''Thasus carchinus'' is a species of

leaf-footed bug Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus '' Coreus'', which derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning bedbug. As a family, the Coreidae ...

in South America.

Description

Female

The head, first four segments of the antennae, upper body (

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

and scutellum), and upper side of the abdomen are mostly black. However, some areas are yellow or reddish-orange, including the space between the eye and a small simple eye (

ocellus A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

), the outer edges of the pronotum (especially the spiny part), a tiny dot in the middle of the pronotum's back edge, and the tip of the scutellum. The hardened front wings (clavus and corium) range from reddish-brown to black, with pale yellow markings along the veins, edges, and scattered spots. The membranous part of the wings is dark brown with a metallic blue-violet sheen, and its veins and base are darker. The sides of the abdomen (connexivum) have alternating black and yellow segments, with the spines on segments 2-9 being yellow. The underside of the body is mostly black, but some areas—like parts of the head, a section of the middle body (

mesopleuron The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...

), and parts of the legs—are yellow to dark orange. The third segment of the antennae is broad and leaf-like. The front part of the pronotum has small raised bumps. The shoulder angles (humeral angles) are large and pointed, forming a robust spine. The hind legs are noticeably widened and shaped like a lance, with smooth edges. The rear edges of abdominal segments 4-7 each have a small sharp spine. This species shares similarities with ''T. acutangulus'', ''T. gigas'', and ''T. neocalifornicus'' due to the shape of its third antennal segment, which is broad, oval, and leaf-like. However, ''T. carchinus'' can be distinguished by its striking color pattern. Its legs (

tibiae The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the t ...

) and the outer edges of its abdomen (connexivum) are mostly yellow, while the underside of the body is predominantly black, except for the yellow margins on abdominal segments 3-7 (with the rear third always black). The coloration of the other related species is noticeably different.

Etymology

''Thasus carchinus'' is named after its holotype's discovery location—Carchi Province, Ecuador. The photo in the species box on this page features the original female specimen, which serves as the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

for this species.

References

Nematopodini Insects described in 1994 {{Coreoidea-stub