Table Of ContentKEYS TO THE SUB-FAMILIES AND THEIR GENERA OF THE NON-TIBIAROLIATE
GROUP OF ASSASSIN BUGS (HETEROPTERA: REDUVIIDAE)OF SOUTHERN INDIA1
David Livingstone and G. Ravichandran2
Keys for non-libiaroliate group of Reduviidac, namely Harpaclorijiae Stenopodamae, Tribelocephalinae,
Saicinae, Emesinae, Holoptilinae, and their 37 genera from Southern India have been given. Significant variations in
theirantennae, rostrum, head,pronotum, scutcllum and appendicularchactotaxy have been consideredforthe prepara-
tion of the keys.
Introduction ‘arolium’, at the distal end of tibiae, having been
densely packed with fine hairs. Subsequently, the
In his accounton the rcduviid fauna ofthe then term ‘Fossula spongiosa’ (Miller 1938) and ‘tibial
British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Distant pad’ (Livingstone and Ambrose 1978) were coined
(1903, 1910) had relied upon collections deposited to designate the same structure and Distant (1903)
in various repositories abroad and very few species used the term ‘spongy furrow’. The term tibiarolium
from southern India were represented. After Distant is found to be more appropriate and in the present
(1910), the first significant contribution on the key, those sub-families withoutsuch astructure have
taxonomy of Indian Reduviidae was made by been considered.
Wygodzinsky (1966) by describing 5 genera and 8 In his classification of Reduviidae, Distant
species, in his monograph of Emesinae. (1903) enumerated 12 sub-families including
Apart from this, the taxonomic contributions Nabidinae. Later, China and Miller (1959) and sub-
of Indian Reduviidae are limited to the descriptions sequently Davis (1966), recognised 29 sub-families
of a few species of Harpactorinae by Samuel and ofReduviidae from all over the world. Since, in the
Joseph (1953). Subsequently, Muraleedharan present collection of Reduviidae of southern India,
(1976) described two new speciesofHenricohahnia. only a few sub-families have been represented, it is
Yearslater, Wygodzinsky andLent(1980), Ambrose preferred to adopt the classification of Distant. The
and Livingstone (1986a), Livingstone and Murugan non-tibiaroliate group ofReduviidae includes 6 sub-
(1987) and Livingstone and Ravichandran (1988) families, namely Harpactorinae, Stenopodainae,
added about half a dozen more species to the list of Tribelocephalinae, Emesinae, Holoptilinae and
Reduviidae from southern India. Saicinae.
The first attempt in preparing a key for the There are 37 genera and 93 species recorded so
genera of Reduviidae of the oriental region was far under this group in this region, of which 1 genus
made by Cook (1977) on Ectrichodiinac and since and 18 species are reported new to science and a
then it was desired to have akey for the genera ofall number ofspecies new records from southern India.
the sub-families of the reduviid fauna of southern The genus Neohaematorrhophus which was
India. originally described under Ectrichodiinae by
Atpresent, 168 species belonging to 65 genera Ambrose and Livingstone (1986b) has characters
and 11 sub-families of Reduviidae have been suggestive of Harpactorine affinity and therefore it
recorded from southern India and they tire divisible is also included under Harpactorinae. The keys for
into two major categories on the basis of the the genera have been prepared only for those sub-
presence or absence of tibiarolium on the fore and families that are represented by more than two
mid tibiae or fore tibiae alone. The term genera.
‘tibiarolium’ was coinedby Mac-Gillivray (1923) to
designate a pad like structure, similar to an
Accepted December 1988.
2Division ofEntomology, Bharathiar University,
Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu.
