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First record of Microtomus luctuosus (Stål) (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Hammacerinae) in Honduras

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Abstract

Se presenta la primera cita de Microtomus luctuosus de Honduras. Se da información adicional acerca de la distribución de la especie.
www.biotaxa.org/rce. ISSN 0718-8994 (online) Revista Chilena de Entomología (2019) 45 (2): 253-255.
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Scientic Note
First record of Microtomus luctuosus (Stål) (Heteroptera: Reduviidae:
Hammacerinae) in Honduras
Primera cita de Microtomus luctuosus (Stål) (Heteroptera: Reduviidae:
Hammacerinae) en Honduras
Torsten van der Heyden1
1 Immenweide 83, D-22523 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: tmvdh@web.de
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:49A9E932-FAC8-4B58-BFF4-EB67687830AD
https://doi.org/10.35249/rche.45.2.19.10
Abstract. The rst record of Microtomus luctuosus from Honduras is reported. Additional information
on the distribution of the species is given.
Key words: Central America, distribution, Hemiptera, Microtominae.
Resumen. Se presenta la primera cita de Microtomus luctuosus de Honduras. Se da información
adicional acerca de la distribución de la especie.
Palabras clave: América Central, distribución, Hemiptera, Microtominae.
Microtomus luctuosus (Stål, 1854) is one of a dozen species within the genus Microtomus
Illiger, 1807, which belongs to the subfamily Hammacerinae (=Microtominae) of the
Reduviidae and is restricted to the New World (Weirauch et al. 2014; Gil-Santana et al.
2015; van der Heyden 2019).
So far, M. luctuosus has been reported from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the United States of America (Texas) (Stål
1854; Champion 1897-1901; Stichel 1926; Costa Lima 1935; Giacchi and Coscarón 1986;
Coscarón and Jirón 1988; Maes 1989, 1998; Maldonado Capriles 1990; Swanson and
Chordas 2018).
Hitherto, Honduras has been the only Central American country without conrmation
of the presence of M. luctuosus reported in scientic publications. This gap can be closed
now with the following rst record of the species for this country:
On 7-I-2017 at 5:45 p.m. EST, Darin J. McNeil photographed an adult specimen of M.
luctuosus (Fig. 1). The specimen was found near San Francisco de la Paz in the department
of Olancho (Lat: 14.786392, Long: -86.030633). Darin J. McNeil wrote: “The photo was
taken within Sierra de Agalta National Park in Honduras. We were exploring the
area near our camp and found this insect perched about 1 m o the ground ~ 50 m from
a nearby stream. The area had only sparse canopy.” (personal communication). The
photograph was rst published in the online database iNaturalist (McNeil 2017).
The specimen was identied as M. luctuosus following the keys and descriptions
provided by Stichel (1926), Costa Lima (1935) and Giacchi and Coscarón (1986).
Received 22 April 2019 / Accepted 30 April 2019 / Published online 17 May 2019
Responsible Editor: José Mondaca E.
van der Heyden: First record of Microtomus luctuosus in Honduras.
254
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Darin J. McNeil (Ithaca, United States of America) for allowing me
to use his photograph of M. luctuosus to illustrate this paper and for additional information
about his nding.
Literature Cited
Champion, G.C. (1897-1901) Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Vol. II. Biologia
Centrali-Americana. R.H. Porter. London. 416 pp + 22 plates.
Coscarón, M.C. and Jirón, L.F. (1988) Updated checklist of Assassin Bug species (Hemiptera:
Reduviidae) of Costa Rica. Brenesia, 29: 107-113.
Costa Lima, A. da (1935) Genero Microtomus Illiger, 1807 (Reduviidae: Microtominae).
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Giacchi, J.C. and Coscarón, M.C. (1986) Revisión de la subfamilia Microtominae. II.
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Figure 1. Specimen of Microtomus luctuosus (Stål, 1854), Sierra de Agalta National Park, Olancho,
Honduras, 7-I-2017. (Photograph: Darin J. McNeil).
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Revista Chilena de Entomología 45 (2) 2019
255
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ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
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The first record of Microtomus cinctipes from Panama and a recent record of the species from Ecuador are reported. Additional information on the distribution of the species is given.
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Fifty-one species of Reduviidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) are recorded from Belize; literature citations are provided where relevant, and specimen data are included for examined material. Thirteen previously-described species are reported from Belize for the first time, ten of which represent new generic records: Eupheno histrionicus Stål, 1862 (Cetherinae); Ghinallelia signoreti (Dohrn, 1860) (Emesinae); Rasahus albomaculatus (Mayr, 1865) (Peiratinae); Leogorrus interruptus Champion, 1899; Microlestria laevis Champion, 1899; Nalata quadrituberculata Champion, 1899; Nalata setulosa Stål, 1862; Pseudozelurus superbus (Champion, 1899); Zelurus spinidorsis (Gray, 1832) (all Reduviinae); Oncerotrachelus conformis Uhler, 1894; Saica fuscipes Stål, 1862 (both Saicinae); Gnathobleda litigiosa Stål, 1862; and Stenopoda wygodzinskyi Giacchi, 1969 (both Stenopodainae). Among the ten subfamilies reported, Belizean records for one subfamily, Saicinae, are reported for the first time. Accompanying the checklist are the descriptions of Castolus omega Swanson sp. nov. (Harpactorinae) and Pygolampis aptena Swanson sp. nov. (Stenopodainae).
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Reduviidae (assassin bugs) is the second largest family of the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera (true bugs). The family contains 25 subfamilies, the largest number amongst true bugs, and 28 tribes. Most previously published keys do not include all recognized subfamilies and even complete keys lead to incorrect identification of certain taxa. We here present a comprehensive and well-illustrated identification key to subfamilies and tribes (except Emesinae) of Reduviidae. The key is complemented by taxon treatments that provide, for each subfamily, diagnostic features, notes on taxonomy and distribution, a comment on taxa occurring in Canada, natural history notes, and a short bibliography.
Microtomus luctuosus. Photograph to be found on iNaturalist
  • D J Mcneil
McNeil, D.J. (2017) Microtomus luctuosus. Photograph to be found on iNaturalist [Online database]. Available from: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5205943. (Accessed: 20-IV-2019).
1854) Nya Hemiptera. Öfversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar
  • C Stål
Stål, C. (1854) Nya Hemiptera. Öfversigt af Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar, 11(8): 231-255.