Abstract
Dicranocephalus lateralis (Signoret), 1879, a bug from the family Stenocephalidae, is briefly redescribed with colour and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) illustrations of general morphology, including details of male and female genitalia, metathoracic scent gland (MTG), exoskeletal male abdominal glands, eggs and nymphal stages. The status of other species of this genus in India is also discussed. This will be the first well-illustrated account of the morphology and life cycle of this bug from India.
Highlights
During surveys for Heteroptera in Jambut Village, Shirur, one of us found a good population of elongate coreid bugs in a sugar cane plantation area (Image 1A) where patches of Euphorbia hirta Linnaeus were growing in vacant areas among plantations (Image 1B)
The current valid name of this bug is Dicranocephalus lateralis (Signoret), and it was placed by Distant in the family Coreidae, division Stenocephalaria, but it is placed in the family Stenocephalidae Dallas, 1852
Morphology and status of the family Stenocephalidae Scudder (1957) first discussed the systematic position of the genus Dicranocephalus Hahn based on the structure of genitalia, egg structure and other morphological features, and gave characters of the family Stenocephalidae, citing Douglas & Scott (1865) who provided the basic diagnosis of the family
Summary
During surveys for Heteroptera in Jambut Village, Shirur (near Pune, Maharashtra State), one of us found a good population of elongate coreid bugs in a sugar cane plantation area (Image 1A) where patches of Euphorbia hirta Linnaeus were growing in vacant areas among plantations (Image 1B). Distant (1902) gave habitus illustration as well as a redescription of D. lateralis; later a more detailed description, along with a habitus diagram and figures of genitalia, parameres and spermatheca, was provided by Lansbury (1965) Distant mentioned this species as being present in Bombay and Madras, and outside India in Ceylon (= Sri Lanka) (Distant 1902). Paiva (1906) obtained a specimen in Purneah District of the Bengal Presidency ( Bihar), and stated that “this bug does not seem to be very common there,” and stated that the species may be widespread This appears to be true, as listed by the Coreoidea SF Team referred to above. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images are provided for certain characters
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