Enithares ciliata ( Fabricius, 1798 )

Nieser, Nico, 2004, Guide To Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia Iii. Pleidae And Notonectidae, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52 (1), pp. 79-96 : 93

Enithares ciliata ( Fabricius, 1798)

Notonecta ciliata Fabricius, 1798 .

Enithares ciliata - Lansbury, 1968 (redescription); Fernando & Leong, 1976.

Diagnosis. – Length, male 8.5-9.6, female 9.0-9.6; width, male and female 3.0-3.6. Pale form can be entirely pale yellowish brown ( Lansbury, 1968). Dark form is generally blackish in dorsal view, with dark brown eyes; vertex yellowish; anterior half to two thirds of pronotum yellowish with variable brown markings; remainder translucent with blackish underlying parts showing through. Lateral margins of scutellum in living specimens with a greenish fluorescent stripe, which becomes yellow in dead specimens; abdomen black; basal part of hemielytra and caudal lobe of membrane translucent.

Head in dorsal view rounded anteriorly, its width about 2.75 times anterior width of vertex. Anterior width of vertex more than twice the synthlipsis (vertex 2.1-2.2x synthlipsis). Dorsal margin of pronotal fovea directed straight caudad before turning laterad. Mesotrochanter rounded. Metasternal xiphus as in Fig. 35c .

Male. Foretibia on its inner side with a wide indentation halfway its length apically of this indentation the tibia is widened into a triangular projection. Second segment of middle tarsus short and wide, about a wide as long ( Figs. 7 , 38 ).

Remarks. – Males can be easily recognized by the middle tarsus and also the foretibia. Females are distinguished by the shape of the metasternal xiphus combined with their size.

Distribution. – Widespread, Mauritius, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, continental SE Asia, SE China and Indonesia: Sumatra ( Lansbury, 1968, Polhemus et al., 1995). Also recorded from Kedah: Pulau Langkawi by Lansbury (1968). In addition specimens have been studied from Johor and Perak (ZRC), not recorded from Singapore. Apparently distributed throughout most of the Malay Peninsula but rare. Usually found still parts of streams and in ponds and pools associated with streams.

Figures

Fig. 35. Enithares species, metasternal xiphus. c = E. ciliata, mn = E. mandalayensis, ml = E. malayensis, me = E. metallica.

Fig. 7. Middle leg of male Enithares ciliata. cl = tarsal claws; co = coxa; f = femur; p = anteapical pointed protuberance of femur; ta1, ta2, ta3 = first, second and third tarsal segment; ti = tibia; tr = trochanter.

Fig. 38. Enithares ciliata male, tarsus of middle leg.