Arocatus pilosulus Distant, 1879

Gao, Cuiqing, Kondorosy, Előd & Bu, Wenjun, 2013, A Review Of The Genus Arocatus From Palaearctic And Oriental Regions (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (2), pp. 687-704 : 693-694

Arocatus pilosulus Distant, 1879

( Fig. 4A–C )

Arocatus pilosulus Distant, 1879: 123 . Syntypes: Pakistan, Murree; BMNH.

References. — Distant, 1904: 15 (redescription, figures, distribution); Slater, 1964a: 25 (catalogue); Hamid & Meher, 1976: 217 ( Pakistan record, listed).

Diagnosis. — Body except the elevated long pale hairs (which are dorsally longer than diameter of tibiae, on tibiae some of them about two times longer than diameter of tibiae) with very dense decumbent short silky pilosity. Calli and indistinct spot on posterior lobe of pronotum black. Antennae and legs black. Pleura with glabrous black spots. Pronotum distinctly punctured, with middle keel on posterior lobe.

Variability. — The syntypes ( Fig. 4A, B ) and other investigated specimens do not agree with the original description, because their pronota are not obscurely punctured. The following characters are apparently subject of intraspecific variability: the NHMW specimens have darkened hemelytra; the Meghalaya specimen has the anterior spot of pronotum triangular posteriorly and a testaceous abdomen except on middle; the Tamil Nadu specimens ( Fig. 4C ) have red middle keel on scutellum and piceous abdomen except connexivum, some of them have a partly obscure and paler spot on head.

Type material examined. — Syntypes, Murree, coll. Distant, 1911-383 ( BMNH) .

Additional material examined. — INDIA: Tamil Nadu: 3 males, 5 females, 15 km SE Kotagiri , 11°22'N 76°56'E, Kunchappanai, coll. L. Dembicky & P. Pacholátko, 17–22 May 1997 ( NHMW) ; 1 male, 1 female, Trichinopoly [= Tiruchirappalli], coll. J. Dubreuil ( HNHM) ; Meghalaya: 1 male, 9 km NW of Jowat , 25°30'N 92°10'E, coll. L. Dembicky & P. Pacholátko, 12 May 1999, alt. 1400 m ( NHMW) .

Host plants and bionomics. — Unknown.

Distribution. — Asia: India (Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu), Pakistan (Punjab).

Figures

Fig. 4. Arocatus spp., dorsal, ventral or lateral view. A, B, A. pilosulus, one of the syntypes; C, A. pilosulus; D, E, A. pseudosericans, new species, holotype; F, A. pseudosericans, new species; G, A. roeselii; H, A. rufipes; I, A. suboeneus. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.