Studies on Aquatic and Semi-Aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaiñtia Hills and East Khasi Hills Districts of Meghalya, North Eastern India PDF
Preview Studies on Aquatic and Semi-Aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaiñtia Hills and East Khasi Hills Districts of Meghalya, North Eastern India
OCCASIONAL PAPER NO. 3,32 Zoo ogical Survey of Indea OCCASIONAL PAPER NO. 332 Studies on Aquatic and Semi-aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaiiitia Hills and East Kbasi Hills Districts of Megbalya, North Eastern India JENNIFER LYNGDOH North Eastern Reagional Centre Zoological Survey of India Risa Colony, Shillong Edited by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata ~rn Zoological Survey of India Kolkata CITATION Jennifer Lyngdoh 2010. Studies on aquatic and semi-aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaifttia Hills and East Khasi Hills Districts of Meghalaya, North Eastern India. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Occ. Paper No., 332 : 1-34 (Published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata) Published: November, 2011 ISBN 978-81-8171-296-7 © Government of India, 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED • No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. • This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. • The correct price of this publication is the price._ printed on this page. Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and shoud be unacceptable. PRICE India : 250.00 ~ Foreign: $ (U.S.) 15 £ 10 Published at the Publication Division by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053 and printed at East India Photo Composing Centre, 69 Sisir Bhaduri Sarani, Kolkata-700 006. RECORDS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 332 2011 Pages 1-34 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... 1 SYSTEMETIC ACCOUNT .................................................................. -................................... 3 IDENTIFICATION KEYS TO THE INFRAORDER AND FAMILIES .................................. 4 Family I CORIXIDAE 1. Cymatia apparens (Distant) ................................................................................................. 5 Family II NEPIDAE 2. Laccotrephes ruber (Linneaus) ............................................................................................. 6 3. Ranatra var;pes varipes StAI ............................................................................................... 7 4. Cercotmetus pilipes (Dallas) ................................................................................................. 8 Family III NOTONECTIDAE S. Anisops sardea Herrich-Shaffer ........................................................................................... 9 Family IV BELOSTOMATIDAE 6. Lethocerus indicus (Lapeietier & Serville) ........................................................................... 9 7. Diplonychus rusticus (Fabricius) ....................................................................................... 10 Family V NAUCORIDAE 8. Gestroiella insignis Distant ................................................................................................ 11 9. Heleocoris brev;ceps Montandon ....................................................................................... 11 10. Heleocoris obliquatus (Spinola) ....................................................................................... 11 Family VII HYDROMETRIDAE 11. Hydrometra greeni Kirkaldy ............................................................................................. 12 Subfamily PTILOMERINAE 12. Pitilomera (Ptilomera) laticaudata Q-Iardwicke) ........................................................... 13 13. Metrocoris nigrofasciatus Distant .................................................................................... 14 14. Neogerris parvula (Stal) .........................................•....................................................... 16 15. Limnogonus (Limno gonus) nitidus (Mayr) ..................................................................... 16 16. Aquarius paludum (Fabricius) ......................................................................................... 17 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................... 21 SUMMARY ..................................................................................... ,. .................. 22 Ii ••••••••••••••••••• ACKN'OWLEDG-EMENTS .............................................. ,. ..................................................... 22 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 23 PLATES ................................................................................................................. ,. .... ,. .......... 27 INTRODUcrION Meghalaya is a picturesque landscape of plateaus, ravines, brooks, rivulets, lakes and waterfalls. The rivers originating from Meghalaya plateau are all rain-fed and most of the rivers either flow towards the North or South of the State. Rivers that flow towards the South drain into Surma valley in Bangladesh and those that flow towards the North ultimately join the Brahmaputra in Assam. Aquatic Hemiptera or Water bugs play an important role in the fresh water ecosystems and because of their predatory nature, certain families of bugs may be utilised in the biological control of mosquitoes. Jansson (1977) demonstrated that members of the family corixidae are used as indicators of water qUality. Because of their diverse habitats and poor dispenal capabilities, these water bugs serve as zoogeographical indicators (Jordon, 1951). The water-bugs from the State of Meghalaya (the then Assam) was first studied by Distant (1902, 1906, 1910) who reported only three species. Then, Paiva (1919b) recorded 11 species belonging to two families from Garo Hills. In 194,9, Hutchinson recorded two new species of Corixids from Khasi Hills and after a span of five decades; a comprehensive systematic work was done by Bal & Basu (1998) who reported 35 species under 25 genera and 9 families. However, the work of Bal & Basu (loc. cit.), though comprehensive included only the species mostly from Khasi Hills and Garo Hills. Therefore, this study is an attempt to consolidate the information on the group by throwing more light on the present taxonomic status of the species occurring in this part of the country especially those of Jaifttia Hills districts where information on the group is limited to only one species i.e., Laccotrephes robuslus Stal (Bal & Basu loc.cit). The present study, herein, provides informations on the water bugs of East Khasi Hills and Jaifttia hills districts of Meghalaya. The materials under study contained 16 species, belonging to 16 genera under 7 families and were collected from diverse habitats such as slow and fast flowing streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and paddy fields. The taxonomic account of all the species studied, descriptive account of each species including synonyms, diagnostic characters and distribution is dealt with in this report. The entire material under report is deposited in North Eastern Regional Centre. ABBREVIATIONS JHD - Jaifttia Hills District. EKH - East Khasi Hills District. INDIA MEGHALAYA MEGHALAYA I 3 S Scale 111111111 Km 0246 8 Reference Boundary ~ River ... ~ <.