Messena sinuata Atkinson, 1889

Binoy, C., Hiremath, Sangamesh R. & Prathapan, K. D., 2024, The Fergusson squathopper, Messena sinuata Atkinson (Hemiptera: Eurybrachidae) and its egg parasitoids from Southern India, Journal of Natural History 58 (29 - 32), pp. 1069-1087 : 1073-1074

Messena sinuata Atkinson, 1889

( Figures 1–5, 7 )

Messena sinuata Atkinson 1889, p. 339 –340. S. India, Trivandrum [BMNH]

Diagnosis

Sexually dimorphic. Males ( Figure 1 ) have a wingspan of 31.00– 35.36 mm. Head, pro- and mesothorax, legs grey with dark irregular markings; abdomen bright brick red dorsally. Venter with bluish-white transverse bands and lateral margins. Forewing mottled light grey with dark irregular markings. A diffused brick-red longitudinal band along middle of forewing, narrowed proximally, not reaching reticulate apical area. Hindwing with a preapical oblique white band. Females ( Figure 2 ) are distinctly larger, with a wingspan of 41.72–41.76 mm. The forewing is darker with diffused longitudinal brick-red band near costal margin, not reaching half of costa and up to two-thirds of length along middle. Hindwing has three large dark spots preapically.

Distribution

Messena sinuata is endemic to south India and is known from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu ( Map 1 ).

Host plants

Cycas circinalis L. ( Cycadaceae ), Pongamia pinnata (L.) Merr. (= Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi), Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. ) (both Fabaceae ), Terminalia catappa L., Terminalia paniculata Roth ( Combretaceae ), Tectona grandis L. f. ( Lamiaceae ), and Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ) are newly recorded as host plants of M. sinuata . All known host plants of M. sinuata are trees and gymnosperms, belonging to different families, and hence it may be concluded that the bug is polyphagous on trees across families. The species is well adapted to live on the bark, causing no considerable damage.

Comments

Original description of Messena albifasciata ( Distant 1914) and its illustration ( Distant 1916) based on a single specimen from the Nilgiri Hills, agrees well with the male of M. sinuata and they are synonyms, most probably.

Considering the contributions of H.S. Ferguson to the study of biota of the erstwhile Travancore, we propose the common name ‘Ferguson squathopper’ for M. sinuata .

Figures

Map 1. Distribution of Messena sinuata from southern India. GKVK:Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra;UAS: University of Agricultural Sciences; ZSI: Zoological Survey of India.

Figure 1–11. Messena sinuata Atkinson, 1889. 1, adult male; 2, adult female; 3, nymph; 4–5, oviposition and formation of ootheca; 6, parasitisation of ootheca by Proleurocerus litoralis; 7, eggs within ootheca (on window pane); 8, parasitised eggs turning brown; 9, multiparasitism, Parachrysocharis malabarensis and Proleurocerus litoralis emerging from the same clutch; 10–11, mating behaviour of Parachrysocharis malabarensis.