Guide To The Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia. X. Infraorder Nepomorpha-Famlies Belostomatidae And Nepidae
Author
Polhemus, Dan A.
Author
Polhemus, John T.
text
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
2013
2013-02-28
61
1
25
45
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.5351508
2345-7600
5351508
Genus
LETHOCERUS
Mayr, 1853
Diagnosis
.
— Body elongate elliptical (
Fig. 1
), length 64.0– 80.0 mm; maximum width 23.5–29.7 mm. Colouration light chestnut brown with darker markings at muscle attachment scars; pronotum bearing two wide, pale, anteriorly diverging stripes (
Fig. 1
). Head with eyes parallel, interoculus carinate. Legs with fore femur 20% wider than hind femur, outer margin of hind tibia arcuate.
Distribution
.
— Originally described from “indes orientales”, with subsequent records from
China
,
Korea
,
Hong Kong
, the Ryukyu Islands,
Burma
,
Thailand
,
Vietnam
, the
Philippines
, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi,
Singapore
, and Peninsular
Malaysia
(Fernando & Cheng, 1974; Nieser & Chen,1999).
Discussion
.
— With a body length exceeding
60 mm
,
L
.
indicus
is by far the largest species of aquatic Heteroptera known to occur in
Singapore
and adjacent Peninsular
Malaysia
. In addition to the
Singapore
specimen listed above, which may have been introduced by air transport, we have seen two Peninsular Malaysian specimens of
L
.
indicus
with minimal data from the states of Kedah and Selangor. Fernando & Cheng (1974) also reported light trap captures from Selangor, Perak and Kedah, although we have not examined these specimens. Overall, collections of this species in
Singapore
and Peninsular
Malaysia
are strikingly limited
Diagnosis
.
— Very large belostomatids, body length exceeding
60 mm
. Head width more than twice the maximum interocular width (
Fig. 1
); clypeal suture only slightly indicated, nearly absent. Pronotum with lateral expansions, anterior margin relatively straight. Fore trochanter bearing a pit; fore femur bearing three pads, the outer pair symmetrical and wider than the single inner; tarsomere II of foreleg shorter than tarsomere III; anterior tarsi bearing single claw. Abdomen with parasternites II and III narrower than IV, their external margins nearly straight.