Cheirochela assamensis Hope, 1841: 442

Dan, Polhemus, John, Polhemus & Sites, Robert, 2008, A Revision Of The Indochinese Genera Cheirochela And Gestroiella Heteroptera Naucoridae And A Review Of The Tribe Cheirochelini, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 56 (2), pp. 255-279 : 259-260

Cheirochela assamensis Hope, 1841: 442 .

Supplemental redescription. – Brachypterous male: General colouration dark brown, with dark yellow markings on head, pronotum, hemelytra, and lateral abdomen; head dark yellow with dark, posteriorly opening V-shaped mark centrally on frons, posterior margin broadly dark, eyes black; pronotum narrowly margined with dark yellow laterally and posteriorly; hemelytra with claval suture and basal embolar area dark yellow; visible sections of abdominal tergites pale to medium brown, narrowly margined laterally with dark yellow. Overall form elongate-ovate ( Fig. 3 ), size small for genus, body length 21.90, maximum width (across embolia) 11.90; head length 4.00, width 4.80, anterior/posterior interocular 3.30/3.00, eye length 2.00, width 1.00; pronotum length (midline) 2.50, width 8.60; scutellum length 3.10, width 5.00. Hemelytra brachypterous, venation obscure, corium finely and shallowly rugose, membrane rudiments strongly narrowed posteriorly, tips rounded, reaching to posterior margin of sixth visible abdominal tergite.

Discussion. – The holotype of C. assamensis came from an unspecified locality in Assam, northeastern India. The specimen is in the Hope Museum in Oxford, and bears the label “Type 437.”

This is the smallest species in the genus, with the two examples seen having body lengths of 21.0 and 21.2 mm respectively. This species is similar to C. birmaniensis in possessing well developed angulate tubercles posteromedially on abdominal sternites IV and V, but differs from that latter species in that these tubercles project primarily downward rather than being produced posteriorly over the bases of the following tergites ( Figs. 5, 6 ). The male parameres of the two species are also differently formed ( Figs. 7, 8 ), with that of C. assamensis having a rounded projection on the basal half. Although Distant (1906) considered C. birmaniensis to be a synonym of C. assamensis , based on a study of the holotypes of both species, we feel that the characters noted above serve to separate the two species and therefore reject Distant’s proposed synonymy.

This species has so far been collected only from the upper Brahmaputra drainage basin in far northeastern India ( Fig. 16 ).

Material examined. – INDIA, Assam: 1 brachypterous male, no locality data (holotype, HEMO) . Meghalaya: 1 brachypterous male, West Garo Hills , Nokrek N. P., 9–17 May 1996, 950– 1250 m, 90°19.5' 25°29.6'E ( WGS84 datum), E. Jendek and O. Sausa ( NHMW) .

Figures

Figs. 3–6. Cheirochela assamensis Hope, holotype male, structural details: 3, Dorsal habitus; 4, Left antenna, dorsal view; 5, Terminal abdomen, ventral view; 6, Medial processes on abdominal ventrites IV and V, lateral view.

Figs. 7–11. Cheirochela species, male right paramere: 7, C. assamensis, holotype; 8, C. feana, paratype. 9. C. birmaniensis, holotype; 10, C. tonkina, paratype; 11, C. thailandana, paratype.

Fig.16. Distributions of Cheirochela species in Indochina:squares = C. birmaniensis; diamonds = C. assamensis; circles = C. feana.