Podisus semialbus (Walker, 1868)

Mormidea semialba Walker 1868: 553 (Lectotype male in NHMUK, Figs 2d–f)

Podisus semialbus Distant 1900: 58; Thomas 1992: 80; Roell et al. 2023: 77.

Apateticus (Eupodisus) semialbus Schouteden 1907: 72.

Apateticus (Podisus) semialbus Kirkaldy 1909: 20.

Ornithosoma rivierei Kormilev 1957 syn. nov. (Illustration of the holotype, Fig. 2g)

Types examined. Podisus falcatus Distant 1889, Lectotype ♀, labels: Podisus falcatus Distant, 1889:318 Lectotype // S. Geronimo, Guatemala, Champion (15.0628, -90.2413). B.C.A., Hem. 1. Podisus falcatus // Type // ♀ // Lectotype // NHMUK 010592322, (NHRS), Figs 2a–c.

Mormidea semialba Walker 1868, Lectotype ♂, labels: Mormidea semialba Walker, 1868: 553 Lectotype // Constancia Jan 1857 H. Clark // Mormidea semialba. // Type // ♂ // Lectotype // NHMUK 010592333, (NHMUK), Figs 2d–f.

Podisus curvispina Bergroth 1891, Holotype ♀, labels: Brésil // Museum Paris MNHN (EH) 23373 // Type // Museum Paris collection Fallou // Podisus curvispina Bergroth, 1891, (MNHN), Figs 2h–j.

Non-types examined. Podisus falcatus Distant, 1889 – COLOMBIA: Valle del Cauca [Yotoco] 2 ♂, Colombia Valle del Cauca, Yotoco, Bosque de Yotoco, 6km WNW de Yotoco, 1593m, 03.87581°N 76.43599°W, 26 Feb–3 Mar 2017, L. Velasquez // Bosque, sobre vegetación, Colecta manual // MPUJ_ENT 0003470/3471, (MPUJ). VENEZUELA: Mérida, 1 ♀, Venezuela: Mérida 1km. W. Las Cruces (8.5587, -71.2270) 8 July 1986 R.S. Miller colr. // J.E. Eger Collection, (JEE).

Podisus semialbus (Walker, 1868) – BRAZIL: Rio de Janeiro, 1 ♂, Constancia Jan 1857 H. Clark // Mormidea semialba Walker’s catal. // Paralectotype // ♂ // NHMUK 010592334, (NHMUK).

Podisus curvispina Bergroth, 1891 – BRAZIL: São Paulo, 1 ♂ 1 ♀, Brazil: Sao Paulo Serra da Bocaina S. José Barreiro (-22.7695, -44.5879) // 1650 m. Nov. 1968 M. Alvarenga // AMNH _ IZC 00319643, (AMNH).

Comments. Ornithosoma rivierei Kormilev was described based on a single specimen from San José, Misiones (Argentina). The author stated that the holotype was deposited in the “Instituto de Ciencias Naturales de San Miguel, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina” (currently integrated into the MACN collection). We consulted the following Argentinian collections: MACN, MLP, IFML, and MCN, and the holotype was not found. The type is not in the USNM collection, where some species of Kormilev are deposited. Therefore, we conclude that the type of Ornithosoma rivierei is probably lost.

Considering the following evidence, and as genus Ornithosoma is monospecific, we suggest to treat Ornithosoma rivierei as junior synonym of Podisus semialbus (Walker), and subsequently treat Ornithosoma as junior synonym of Podisus. First, the description and illustration provided by Kormilév (1957) allow the recognition of features of the falcatus group (sensu Thomas, 1992), diagnosed by the long, upward developed and posteriorly directed humeral angles. Second, the falcatus group comprises three species: Podisus falcatus Distant, Podisus semialbus, and Podisus curvispina Bergroth (types examined, Fig. 2). Podisus falcatus and P.semialbus are very similar in the overall morphology, differing essentially by the humeral angles more curved posteriorly in P.semialbus than in P.falcatus, and the male parameres. The two species also presents different distributions, with P. falcatus occurring in Colombia, Panama, and Guatemala, and P.semialbus in southeastern Brazil. Podisus curvispina presents several exclusive features, including the anterolateral margins of pronotum not contrasting with the disc, and the presence of a pale spot in the apex of the scutellum; the labium distinctly wider; and the ventral surface brown punctured (the ventral surface is pale in P.falcatus and P. semialbus). Third, the holotype of Ornithosoma rivierei is from San José, Misiones (Argentina), and the holotype of Podisus semialbus is from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), both situated in the Atlantic Rainforest biome. Also, an observation available on the iNaturalist website (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93859344), photographed in the same biome in Curitiba, Paraná (Brazil), suggests the broad geographical distribution of the species. Fourth and last, Kormilev (1957) stated that the ventral body surface of O. rivierei is pale yellow or ivory, matching the ventral surface color of P.semialbus, and differing from the two “falcatus-like” species described below (P.bororo and P.guarani), in which the ventral surface is partially brown on the pleura (Figs 8b, 9b).