- Peak Village-Town : •• - Main Roads _. . --- Feeder & new ~ ~ I: .. Roads -- ---.- ::tJ N ~ 0 ~ R "" T C H =C - ~ C A ""I: ~ C H -~. R ~ ~ H C I BANGLADESH L ~~ L cnoo' S ~ BANGLADESH ~ ~ ""I: :z: 0 9r4S'E w w N LYNGDOH : Studies on aquatic and semi-aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaiiitia Hills 3 SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Following is the systematic list of all the species dealt with : Infraorder NEPOMORPHA Family I CORIXIDAE Subfamily CYMATINAE Genus 1. Corixa Geoffroy 1762 1. Cymatia apparens (Distant) Family II NEPIDAE Subfamily NEPINAE Genus 2. Laccotrephes StAl 1865 2. Laccotrephes ruber (Linnaeus) Subfamily RANATRINAE Genus 3. Ranatra Fabricius 1790 3. Ranatra varipes varipes StAI Genus 4. Cercotmetus Amyot & Serville i 843 4. Cercotmetus pilipes (Dallas) Family III NOTONECTIDAE Genus 5 .. Anisops Spinola 1837 S. Anisops sardeus sardeus Herrich-Shaffer Family IV BELOSTOMATIDAE Genus 6. Lethocerus Mayr 1853 6. Lethocerus indicus (Lapeletier & Serville) Genus 7. Diplonichus Laporte, 1833 7. Diplonychus rusticus (Fabricius) Family V NAUCORIDAE Subfamily CHEIROCHELINAE Genus 8. Gestroiella Montandon 1897a 8. Gestroiella insignis Distant Subfamily LACCOCORINAE Genus 9. Heleocoris Stal 1876 9. Heleocoris breviceps Montandon 10. Heleocoris obliquatus (Spinola) 4 Rec. zool. Surv. India, Dcc. Paper No. 332 Infraorder GERROMORPHA Family VI HYDROMERIDAE Subfamily HYDROMETRINAE Genus 10. Hydrometra Latreille 1796 II. Hydrometra green; Kirkaldy Family VII GERRlDAE Subfamily PTILOMERINAE Genus 11. Ptilomera Amyot & Serville 1843 12. Ptilomera (Ptilomera) laticaudata (Hardwicke) Subfamily HALOBATINAE Genus 12. Metrocoris Mayr 1865 13. Metrocoris nigrofasciatus Distant Subfamily GERRINAE Genus 13. Neogerris Matsumura 14. Neogerris parvula (Stal) Genus 14. Limnogonus Stal 1868 15. Limnogonus (Limnogonus) nitidus (Mayr) Genus 15. Aquarius Schellenberg 1800 16. Aquarius paludum Fabricius Genus 16. Rhycobates Esaki 1923** Identification Key to the Infraorder and Families (Adopted from Pareira D.L.V et aL, 2007) 1. Short antennae smaller than head, usually hidden beneath the compound eyes (except Ochteridae & Saldidae ..... .Infraorder-Nepomorpha ...................................................... 2 Long antennae larger than the head, usually free. . .... .Infraorder-Gerromorpha ...... 9 2. Ocelli present; species semi-aquatic, living near the water's edge .............................. 3 Ocelli absent; aquatic species, ......................................................................................... 4 3. Antennae hidden, visible ventrally near the eyes; raptorials forelegs ............................ . ......................................................................................................... GELASTOCORIDAE Antennae exposed, visible dorsally; unmodified forelegs ........................ OCHTERIDAE 4. Front tarsi clamshell and unisegment; head \vider than pronotum, rostrum short, not segmented .............................................................................................. CORIXIDAE 0 00 00 0 0 0 LY NGDOH : Studies on aquatic and semi-aquatic Hemiptera (Insecta) of Jaiiilia Hills 5 Front tarsi differently; head less wide than pronotum, rostrum with three or more segment ............................................................................................................................ 5 S. Raptorials front legs with femora robust or not, flattened body ................................. 6 Front legs differently, with femora not robust, dorsally convex ................................. 8 6. Membrane hemelytra ribbed; species can reach 20 mm or more in length ............... 7 Hemelytra membrane devoid of ribs, length always less than 20 mm ........................ . .. ...................................... ................................................. .................... ...... NAUCORIDAE 7. Narrow body; appendages at the apex of the abdomen forming a long breathing tube, not retractile, cylindrical hind legs with tibia without fringe of setae or with few setae ........................................................................................................................... NEPIDAE Body broad, the apex of abdominal appendages short, flat and retractable; flattened hind legs, tobia with fringe of setae well developed ............................. BELOSTOMATIDAE 8. Posterior tibia and tarsus with distinct fringe of setae, claws of hind tarsus apparently absent; head detached from the pronotum; species ususlly over 5 mm long, wing membrane present ................................................................................ NOTONECTIDAE Posterior tibia and tarsus with a little fringe of setae, normal claws of hind tarsus; head fused to the pronotum; species small, smaller than 5 mm long, wing membrane absent ............................. ~ .............................................................................................. PLEIDAE 9. Long and slender body, head wider than 114 of the total body length, legs markedly thinner ................................................................................................ HYDROMETRIDAE Body in various ways, but not long and slender, head less than Y4 of the total body length, different legs ...................................................................................................... 10 10. Claws inserted before the apex of tarsus (Claws pre-apical); distance between the anterior and middle legs distinctly longer tbn the distance between the median and posterior thigh ................................................................................................. GERRIDAE Claws inserted at the apex of tarsus (Claws apical) legs inserted ventrally near the midline .................................................................................................... MESOVELIIDAE Infraorder NEPOMORPHA Family I CORIXIDAE Subfamily CYMATINAE Genus 1. Cymatia Flor 1860 1. Cymatia apparens (Distant) (Plate V-A) 1902. Corixa hieroglyphica : Distant, Fauna Brit. India, Rhynchota, 2 : 13.
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