Metaphotina bimaculata

Metaphotina bimaculata (Saussure, 1870) (Figs. 4–12, 19A, 19D, 19G, 20A, 21A, 21D, 22A, B, 23A, B) Acontista bimaculata Saussure, 1870: Saussure, 1870: 229 (original description [male]; type locality: “ Brazil ”); Saussure, 1871: 39 (morphology [male]); distribution: Goiás [Brazil], Chiquitos [Bolivia]); Saussure, 1872b: 240 (redescription [male]); Westwood, 1889: 23 (systematics); Saussure & Zehntner, 1894: 138 (checklist, distribution: Rio Grande do Sul [Brazil]); Giglio-Tos, 1894: 3 (distribution: Asunción [Paraguay]); Giglio-Tos, 1897: 14 (distribution: San Lorenzo [Argentina]); Caudell, 1904: 185 (distribution: Sapucay [Paraguay]); Kirby, 1904: 207 (catalogue); Rehn, 1907: 153 (catalogue, first description of female); Beier, 1934: 6 (catalogue, as synonym of Acontista concinna); Terra, 1995: 24 (as synonym of Acontista concinna); Ehrmann, 2002: 51 (catalogue, as synonym of Acontiothespis concinna [partim] and of Acontiothespis rehni [partim]); Otte & Spearman, 2005:15 (as synonym of Acontista aurantiaca); Roy, 2006: 331 (taxonomic history, rescued from synonymy with Acontista concinna); Pfäuti & Hollier, 2012: 262 (MHNG type catalogue, as synonym of Acontista aurantiaca); Rivera & Svenson, 2016: 615-616, 620, 642 (as Acontista bimaculata, phylogenetics). Acontiothespis bimaculata (Saussure, 1870): Rehn, 1916: 258 (taxonomy [transferred from Acontista]); Rehn, 1920: 219 (catalogue). Metaphotina bimaculata (Saussure, 1870): Rivera & Svenson, 2020: 125 (taxonomy [transferred from Acontista], morphology, checklist). = Acontista brevipennis Saussure, 1872: Saussure, 1872a: 21, 163 (original description [female], illustration of female; type locality: “ Brazil ”); Saussure, 1872b: 241 (redescription [female]); Westwood, 1889: 22 (systematics); Saussure & Zehntner, 1894: 138 (checklist); Giglio-Tos, 1894: 3 (distribution: Asunción [Paraguay], Resistencia [Argentina]); Giglio-Tos, 1897: 14 (correction of identification in Giglio-Tos, 1894), A. vitrea = males of A. brevipennis?, distribution: San Lorenzo [Argentina], San Francisco, Aguairenda, and Caiza [Bolivia]); Kirby, 1904: 207 (catalogue); Giglio-Tos, 1927:507 (redescription [male/female]); Beier, 1934: 6 (catalogue); Otte & Spearman, 2005: 14 (catalogue); Roy, 2006: 331 (taxonomic history); Rivera & Svenson, 2016: 642 (systematics). NEW SYNONYM. Acontiothespis brevipennis (Saussure, 1872): Rehn, 1916: 258 [partim] (transferred to Acontiothespis, morphology [male/ female], distribution: Independencia, Baturite, and Maranguape [Brazil], correction of identification of records from northern Argentina and Bolivia: A. bimaculata); Heitzmann-Fontenelle, 1968:1 (morphology, life cycle and natural history); Cerdá, 1993: 2 (mention); Ehrmann, 2002:50 (catalogue). Metaphotina brevipennis (Saussure, 1872): Rivera & Svenson, 2020: 125 (taxonomy [transferred to Metaphotina], checklist); Trillo et al., 2021: 444 (misidentification [= M. bimaculata], catalogue, distribution [Uruguay]). = Acontista rehni Giglio-Tos, 1927: Giglio-Tos, 1927: 503 (original description [female]; type locality: Sapucay [=Sapucai, Paraguay]); Beier, 1934: 6 (catalogue); Terra, 1995: 24 (catalogue); Otte & Spearman, 2005: 17 (catalogue); Roy, 2006: 333 (taxonomic history). NEW SYNONYM. Acontiothespis rehni (Giglio-Tos, 1927): Ehrmann, 2002: 52 (catalogue). Metaphotina rehni (Giglio-Tos, 1927): Rivera & Svenson, 2016: 642 (taxonomy [transferred from Acontista], checklist). = Metaphotina piracicabensis Piza, 1964:1 (original description [male]; type locality: Piracicaba [São Paulo, Brazil]); Rivera & Svenson, 2020: 125 (taxonomy [transfered from Acontista]). NEW SYNONYM. Acontista piracicabensis, Terra, 1995:24 (catalogue); Roy, 2006: 333 (taxonomic history); Rivera & Svenson, 2016: 642 (systematics). Acontiothespis piracicabensis, Ehrmann, 2002: 52 (catalogue). Diagnosis. Male with vertex convex (Fig. 5C); mesothoracic wings hyaline, with a variable brown spot in the metathoracic wings that may be restricted to the anal field or extend to the discoidal field (Figs. 4A, 5A); left margin of the L4A in dorsal view smooth (Figs. 4B, C; 6B); L4B in dorsal view with the posterior bending of the left phallomere concave (Figs. 4B, C; 6A). Female mesothoracic wings rounded (Fig. 5B), costal field broad; metathoracic wings only twith longitudinal veins black; proximal region of CG8 with two acute projections, distal region towards sbu with long acute projection; proximal region of gp8 with sclerotized cxdl (Figs. 6D, E). Redescription of the male holotype. Head (Fig. 4A) ratio width/length = 1.56. Ocelli rounded and equidistant, moderate-sized, nearly as wide as the scape and wider than the pedicel. Vertex reaching the imaginary line connecting the top of the compound eyes. Lower frons ratio width/length = 2.57. Antennae elongate. Thorax (Figs. 4A) with prozona and metazona leveled, neither distinctly sloping down towards the supracoxal sulcus in lateral view. Ratio of pronotum length/supracoxal