KEY TO ASSASSIN BUGS 6O.F SOUTHERN INDIA 27
KEYTO THE SUB-FAMILIES OF THE NON- First rostral segment as long as second; first tarsal segment
TIBIAROLIATE GROUP OF more than twice as long as second and third combined
REDUVEDAE OF SOUTHERN INDIA
Bagauda Bergroth
First rostral segment as long as second; first tarsal segment
1. Ocelli present 2 longerthansecond (or)third Gardena Dohm
Ocelli absent 3
2. Antennae and legs feathery Holoptllinae Stal KEYTO THE SOUTH INDIAN GENERA OF
Antennae either finely setaceous orlongly pilose 5
STENOPODAINAE STAL
3. First segment ofthe antennae incrassated, rostrum slender,
esleognmgeanttes;ancdlyeplebaolwedpraotctehsesjunpcotriroenctolfytpherofdiruscteadndinsefcroonndt 1. Forefemora incrassatedandventrally armed 2
Fore femora either slender (or) slightly incrassated but un-
Tribelocephalinae Stal
armed 4
First segment of the antennae not incrassated; rostrum
2. Ventrolateralmarginoftheante-oculararea(lorallobes)ex-
curved, secondjoint swollen or not swollen 4
panded and armed with three to four strong robust spines
4. First segment of the antennae elongate, and setaceous; Staccia Stal
second segment of the rostrum invariably swollen;
Ventrolateralmarginoftheante-oculararea(lorallobes)not
pronotumlonglyspinous,forecoxaenotelongate,foretibia
expanded andnotspined 3
almost as long as the forefemora Saicinae Stal
3. Posterolateral angles and anterolateral angles of the
First segment ofthe antennae elongate, either setaceous or
pronotum tuberculate; scutellum promineritly tuberculate;
longlypilose; second segmentoftherostrum either straight
propleural anterior spines obscure Oncocephalus Klug
or swollen, fore coxae very elongate; fore femora incras-
sated and spinous; fore tibia invariably shorter than fore Anteriorlobe ofthepronotum non-tuberculate, longerthan
posterior lobe; propleural spines elongate, porrectly
femora Emesinae Stal
produced; scutellartubercules obscure
5. Frontal forked tubercles porrectly produced; ocelli large, Sasirapada Amyol & Serville
projecting outward; ante-ocularareainvariably longerthan
post-ocular area; prostemal spine when present; porrectly 4. Fore and mid tibiae ventrally with elongate pad like struc-
ture; femora withmidventralcomblike setae; firstsegment
produced; ante-oculararea parallel StenopodainaeStal
of the rostrum almost half as long as the ante-ocular area;
Frontal tubercles rarely present, ocelli moderately large, anterior lobe of the pronotum with sharply pointed spine,
wide apart; ante-ocular area conical, tapering anteriorly... anterolateraland posterolateralangles and scutellumheavi-
Harpactorinae Stal ly spined Canlhesancus Amyot &Serville
Fore and mid tibiae slender; scutellum either tuberculate
KEYTO THE SOUTH INDIAN GENERA OF EMESINAE
(or) non-tuberculate; first antennal segment short and in-
crassated or elongate and slender; anterior area of the
1. Pronotal posterior lobe elongate, cylindrically produced, pronotumtuberculous (or)non-luberculous 5
bodyelongate,setaceous Stenolemus Signoret
5. Entire head, thorax, body, totally unanned; propleural
Pronotum either almost uniformly elongate (or) sub- anterior spine absent Ilemisastrapadagen. nov.
globose; body invariably smooth 2
Body invariably tuberculate or spined; propleural spine
2. All the three segments of the thorax equally elongate, eithertuberculate orspinous 6
cylindrical; apterous Ischnobaenella Wygodzinsky
6. First segment ofthe rostrum reaching almost the middle of
Thoracic segments invariably globose, either alale or ap- the post-oculararea; propleural spines elongately porrectly
terous 3 produced; post genal row of ubercles, sometimes forked
t
3. Fore trochanteral spine present; fore femora with biseriale Pygolampis Germ.
spines Ploiana Scopoli Propleural spine either tuberculate (or) obscurely spinous,
Fore trochanteral spine absent (or) setaceous; fore femora antenniferous tubercles, frontal tubercles, porrectly
with single seriate long and short spines (or) with uniform- produced; first rostral segment not reaching (or) almost
lylongspines 4 reaching theeyes; firstjointofantennae eithershortandin-
crassated orelongate and pilose; anteriorlobe ofpronotum
4. Fore trochanter setaceous; second rostral segment short,
either tuberculate (or) carinate 7
bulbous; bodylonglypilose,hemelytraembossed
Emesopsis Uhler 7. Firstantennal segmentelongate andpilose; anteriorlobe of
the pronotum tuberculate; anterolateral and posterolateral
Second rostral segment not bulbous; foreleg tarsomeres
angles spinously produced; scutellum elongately, porrectly
either two segmented (or) three segmented 5
spinous BardesanesDistant
5 Foreleg tarsomeres two segmented and one fourth to one
. Scutellum either elongately spinous or with nodule like
fifth as long as tibiae; appendages banded; wings highly
tubercle; first antennal segment short and incrassated;
spotted Empicoris Wolff.
