Ecitonides Wasmann 1894

Ecitonides Wasmann, 1894 Figs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Ecitonides Wasmann, 1894: 212 (original description). Wasmann 1900: 248; 1909: 182 (identification key); Blackwelder 1944: 128 (catalog); Borgmeier 1949: 121 (notes, redescription, and identification key); Seevers 1965: 317 (systematics); Asenjo et al. 2013: 280; 2019: 279 (catalog); Jenkins Shaw et al. 2023: 191 (phylogeny, identification key). Type species. Ecitonides tuberculosus Wasmann, 1894 (by monotypy). Emended diagnosis. In addition to the diagnosis provided by Seevers (1965), species of Ecitonides can be recognized by their robust body with dense, tuberculate sculpture, elongate head, stout appendages with a constriction on protibiae followed by a comb of golden setae, and the last abdominal segments with a tuft of long, black setae. Ecitonides can be distinguished from the morphologically similar genera Bolbophites and Synecitonides by wider, feebly converging posterior head margin with rounded angles, and by the head and pronotum with larger, asymmetrical, densely distributed setigerous tubercles (the other genera with smaller, regularly arranged or absent tubercles). Description. Male. Head: elongate, ~ 1.5–3.0 × longer than wide, oblong or rectangular; postocular region elongate, with lateral margins weakly converging posteriorly; dorsal surface entirely covered with tubercles, sometimes sparse, ventrally with or without tubercles. Eyes large or reduced, reniform, with short setae between ommatidia. Antennae (Fig. 9 A – G) with 11 antennomeres, approximately same length or longer than head; antennomeres evenly pubescent; scape as long as antennomeres 2–4, 2–5 or 2–6 combined, with external or internal lateral margin sinuate, with one or two emarginations at apex; antennomeres 2–5 longer than wide, 6–9 either longer than wide or transverse, antennomere 11 longer than wide, apex tapering, often acute. Clypeus (clp) (Fig. 10 A, B) transverse and membranous, sometimes bearing one pair of long, distal setae. Labrum (Fig. 10) well sclerotized, transverse, with anterior margin laterally emarginate (l. e), bearing long setae; anterior margin with 2–5 denticles (m. dt), with 4–6 longer setae, and one pair of smaller medial setae on either side of median denticle. Mandibles (Fig. 11 E) asymmetrical, wider at base, narrowing apically, with one long lateral seta, one or two teeth and pore-like structures randomly distributed dorsally; prostheca (ps) reduced, restricted to basal portion, longer than wide, with thick setae at apex. Maxilla (Fig. 11 A) with cardo elongate, dilated at apex; stipes (st) longer than wide, basistipes and ditistipes of subequal size; galea (gal) and lacinia (lac) stout and with distal lobe truncate, with densely setose comb, bearing multiple pore-like structures. Maxillary palpi (mx. p) with palpomere 1 short and longer than wide, glabrous; palpomere 2 longer than wide, wider apically, ~ 2 × as long as 1, shorter than 3; palpomere 3 longest, fusiform, and densely setose; palpomere 4 shortest, aciculate, and glabrous. Labium (Fig. 11 B), mentum and submentum separated by suture; prementum (p. m) longer than wide, with one M-shaped carina; ligula (lig) acute, with central sclerite; mentum transverse or trapezoidal, with one pair of long posterior setae, one pair of smaller lateral setae on each side and one basal row of smaller pores, larger pores in middle and multiple pores of variable sizes laterally near middle; submentum triangular, with anterior margins projected, fused with gula, with one pair of distal setae. Labial palpi (l. p) with palpomere 1 longer than wide, glabrous; palpomere 2 slightly widened medially, with few long apical setae; palpomere 3 small and aciculate, ~ 1 / 2 width of palpomere 2, glabrous. Gular sutures contiguous but not fused. Neck distinctive, 1 / 4 of head width. Thorax: pronotum shorter or nearly as long as head, longer than wide, subconical, trapezoidal or hexagonal, laterally and posteriorly sinuate due to tuberculate sculpture, anteriorly feebly sinuate; surface covered with rows of tubercles of variable sizes, forming slightly to strongly