Redescription of the genus Cavernicola and the tribe Cavernicolini (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae), with morphological and morphometric parameters

Abstract

The genus Cavernicola Barber 1937 and the tribe Cavernicolini Usinger 1944 were originally described from a single species, C. pilosa Barber 1937. The description of C. lenti Barrett & Arias 1985 rendered inadequate certain diagnostic characteristics chosen for these taxa. These taxa and C. pilosa are redescribed here based on morphological and morphometric studies of the two species.

Cavernicola pilosa Barber, 1937 (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae): first record in Amazonas state, Brazil

“…Cavernicola pilosa mainly inhabits caves, feeding on bat blood (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979), and it possibly disperses passively in bat hair (Oliveira et al 2008). This species has already been reported in Brazil in the states of Pará, Tocantins, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, and Maranhão (Lent and Jurberg 1969;Galvão et al 2003;Oliveira et al 2007Oliveira et al , 2008Gil-Santana et al 2014). A previous erroneous occurrence of this species in the state of Amazonas was cited by Gomes and Pereira (1977), who attributed this distribution to Neiva and Lent (1941).…”

“…In 2019, the specimen was studied and identified as Cavernicola pilosa. The identification was made using the dichotomous keys by Lent and Wygodzinsky (1979), Oliveira et al (2007), and Galvão (2014).…”

“…The scutellum is triangular, with two raised cristae laterally, just before apex; the apical process is very small, rounded apically, and almost perpendicular to abdominal dorsum. The corium is smoky chestnutcolored, with two dark-yellow markings with indistinct borders, venation is indistinct, and sparse, long hairs cover it (Oliveira et al 2007) (Fig. 2B).…”

“…The subfamily Triatominae is composed of 154 described species which are assigned to five tribes and 19 genera (Dorn et al 2018;Lima-Cordon et al 2019;Poinar 2019). Considering that the tribe Cavernicolini and genus Cavernicola Barber, 1937 were diagnosed before the description of the second species, Oliveira et al (2007) redescribed the tribe and genus based on morphological and morphometric features. The genus Cavernicola is considered a cave-specialized triatomine, with only two species.…”

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“…Ao total são 148 espécies de barbeiros conhecidas, sendo 65 destas encontradas no Brasil diferentes distribuições geográficas (Figura 01), onde 42 destas têm o registro de ocorrência apenas no país (Carcavallo et al, 1985;Luitgards-Moura et al, 2005 ;Leite et al, 2007 ;Oliveira et al, 2007 ;Almeida et al, 2008;Massaro et al, 2008 ;Abad-Franch et al, 2009…”