Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2020 | 12(10): 16389–16391
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5960.12.10.16389-16391
#5960 | Received 07 April 2020 | Final
received 07 July 2020 | Finally accepted 11 July 2020
First report of the assassin bug Epidaus wangi (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from India
Swapnil S. Boyane
1 & Hemant V. Ghate 2
1,2 Post-Graduate Research Centre,
Department of Zoology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce,
Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411005, India.
1 Present Address: Ashoka Trust for
Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura,
Jakkur, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560064, India.
1 boyane.swapnil@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 hemantghate@gmail.com
Editor: Helcio R. Gil-Santana, Instituto OswaldoCruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Date
of publication: 26 July 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Boyane,
S.S. & H.V. Ghate (2020). First report of the assassin bug Epidaus wangi (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(10): 16389–16391. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5960.12.10.16389-16391
Copyright: © Boyane
& Ghate 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium
by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: This work is partially supported by the Department
of Biotechnology (Govt. of
India), through a major research project on
“Bio-resource and Sustainable
livelihoods in North East India. (BT/01/17/NE/TAX)”.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank Mr. Gaurang
Gowande, Pune, for collecting some bugs, including
this specimen, from Arunachal Pradesh and nearby areas. S.Boyane thanks Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan and Barkha Subba for their
support. We are indebted to the
authorities of Modern College, Pune, for facilities and encouragement.
A single female assassin bug,
collected in Arunachal Pradesh, was identified as belonging to the genus Epidaus Stål, 1859, based on
the key given by Distant (1904), but it did not match with any species
described by him. The family Reduviidae that includes predatory bugs, is one of the
largest and most diverse group among Heteroptera
(Schuh & Slater 1995). The genus Epidaus Stål, 1859
occurs mainly in the Oriental region and has more than 25 described species
(Maldonado-Capriles 1990; Chen et al. 2016). In the checklist of Reduviidae
of India, Ambrose (2006) included five species under Epidaus,
namely: E. alternus Bergroth,
1915, E. conspersus Stål,
1863, E. atrispinus Distant, 1904, E. bicolor Distant, 1903, and E. famulus
(Stål, 1863).
Most of these species are, however, distributed in northeastern
India, except E. bicolor, which is from
Malabar region. A brief diagnosis of four of the above, except E. alternus, was given by Distant (1904); Epidaus parvus
Distant, 1904, described from Burma (=Myanmar) was excluded. Later, a search of the literature revealed
that the species collected in Arunachal Pradesh is, in fact, Epidaus wangi Chen
et al., 2016 described recently from Tibet, China (Chen et al. 2016).
Since this is a recently
described species, we are giving only diagnostic characters of the genus and
the species, along with many illustrations.
A single collected female
(Arunachal Pradesh, leg. Gaurang Gowande,
July 2019) was preserved in 70% ethanol, subsequently dried and mounted for
study. It was studied under Leica stereozoom MZ6 microscope and photographed with attached
Canon PowerShot S50 camera. Several photographs were stacked using CombineZP software and stacked images were processed using
Adobe Photoshop CS5. Measurements were
done with Erma stage and ocular micrometer and an
accurate scale. All measurements are in millimeters (mm).
Heteroptera, Reduviidae,
Harpactorinae
Genus Epidaus
Stål, 1859
Diagnostic characters (mainly
following Distant 1904): Body elongate; head slightly shorter than pronotum,
with a distinct spine at base of antennal insertion; postocular
region longer than anteocular; first visible labial
segment shorter or subequal to second and third segments combined; posterior pronotal lobe with a pair of discal
erect spines or tubercles; lateral or humeral angles of pronotum with a sharp
spine and a smaller tooth-like spine or a tubercle just behind; fore femora
slightly incrassate than mid and hind femora.
Epidaus wangi Chen, Zhu, Wang & Cai, 2016.
(Images 1 A–E)
Diagnostic characters: Coloration—Body
yellow brown, subshining, with a pattern of black
stripes and spots. Eyes black; ocelli
brownish; first antennal segment with three broad black annulations, second
antennal segment with basal and apical black annulations, third and fourth
segments entirely yellow brown, without annulations. Pronotum dorsally with following black
markings or portions: anterior angles, base of discal
tubercles, and laterally on each side just behind transverse sulcus; lateral
and discal spines.
Black markings of legs include complete and incomplete black annulations
on femora and tibia. As shown in images
1A–B, fore femora have one complete annulation beyond middle or in distal half
while mid- and hind-femora possess one complete annulation beyond middle and an
incomplete annulation before middle; all tibia possess three black annulations
– one basal, one before middle, and one apical. Extreme margin of some connexival segments indistinctly brownish. On ventral side, the black markings are at
lateral (pleural) margin of prosternum and a spot near base of meso and metacoxae on outer side
(Image 1B).
General structural
characters—Head: a prominent spine at the base of antennae; eyes globular;
ocelli distinct situated on a tubercle (Image 1C); labium as shown in Image 1D;
pronotum with lateral and discal spines (Image 1C);
female terminalia as shown in Image 1E.
Chen et al. (2016) have provided
several colour illustrations and also line drawings of male and female
genitalia of E. wangi. The abdomen is broadened at some segments in
our specimen, as originally described for female of this species; the female terminalia, the size, and other body measurements of our
specimen are also matching with the original description. Chen et al. (2016) have also discussed the
similarity/dissimilarity of this species with other Oriental species. The other species of Epidaus
in India are distinctly different in coloration and so are unlikely to be
confused with this species. Epidaus bachmaensis Truong,
Zhao & Cai, 2006 and Epidaus insularis Zhang, Zhao, Cao & Cai, 2010, described
recently from Vietnam and China, respectively, are very different species.
Thus the specimen examined here
matches perfectly with figures and the detailed description given by Chen et
al. (2016). As it is not so far recorded
from India, we are reporting it for the first time from the Indian territory
taking the total of Epidaus species known from
India to six. It is true that the
occurrence of this species in India is not surprising as the type locality of
the species is in the adjacent region and we do share many other species with
that region in China.
Measurements (in mm): Total
length 25.0, Head length including neck 4.2; head breadth between eyes 1.0;
head breadth at eyes 1.87, eye diameter 0.75; anteocular
1.70, postocular including neck 1.75; antenna: first
segment 9.0, second segment 3.75, third segment 5.75, fourth segment 2.60;
labium: first segment 2.50, second segment 1.75, third segment 0.75; pronotum
length along midline 5.0; width at humeral angle spine 8.1; width at anterior
angles of pronotum 2.0; distance between discal
spines 2.0; scutellum length 1.75; scutellum breadth at base 2.0; legs:
forefemur 8.5, foretibia 8.0, foretarsus with claw
1.5; mid femur 7.0, mid tibia 6.5,
tarsus with claw 1.5; hind femur 9.0, hind tibia 11.0, hind tarsus with claw
1.50; hemelytra 16.00; hemelytra passing abdomen by 3.0; maximum width of
abdomen 8.3.
References
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