Hellica Stål, 1867

Carpintero, Diego & De Biase, Sebastián, 2019, Revision of genus Hellica Stål, 1867 and description of three new genera of South American Lanopini (Hemiptera: Acanthosomatidae: Blaudusinae), Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 21 (2), pp. 133-158 : 144

Hellica Stål, 1867

Hellica Stål 1867: 533 (Type species: Hellica nitida Haglund 1868: 161 , by subsequent monotypy); Stål 1872: 62; Lethierry & Severin 1893: 258; Kirka-ldy 1909: 179; Kumar 1974: 28; Rolston & Kumar 1974: 272; Froeschner 1981: 8; Froeschner 2000: 165; Grazia & Schwertner 2015: 402; Dellapé 2016: 84; Coscarón 2017: 11.

Description. Broadly oval, small to medium-sized species; in lateral view, margin of hemelytra and lateral margin of pronotum showing a wellmarked angle ( Fig. 8 C ). Dorsal surface covered with strong, deep and sparse punctures.

Head ( Fig. 5 C ). Lateral margins of head flattened; head sparsely punctured ventrally. Anteclypeus with some punctures on the basal quarter of its length, length extending well beyond apices of paraclypei (differing from illustrations in Froeschner, 2000); paraclypei with mesial margins divergent towards apices, allowing anteclypeus to be twice as wide apically than basally. Antennae long, segment I not reaching apex of the head; segment II always equal to or shorter than III (also differing from illustrations in Froeschner 2000); segments IV and V of equal length or longer than segments II and III taken together. Bucculae narrow, concealing less than half the broadness of labial segment I, with only a basal punctured line; labial segments I and II smaller in diameter; segment III particularly enlarged in diameter; segment IV less enlarged.

Thorax. Lateral margins of pronotum straight, not carinate. Scutellum wider along base than medial length. Ostiolar peritremes small, twisted, protruding, each with apical spiniform process ( Fig. 8 F , 9 D , 11 F ). Legs with femora greater in diameter than tibiae, but not particularly short or robust; tibiae not flattened ventrally on their apical halves; tarsomere I much shorter than II (differing from illustrations in Froeschner, 2000).

Abdomen. Strongly and sparsely punctured except for a medial longitudinal band; basi-abdominal spine present, short, apically rounded, reaching hind coxae. Pendergrast’s organs large, well-developed, dark, with short hairs, restricted to anterior half of sternite VII (last pregenital segment) ( Fig. 8 D ). In males, lateral margins of 7th sternite slightly curved; pygophore subrhomboid.

Discussion. According to Froeschner (2000): “ Among those (preƲiously knoaen) genera of the tribe Lanopini Kumar aeith juga not surpassing the tylus and humeri not projecting beyond the outline of the costa, Hellica is recognizable by the Ʋery short peritreme that is Ʋirtually no longer than aeide ”. In addition to this definition, the genus Hellica differs from the rest of the Lanopini , by its geographical distribution. The discovery of new taxa with virtually the same morphological characters, and with similar distributions leads us to believe that a natural group of species has evolved in this region. This group of species, representing several different genera, is considered here to be a “genus-complex.” To date, there has been no thorough phylogenetic analysis of the tribe, but it appears that this complex of genera has diversified at these latitudes, including particular morphological adaptations, which has led us to group them into at least four different, but closely related genera.

Figures

Fig. 8. Hellica nitida Haglund. A. Male, dorsal view. B. Female, dorsal view. C. Female, lateral view. D. Female, genitalia ventral view. E. Male, pygophore dorsal view. F. Metapleura .

Fig. 5. Heads in dorsal view. A. E. farinai sp. nov. B. A. faundezi sp. nov. C. H. nitida Haglund. D. H. johni (Froeschner).

Fig. 9. Hellica johnpolhemi Froeschner. A. Female, dorsal view. B. Female, lateral view. C. Female, genitalia ventral view. D. Metapleura.

Fig. 11. Hellica kolla sp. nov. A. Female, dorsal view. B. Female, lateral view. C. Female, abdomen showing genitalia ventral view. D. Female, genitalia caudal view. E. Male, pygophore dorsal view. F. Metapleura.