I. A. D. Robertson
, det.
D. R.
Swanson 2018
,
AMNH
_
IZC 00321065
[
1 female
] (
AMNH
); idem.
February 1967
,
AMNH
_
IZC 00321064
[
1 male
] (
AMNH
) (
NEW
COUNTRY RECORD
)
.
FIGURE 1.
Brachysandalus bicolor
: male holotype of
Lestomerus bicolor
(MNHN): (A) dorsal habitus, (B) lateral habitus, (C) labels; adult female (UMMZ): (D) dorsal habitus, (E) lateral habitus, (F) labels. Scale bar =2 mm.
Distribution.
Chad
,
Sudan
,
Ethiopia
,
Djibouti
(
Villiers 1948
);
Cameroon
(
Villiers 1968a
);
South Sudan
(
Linnavuori 1974
);
Somalia
(
Linnavuori 1976
);
Iraq
(
Linnavuori 1984
);
Saudi Arabia
(
Coscarón & Linnavuori 2007
);
Kenya
,
Tanzania
(present study) (summarized in
Fig. 2
).
Remarks.
The specimen from
Kenya
was taken in essentially the same locality as
Sphodrembas fumipennis
gen. et sp. nov.
and a specimen of
Lestomerus basilewskyi
Villiers, 1962
(see Additional Material Examined).
Even though
Villiers (1948: 241)
gave the
type
locality as “Côte des Somalis”, he provided further details on page 242: “Côte des Somalis: Mont Goudah,
1.500 m
., sur le plateau de Dai (E. Aubert de la Ruë).” I have equated this with the Goda Mountains in
Tadjourah Region
,
Djibouti
.
Putshkov & Putshkov’s (1987)
listing from
Eritrea
almost certainly refers to the
Djibouti
locality. Additionally, the locality of “
Saudi Arabia
, E. Al As ’ad” (
Coscarón & Linnavuori 2007
) could not be located and therefore does not appear in
Figure 2
.