dilation width = 2.14; ratio of pronotum length/ minimum pronotum width = 4.13; ratio of metazona/prozona = 1.85. Prothoracic coxae ratio length/pronotum length = 1.25, dorsal and ventral margins unevenly pilose between both raptorial leg prosternal areas. Ratio of prothoracic femur length/width = 3.05; ratio prothoracic femur length/prothoracic coxa length = 1.17x; Spination formula: F=3DS/13(R)–12(L)AvS/5PvS; T=11AvS/14PvS. AvS with alternating sizes, prothoracic femoral AvS arrangement IiiIiIiIiIiII(R)/IiiIiIiIiIII(L), and PvS II_I_I_I. Prothoracic tibiae with dorsal margin somewhat straight. Mesothoracic wings membranous, hyaline and unpigmented, costal region densely reticulated; metathoracic wings membranous and hyaline with a distinct dark spot in the anal field that may cover a significant portion of it. Abdomen (Fig. 4A) slender, cylindrical. Genitalia (Figs. 4B, C) ventral phallomere sdp with a broad, flattened projection armed with a small hook and a curved spiniform projection; the left margin gently curved towards the curved spiniform projection of the sdp, not forming a sharp-curved region; left phallomere almost smooth, except for a section below the afa that has numerous bristle-like spines; afa prismatic, with a roughened sclerotized surface; posterior bending of the left phallomere moderately concave; loa simple, bearing many setae. Description of female. Head (Fig. 5D) ratio width/length = 1.41. Ocelli rounded and equidistant, small, positioned in small acute projections in the head. Vertex elevated above the imaginary line connecting the top of the compound eyes, ps well-marked, job following the concavity of the vertex after ps. Lower frons ratio width/length = 2.52. Antennae short. Thorax (Figs. 5B, G) in lateral view with prozona appearing slightly higher than the metazona, forming a distinct slope. Ratio of the pronotum length/supracoxal dilatation width = 1.77; ratio of pronotum length/minimum pronotum width = 3.11; ratio of metazona/prozona = 1.25. Prothoracic coxae approximately the same length as the pronotum, ratio of coxa length/pronotum length = 1.03, dorsal and ventral margins of prothoracic legs sparsely pilose. Prothoracic femora ratio length/width = 2.77, ratio of femur length/prothoracic coxa length = 1.19; spination formula: F=3DS/10(R)–13(L)AvS/5PvS; T=12(R)–13(L)AvS/13PvS; AvS arrangement IiiIiIiIiIiII(R)/IiiIiIiIiIi(L), and PvS II_I_I_I. Prothoracic tibia with a somewhat straight dorsal margin. Wings very short. Mesothoracic wing costal fields broad, approximately half the area of the wing; costal and discoidal fields green, with veins typically pigmented like the surrounding membrane in green, brown, yellow, reddish, pink, and/or white tones. Metathoracic wings opaque and heavily pigmented; costal, discoidal and proximal half of the anal field membrane and veins colors ranging from orange to dark red; distal half of the anal field and its longitudinal veins black, with white crossveins. Abdomen (Fig. 5B) ovoid, robust, with two white stripes between the third and fifth segments. Genitalia (Figs. 6D, E) CG8 with two sharp projections proximally; sbu with narrow base and a long acute projection; spb simple, smooth; CX8 sclerotized internally with approximately half of its area well sclerotized; agsl smooth, sclerotized; cxal sclerotized, with few bristles; cxdl well sclerotized; cxvl bowl-shaped, having some bristles laterally in the same region; rh inconspicuous, with a membrane line facing the sclerotized internal area; gptm9 fin-shaped, tapering towards the apex of gp9. Description of the protonymph. General habitus ant-like (Fig. 7A). All examined protonymph specimens with body almost entirely black, except for the mouthparts, a pre-median section of the antenna, and the distal segments of all six legs, which are orange to orangish white (Figs. 7A, B). Eyes round but appearing elongated in frontal view, forming a continuous outline with the vertex. Antennae bearing bristles and featuring a pair of sensilla on each antennomere. Pronotum with a narrow metazona and a broad, strongly hexagonal prozona, its dorsal surface bearing numerous fine bristles (Fig. 7C). Prothoracic femora and tibiae bearing bristles between the AvS and PvS (Fig. 7D). Prothoracic tibiae with prominent distal deuterospine in the anteroventral row, with the remaining AvS being protospines (Fig. 7D). The protonymph bearing three discoidal spines and a hatchling discoidal spine (Fig. 7E). Abdomen is short and gaster-like. Ootheca. Guttiform (Figs. 8A, B), tapering distally and terminating in a filiform residual process whose tip often splits. Egg case appearing oval in cross-section due to the thick external coating but becoming thinner around the emergence area (Figs. 8C, D). External coating yellowish-white, wall of the egg case reddish-brown. Females commonly attach their egg cases to smooth surfaces such as leaves, but also to twigs, stems, or spikes; generally, the emergence area leans towards the subs