prominent median line. Prosternum with tubercles or with distinctive texture if tubercles absent; furcasternum triangular, with sharp longitudinal carina in middle, longer than tip of postprocoxal process, not reaching mesoventrite. Meso- and metaventrite with or without tubercles. Elytra wider or as wide as pronotum, each elytron with 3–5 rows of tubercles, laterally and posteriorly sinuate due to tuberculate sculpture; humeri slightly projected anteriorly. Membranous wings well developed. Legs stout, relatively long, covered with small tubercles and short, thick setae; prothoracic trochantins large, triangular and well exposed; coxae contiguous; procoxae subconical and projected, mesocoxae rounded, and metacoxae trapezoid and projected; femora enlarged, outer margins slightly convex, profemora with or without small dilatation near middle; protibiae with comb of golden setae on inner margin and one single longer seta (Fig. 14 D), with small excavation near middle; mesotibiae with comb of golden setae, smaller and less dense than in protibiae; metatibiae with apical ctenidium on external side; tarsi 5 - segmented (Fig. 9 H – N), tarsomeres covered with long, golden setae dorsally, with or without long setae ventrally, with or without one dorsal median carina; tarsomere 1 nearly same size or longer than 2–4 combined, transverse or longer than wide; 2–4 subequal or slightly decreasing in size, transverse or longer than wide; tarsomere 5 longest, cylindrical, apically dilated, as long as or longer than 1–4 combined; claws long and unciform, with one basal tooth. Abdomen: robust, narrowed towards apex, segments VII and VIII much narrower than others. Segments III – VI with pair of paratergites and VII with single paratergite on each side. Tergites III – VI and paratergites of III and IV with or without tubercles; VII with posterior margin straight, covered with small, thick setae; VIII posteriorly U-shaped and densely covered with short setae; IX and X with conspicuous tuft of long setae. Sternites III – VI with or without tubercles, with or without ridges extending beyond posterior margin; VII with posterior margin weakly emarginate medially and setose (Fig. 12 A, B); VIII with deep U-shaped emargination (Fig. 12 D, F); IX longer than wide with thick, apical setae (Fig. 12 C). Aedeagus (Fig. 13) with median lobe varying from slender and slightly flattened to short and stout, bulbous at base, with narrow to truncate dorsal strut near foramen; apex of median lobe narrow and pointed or feebly rounded, internal sac with spine-like setae, laterally curved. Parameres absent. Female. Similar to male, except for posterior margin of sternite VII straight and posterior margin of sternite VIII without deep emargination (Fig. 12 B, E). Measurements. TL = 5.0–12.0. Distribution. Ecitonides is restricted to South America, recorded in Argentina, Brazil, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname (Table 1, Fig. 15). 1 Trigraph country codes: ARG: Argentina; BRA: Brazil; GUF: French Guiana; PER: Peru; PRY: Paraguay; SUR: Suriname. 2 Acronyms of states, provinces, or departments: BRA: AP: Amapá, ES: Espírito Santo, GO: Goiás, MA: Maranhão, MG: Minas Gerais, PA: Pará, RJ: Rio de Janeiro, SC: Santa Catarina, SP: São Paulo; ARG: AR-N: Misiones; PER: PE-HUC: Huánuco, PE-MDD: Madre de Dios; PRY: PY- 3: Cordillera. Remarks. The genus description is a synthesis of the morphological study of the Ecitonides specimens deposited at MZSP (majority), CEMT, CZMA, NMW, NHMUK, and information retrieved from the literature. Some terms used in previous descriptions are not directly comparable, and others are re-interpreted based on our morphological studies. In the case of E. longiceps, Wasmann (1900, 1909) described the head as 4 × longer than wide, while later Borgmeier (1949) corrected the proportion to ~ 3 × longer than wide. As the type specimens of E. longiceps were not available for our study and the illustration provided by Wasmann does not match the description, our redescription follows the proportions found by Borgmeier, and the approximate size observed in the illustration of the habitus (Wasmann 1900: taf. II, fig. 15).