anteriorlobesparinglytuberculate(or)carinate 8
Foreleg tarsomeres three segmented 6
28 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 88
8. Anteriorlobeofthepronotumtuberculate;anterolateraland 10. Discalarea ofposteriorlobeofpronotum slightly angulate;
posterolateral angles moderately spinously produced; oc- spine atthe baseofantennaenodulose; firstrostral segment
ciput with a pair of occipital, posteriorly developed warty as long as second and third combined... Serendiba Distant
tubercles;scutellumspinouslyproduced Cawius Stal Posteriorlobe ofpronotumnot angulated; spine atthebase
Anterior lobe of pronotum non-tuberculate but faintly ofantennae short, but sharply pointed; first segment ofthe
carinate; anterolateral and posterolateral angles non- rostrumalmostaslong as secondandthirdcombined
spinous; scutellum withnodulosetubercles; postgena with EndochusStal
aprominentventrallydirectedtubercle Diaditus Stal 11. Spine at the antennal basepresent; scutellum withoutspine
12
Head bare, scutellumwith or without spine 13
KEY TO THE SOUTH INDIAN GENERA OF HARPAC-
TORINAE STAL 12. Femoranodulose;firstsegmentoftherostrummuchshorter
than second; spine at the base of antennaevery much elon-
gated and curved outward Macracanthopsis Reuter
1. Ocellipresent 2
Ocelli absent Rhaphidosoma Amyot & Scrvillc First segment of the rostrum longer than second segment;
spine at the antennal base short and straight; femora not
2 Pronotal spines present 3
nodulose Cydnocoris Stal
Pronotalspinesabsent 11
13. Scutellum with robust spine pointing vertically upward;
3. Posteriorlobe ofthepronotum with discal spines 4 collarcylindrical,muchelongate; largerin size
Posteriorlobe ofpronotum without discal spines 9 Sycanus Amyot &Serville
4. Scutellar spines present 5 Apex of the scutellum pointed but not spinous; collarvery
Scutellarspines absent 6 short; ante- and post -ocularareas either sub-equal (or) the
formermore elongate 14
5. Scutellum apically with a single spine; body absolutely
bare; head bare butforanodulelike tubercle at the base of 14. Ante-ocular area almost twice as long as post-ocular area,
each antenna Occamus Distant first rostral segment obscure; second rostral segment elon-
gate, straight Lophocephala Laporte
Scutellum with a median dorsal spine in addition to apical
spine; pronotum, head and appendages highly spinous; First rostral segment a little shorter than the second seg-
spines at thebase ofantennaeelongatelyproduced ment; ante-and post-ocularareas sub-equal; anteriorangles
ofthepronotumeithertuberculateorsmooth 15
Polididus Stal
6. Anteriorlobe ofthepronotum armed 7 15. Anterior lobe of the pronotum posteriorly truncated at the
middle; antero-lateralangles obscurelytuberculous; scutel-
Anterior lobe of the pronotum unarmed (or) obscurely
lum posteriorly acutely pointed to tuberculate; lateral
tuberculate 8
angles of the posterior lobe of pronotum expanded as
7. Anteriorlobeofpronotum withonlythediscalspines; head paranotal lobe CoranusCurtis
unarmed, but for short spine at the base of each antenna,
Pronotal anterior lobe globose, either smooth or rugulose,
legs unarmed Brassivola Distant
antero-lateral angles of the pronotumwithmoderately
Anteriorlobe ofpronotum with a pairoflong discal spines developed tubercles; scutellum very minute bearing a
oneachhalf,head highly spinous, with a verylong spineat medianandlateral angulations 16
the base ofeach antenna; fore femora nodulose and highly
16. Foreandmidfemorahighlyincrassated withfinetubercles
spinousoneachnodule IranthaStal
on the ventral side; ante-ocular area slightly longer than
8. Anterior lobe of pronotum with nodulose tubercles all post-ocular area
around; spine at the base of each antenna very much elon- Neohaematorrhophus Ambrose &
gate Platerus Distant Livingstone
Anteriorlobe of the pronotum without nodulose tubercles, Fore and mid femora not incrassated and tubercles absent
butrugulose;spineatthebaseofantennaepointed,butshort on the ventral side; ante- and post-ocular areas sub-equal
Lanca Distant (or)thelatterslightlymoreelongate 17
9. First rostral segment not passing the eyes; base of the an- 17. Anteriorlobeofpronotumsmooth smallandmoreglobose;
,
tennae without spines; ante-and post-ocular areas almost ante-and post-ocularareas sub-equal; scutellum non-tuber-
sub-equal; spinesofthelateralanglesofthepronotumelon- culate; posterior lobe of the pronotum almost smooth (or)
gate and slender Euagoras Burmeister finelygranulate; smallin size Sphedanolestes Stal
First segment ofthe rostrum passing the eyes; spine at the Ante-ocular area a little longer than post-ocular area;
base of each antenna moderately developed; ante-ocular anterior lobe of pronotum with carinations and sulcations
areamuch shorterthanpost-oculararea 10 on either side; posterior lobe rugulose, scutellar tubercles
slightlycurvedupward;largesize Rhinocoris Hahn
t
KEY TO ASSASSIN BUGS OF SOUTHERN INDIA 29
Acknowledgements to the Department of Science and Technology, New
We Delhi, for financial assistance during the course of
aregrateful to the AuthoritiesofBharathiar
the investigation.
University, Coimbatore, for providing facilities and
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