Jalysus cf. sobrinus - Stilt Bug / Thread Bug / Percevejo-das-Cápsulas (Stål, 1862)

Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha: Lygaeoidea: Berytidae: Metacanthinae: Metacanthini

Another picture:

8th of May, 2018 at 11:00:00pm, 16th floor of a flat of in an urban habitat.

Jalysus sobrinus is a true bug in the order Hemiptera, suborder Heteroptera, infraorder Pentatomomorpha, superfamily Lygaeoidea, family Berytidae, subfamily Metacanthinae and tribe Metacanthini.

The following description was taken from Insetologia and is sourced below:

"The Jalysus sobrinus determined by Mr. O. Heidemann, through intervention of Dr. L. O. Howard, is a slender Insect, featherish, with slender, long antennae with around 18,5mm in length and around 1,5mm in width. They are brownish with three bright stripes longitudinally arrayed on the thorax and brighter on the nape.

On the posterior extremity of the thorax there are three spikes, one on each side and a third on the center. The last articulations of the antennae, as well as those on the extremity of the femur, are a bit thicker.

They frequent, in maturity seasons of the capsules, the panicles and the buds of flowers of Nicotiana sp., piercing these without causing any other damage to the plant.

They are usually found in low numbers, but there are years in which they appear in larger populations."

-Source: http://www.insetologia.com.br/2017/05/percevejo-das-capsulas-no-ceara.html

According to BugGuide, a few members of the genus Jalysus can feed on the eggs of moths, such as those of Heliothis virescens. (https://bugguide.net/node/view/103911)

They are distributed as follows: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Goias, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima, Santa Catarina, São Paulo), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad, Uruguay and Venezuela.

They are terrestrial but are able to fly, often being attracted to light sources. This one was found in an urban habitat on the 16th floor of a flat. Another possibility is that this is a Jalysus spinosus, Jalysus albidus, Jalysus macer or Jalysus nigriventris, all of which happen in Brazil but I have no idea how they are distributed here and I don't know a morphological description to them to compare to mine. Jalysus sobrinus, though, seems to match my specimen. What I know is that Jalysus sobrinus is the most widely distributed member of Jalysus here, whilst the others are seemingly more concentrated in other continents.

According to BugGuide, this is an overall description of the genus Jalysus, and this is why I'm giving the benefit of the doubt on this, even though I've seen it under high magnification with a potent magnifying glass, as much as the bug allowed me:

"Medium-sized brownish stilt bug found on flowers and other vegetation. The most commonly encountered Berytids in our area. Species identification requires close examination of characters visible only under high magnification. Several characteristics of the genus:

-Medium-sized (7-9 mm).

-Head without projecting tylus.

-Fourth segment of antenna longer than head.

-Abdomen impunctate (not marked by punctures) underneath.

-Groove (sulcus) between front coxae.

-Spine projects from its thoracic scent gland.

-Scent gland channel (on projecting spine) with groove running along one side, not twisted."

The specimen's body length in my picture measured around 1cm, not counting antennae and legs.

Berytids are poorly known in general as far as available information to the public goes. Most are believed to be sap-suckers but some can also feed on mites and small Insects. They are also known as "thread bugs" and are harmless to humans and any animal bigger than a tiny Arthropod.

They are often mistaken with the close-looking members of the Emesinae, which belongs in another family and can be distinguished by the presence of raptorial legs that are reminiscent of Mantodea, Mantispidae and a few others, while the forelegs of Berytids are roughly similar in form and function to their other legs. The antennae of Berytids also tend to have a swelling on the tip, as opposed to the Emesinae. Although absent or not obvious in many species of Berytids, some do have slight swellings at the distal end of the femora of their legs.

Further sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berytidae

http://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=202775

https://ipm.ces.ncsu.edu/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalysus

http://eol.org/pages/74322/overview