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Issue: Vol. 1175 No. 1: 19 Apr. 2006
Type: Articles
Published: 2006-04-19
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1175.1.2
Page range: 31–35
Abstract views: 34
PDF downloaded: 3

The thoracic sclerites of Belostoma Latreille (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae) and their usefulness for species identification

División Entomología, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
División Entomología, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, 9 de julio 1449, 3400, Corrientes, Argentina
Hemiptera Belostomatidae Belostoma spp thoracic sclerites species identification

Abstract

Some thoracic sclerites, including the mesepimeron, postalar projection, wing knob, metanotum pubescence, and wing groove widening, are described and analyzed as worthy taxonomic characters for the identification of adult species of the genus Belostoma Latreille 1807. We tested the diagnostic value of these structures on specimens of B. dentatum (Mayr, 1863), B. elegans (Mayr, 1871), B. micantulum (Stål, 1860), and B. oxyurum (Dufour, 1863).

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