The assassin bug genera Nagustoides and Stenolemus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) newly recorded from Japan
Author
Ishikawa, Tadashi
Author
Naka, Takeru
text
Zootaxa
2016
4161
4
593
600
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4161.4.12
e1790d40-e961-4ece-9ecf-4c6e483c7bab
1175-5326
272274
C6CEC2A3-97DA-407B-9647-6244DE0A49AB
Stenolemus alikakay
Rédei & Tsai, 2010
(
Figs. 17–30
)
Stenolemus alikakay
Rédei & Tsai, 2010
: 28
(new species) Among the Oriental species of the genus
Stenolemus
, this thread-legged assassin bug is recognized by the following combination of character states: posterior lobe of head with a pair of wide, blunt tubercles dorsally (
Figs. 21, 25
); pronotum not darkened on basal part (
Fig. 20
); petiole of pronotum relatively short, approximately twice as long as its width at middle in dorsal view (
Figs. 17–18
,
20–21
); posterior pronotal lobe with a single carina along meson and a pair of conical projections on disc (
Figs. 20–21
); profemur with four brown annulations (
Fig. 22
); middle and hind legs lacking pigmented tufts of setae (
Figs. 23–24
); mesofemur with three brown annulations (
Fig. 23
); metafemur with four brown annulations (
Fig. 24
); and a peculiar color pattern of the forewings (
Fig. 19
). Body length (from apex of head to apex of abdomen) 8.8–11.6 mm. A detailed description of this species was provided by
Rédei & Tsai (2010)
.
FIGURES 20–26.
Stenolemus alikakay
from Japan. 20–21, Head and pronotum, dorsal (20) and lateral (21) views; 22–24, femora of fore (22), middle (23), and hind (24) legs; 25, head, lateral view; 26, protarsus. Scale bars: 1 mm for Figs. 20–25, 0.5 mm for Fig. 26.
FIGURES 27–30.
Stenolemus alikakay
from Japan and its habitat. 27, A living individual; 28, mossy and lichened trunk of
Castanopsis sieboldii
on which the individual of
S
.
alikakay
was found; 29–30, habitat of
S
.
alikakay
on Ishigaki-jima Island.
Specimens
examined
(n=2).
JAPAN
: the
Ryukyu Islands—Ôhama
, Ishigaki-jima Is.:
1 ♀
(
Figs. 17–19
,
22–24
),
4.ix.2012
,
T. Higa
; 1 ♀ (
Figs. 20–21, 25–27
),
18.vi.2013
, T. Naka.
Distribution.
Japan
(the Ryukyu Islands: Ishigaki-jima Is.);
Taiwan
.
Remarks.
Among the reduviids of
Japan
,
Stenolemus alikakay
is at first sight similar in general habitus, especially in its hairy body and appendages, to the thread-legged assassin bug
Myiophanes tipulina
Reuter, 1881
. However,
S
.
alikakay
can be easily distinguished from
M
.
tipulina
by its much smaller body size (approximately
10 mm
vs.
16 mm
), the presence of the petiole in the pronotum (
Figs. 17–18
,
20–21
) (vs. absence), and forewings with discal and basal cells (
Fig. 19
) (vs. discal cell only).
Rédei & Tsai (2010)
observed a living
S
.
alikakay
on a spider web (spiders missing) built on a tree trunk, walking very slowly and imitating a piece of debris or dried leaf swinging lightly in the breeze. Each of the two Japanese specimens examined here was found on the mossy and lichened trunk of a large tree,
Castanopsis sieboldii
(Makino) Hatus (Fagaceae)
, in a well-preserved forest on Ishigaki-jima
Island
(
Figs. 27–30
). When found, they were slowly swaying back and forth on the trunks while maintaining their position.