Cercotmetus brevipes brevipes Montandon, 1909

Polhemus, Dan A. & Polhemus, John T., 2013, Guide To The Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia. X. Infraorder Nepomorpha-Famlies Belostomatidae And Nepidae, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (1), pp. 25-45 : 30-31

Cercotmetus brevipes brevipes Montandon, 1909

( Figs. 4 , 7 )

Cercotmetus brevipes Montandon, 1909: 65

Cercotmetus formosanus Sonan, 1928: 377 ; syn. by Lansbury, 1973: 92

Material examined. — SINGAPORE: 1 male, 1 immature, Nee Soon , pond, 19 Sep.1991, coll. K. L. Yeo ( ZRC) ; 2 males, 1 immature, Kampong Java Park , 6 Apr.1990, coll. C. M. Yang & H. K. Lua ( ZRC) ; 1 male, Singapore Botanic Gardens , 29 Dec.1989, coll. C. M. Yang ( ZRC) ; 1 female, Nee Soon , 30 Mar.1990, coll. K. Lim ( ZRC) ; 1 female, Tengeh Reservoir , small streams, 21 May 2008, coll. A. D. Tran, TAD0825 ( ZRC) ; 1 female, Upper Selatar Reservoir , 10 Jul.2008, coll. A. D. Tran & A. Lok, TAD0842 ( ZRC) ; 1 male, Poyan Reservoir , 11 Sep.2007, coll. A. D. Tran, TAD0708 ( ZRC) ; 1 female, Lower Peirce Reservoir , 15 May 2008, coll. A. D. Tran, TAD0819 ( ZRC) . MALAYSIA, Selangor: 2 females, big pond with Hydrilla at foot of Batu Cave , 14 Dec. 1957 ( ZRC) . Malacca: 1 female, Rembia Stream , 8 Apr.1960, coll. unk. ( ZRC) ; 1 male, Jasin–Kesang Tua road, Station 1, 5 Nov.1966 ( JTPC) . Perak: 1 female, pond nr. Stevens Rd., Taiping , 8 Feb.1960, coll. unk. ( ZRC) .

Extralimital material examined. — BRUNEI, Belait Dist.: 1 male, 1 female, Borneo, Sungai Melilas, 12 May 1996, coll. H. H. Tan ( ZRC) .

Diagnosis. — Male body length 32–35 mm, length of respiratory siphon 7–8 mm; female body length 38–41 mm, length of respiratory siphon 8–9 mm. Head with interocular space 1.5× the width of an eye, broadly raised but not tuberculate between eyes. Mesosternum rounded longitudinally, lacking a prominent keel. Fore femur with moderate sized tooth centrally along the margin adjacent to the infolded tibia; middle femur shorter than prothorax. Male paramere broadly incised apically, this incision separating a broad, truncate distal process from a more basal angulate process ( Fig. 4 ). Female with operculum extending posteriorly only to posterior apices of flanking ventral laterotergites.

Distribution. — The nominate subspecies was originally described from Sumatra ( Montandon, 1909), and subsequently recorded from Java, Borneo, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, China, India and Langkawi Island in the Peninsular Malaysian state of Kedah ( Lansbury, 1973; Zettel & Tran, 2009). The material reported below represents the first published records for Singapore and the Peninsular Malaysian states of Selangor, Perak and Malacca. A second subspecies, C. brevipes australis , occurs along the tropical margins of extreme northern Australia ( Lansbury, 1975).

Discussion. — Easily distinguished from both C. asiaticus and C. compositus by its shorter and stouter form ( Fig. 7 ), the absence of a tubercle on the head vertex, and the differently shaped male paramere ( Fig. 3 ). This species is relatively uncommon in collections, especially in comparison to the widespread C. asiaticus , but is present at a number of localities throughout Singapore in areas of remnant original forest.

Figures

Figs. 4–6. Cercotmetus species, male parameres. 4, C. brevipes, specimen fromVietnam,Quang Tri Prov.5, C. compositus, specimen from Malaysia, Johor (CL 2220). 6, C. asiaticus, specimen from Vietnam, Gia Lai Prov. (CL 4286).

Fig. 7. Cercotmetus brevipes Montandon, female, specimen from Thailand, Chiang Mai Prov.

Fig. 3. Cercotmetus asiaticus Amyot & Serville, female, specimen from Thailand, Chiang Mai Prov.