Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913

(Figs 13, 19–21)

Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913: 253 . HOLOTYPE: ♀, Sri Lanka, Paradenyia (MZHF).

Cardiastethus pygmaeus Poppius, 1915: 7 . SYNTYPE (S): Taiwan, Anping (DEIC, MZHF). Synonymized by CARAYON (1976: 467).

Cardiastethus inquilinus Delamare Deboutteville & Paulian, 1952: 83 . HOLOTYPE: Ivory Coast, Len Banco (MNHN). Junior homonym of C. inquilinus China & Myers, 1929. Synonymized by CARAYON (1957: 167)

Cardiastethus pauliani Lansbury, 1954: 90 (new substitute name for C. inquilinus Delamare Deboutteville & Paulian, 1952). Synonymized by CARAYON (1957: 167).

Cardiastethus pygmaeus pauliani: CARAYON (1957): 168 (downgraded to subspecies rank).

Material examined. INDIA: KARNATAKA: Bangalore, ii.2016, 2 7 ♀♀ (TKPM). KERALA: Trivandrum, xii.2015, 1 (TKPM).

Distribution in India. Andhra Pradesh: Tirupathy (MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a, as C. pygmaus pauliani); Karnataka: Bangalore (this paper); Kerala: Thekkady (MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a, as C. pygmaus pauliani); Tamil Nadu: Madras [= Chennai], Dharmapuri, Salem (MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a); West Bengal: Sagar Hills (MURALEEDHARAN 1975).

General distribution. Tropical Africa, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand (AUKEMA et al. 2013, JUNG et al. 2013).

Biology. Our observation reveals that C. exiguus was

collected from coconut, papaya, dry fruits of jamun (Syzygium cumini), Aristolochia indica, and Cassia auriculata. It is also observed to feed on eggs of Opisina arenosella, Corcyra cephalonica, Orthaga exvinacea, Anadevidia peponis (Fabricius, 1775), and papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus).