Thurselinus scutellaris (Stål, 1860), Stal, 1860

Xie, Tong-Yin & Liu, Guo-Qing, 2015, The creeping water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Naucoridae) of China, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 3911 (4), pp. 571-580 : 578-579

Thurselinus scutellaris (Stål, 1860)

( Fig. 13 )

Naucoris scutellaris Stål, 1859: 266 ; Lundblad, 1933: 63; Nieser & Chen, 1991: 53; Zettel et al,1999: 58; Chen et al, 2005: 127.

Thurselinus scutellaris: Zettel, 2001:1090 ; Zettel, 2011: 170.

Diagnosis. Body size small, elongate. Colour of head and pronotum yellowish, both with variable dark marks, those of pronotum larger, posterior margin of pronotum with longitudinal marks; hemelytron with large yellow patch on embolium and with indistinct, varying, elongate yellowish marks on clavus and corium. Abdomen laterally largely surpassing hemelytra; postero-lateral corners of connexiva of abdominal segments 4–6 spine-like produced; mesotibia with ventromesal row of 6–7 spines in distal three fourths, dorso-mesally with row of similar stout bristles; mesosternal carina anteriorly strongly notched, posteriorly weakly elevated, with long curved hairs.

Males with abdominal asymmetry. Aedeagus long and slender; with acuminate tip; both of parameres asymmetrical, left paramere with inner apical process finger-like, separated by a small notch from the much broader outer process, with numerous stout bristles; right paramere with long recurved. Subgenital plate symmetry. Subgenital plate slender, apically narrow, with distinct small median notch.

Material examined. CHINA, Hainan Province: 1♀, Maoyang Town (N18.94°, E109.51°), Mt. Wuzhishan, alt. 232m, 6.VII. 2010, Zhen YE leg.; 1♂ 2♀, Nankai township (N19.09°, E109.42°), Baisha country, 8. VII. 2014, Qiang XIE, Yan-hui WANG, Yan-zhuo WU leg.

Distribution. China (Hainan); India; Thailand; Sri Lanka; Philippines; Brunei, Indonesia (Java, Sulawesi).

Discussion. Early literature on aquatic insects of China is rather sparse and widely scattered. Although various groups of aquatic insects have caught the attention of entomologists in China and elsewhere, many groups remained unstudied ( Cheng, Yang, Li & Liu, 2006). Until now 12 species of Naucoridae are known from China, form the checklist, we can know 9 species were recorded form Yunnan province, 3 species were recorded form Hainan province and mostly provinces in China with only one species or no record. It is the first step toward elucidating the fauna of China, we have a lot of work to do in the near future.

Figures

FIGURES 10 – 18. Dorsal habitus photographs of Naucoridae of China. 10: Heleocoris breviceps Montandon (♀); 11: H. strabus Montandon (♂); 12: H. strabus Montandon (♀); 13: T. scutellaris (Stål) (♀); 14: H. ovatus Montandon (♂); 15: H. ovatus Montandon (♀); 16: H. bengalensis montandoni Lundblad (♂); 17: H. bengalensis montandoni Lundblad (♀); 18: Ilyocoris cimicoides cimicoides (Linnaeus) (♂).