Unusual Coreid Bug from Costa Rica

Follow-up to Possibly Red Bug from Costa Rica
May 25, 2010
Re: Follow-up to Possibly Red Bug from Costa Rica – March 31, 2010
Hi Daniel:
I am still working my way through the numerous Hemiptera photos that I collected on my Costa Rica trip and it turns out I do have this very same bug in my own collection (photo attached – taken at Las Cruces Biological Station). Looking closely at my photo and the one that Mary posted I see that both individuals clearly have a pair of ocelli near the posterior margin of the head. Also, the veins in the forewings run parallel rather than being profusely branched as they should be in a Pyrrhocoridae. That means that it can not be a Pyrrhocoridae. Other similar ocelli-bearing families (Berytidae, Lygaeidae and Alydidae) can be eliminated based on other characteristics. Although I can not definitively eliminate Rhopalidae, since key features are not visible in either photo, I have not found any similar looking Rhopalidae. That leaves only Coreidae, and my inclination is to go with Hypselonotus atratus.  Regards.
Karl

Hi Karl,
Thanks so much for doing all the research on this critter.  It sure doesn’t look like a typical Coreid Bug, commonly called a Leaf Footed Bug or Big Legged Bug.