Rhodnius amazonicus Almeida, Santos & Sposina, 1973, bona species, close to R. pictipes Stål, 1872 (Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae).
The discovery of two atypical specimens of Rhodnius pictipes Stål, 1872 in French Guiana and the examination of the female holotype of R. amazonicus Almeida, Santos & Sposina, 1973, the only specimen of this species so far known, lead us to propose the rehabilitation of R. amazonicus synonymized with R. pictipes. The male is described for the first time and the female redescribed. Both external characters and genitalia distinguish R. amazonicus from R. pictipes. R. amazonicus shows affinities not only with pictipes but also with R. stali Lent, Jurberg & Galvão, 1993 and R. paraensis Sherlock, Guitton & Miles, 1977. A key is provided for these four species forming, in all likelihood, a natural group, i.e. the "pictipes group".
Bérenger
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JM
Laboratoire de Biologie et Evolution des Insectes, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes et Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France.
Pluot-Sigwalt
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D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005616:French Guiana; D008297:Male; D012239:Rhodnius / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*