Anisops breddini Kirkaldy, 1901

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 : 85-86

Anisops breddini Kirkaldy, 1901

Anisops breddini Kirkaldy, 1901 ; Fernando & Cheng, 1974; Fernando & Leong, 1976.

Anisops breddeni - Brooks, 1951 (misspelling, redescription).

Anisops kempi Brooks, 1951 (new synonymy).

Diagnosis. – This species is distinguished by the posteriorly holoptic eyes ( Figs. 25, 26 ). Moreover, it is the only Malayan species which is predominantly brachypterous.

Brachypterous form. Length, male 5.7-6.6, female 5.4-6.8; greatest width, male 1.2-1.6, female 1.2-1.7.

In dorsal view lateral margins of eyes only slightly convex giving the head a somewhat conical appearance; eyes holoptic posteriorly ( Fig. 25 ). Vertex projecting slightly beyond the anterior margins of eyes. Width of head about equal to width of pronotum and five to six times the anterior width of vertex. Tylus smoothly convex. Lateral margins of pronotum parallel ( Fig. 25 ). Scutellum with its basal width 1.2 times its median length (W/L 1.0/0.8) and 0.6-0.7 times the posterior width of the pronotum. Hemielytra with reduced membranes. Hind wings reduced to club-shaped elongate straps.

Male. Rostral prong slightly longer than third rostral segment originating in proximal third of third rostral segment, second rostral segment with a distal outgrowth posteriorly, which reaches the tip of the rostrum. Forefemur strongly swollen. Stridulatory comb on foretibia consisting of a few irregular teeth.

Female. Second rostral segment with a short distal outgrowth posteriorly which does not reach halfway the third rostral segment.

Macropterous form. Length, male 5.7-6.6, female 5.4-6.7; greatest width, male 1.3-1.6, female 1.4-1.7.

In dorsal view the lateral margins of the eyes are somewhat more convex than in the brachypterous form, giving the head a slightly rounded appearance ( Fig. 26 ). Vertex not or hardly projecting beyond anterior margins of eyes. Lateral margins of pronotum slightly diverging posteriorly; humeral width of pronotum somewhat larger than width of head ( Fig. 26 ). Basal width of scutellum 1.2 times its median length (W/L 1.3/ 1.1) and about 0.9 times the humeral width of pronotum. Hemielytra with fully developed membranes. Hind wings fully developed. Other structural characteristics, including secondary sexual characteristics of male and female, as in brachypterous form.

Remarks. – Brooks (1951) described A. kempi from India and Thailand. Some of his paratypes were taken at light. In his comparative notes he remarks that A. kempi “... appears very similar to A. breddeni Kirkaldy. However , the pronotal lateral margins of A. kempi diverge whereas in A. breddeni they are almost parallel. Also the head of the latter is more or less conical with the vertex extending beyond the anterior margins of the eyes, while in A. kempi the outline of the head is rounded. Also the latter species has a much larger scutellum which has a basal with one and one third its median length, whereas in A. breddeni the scutellum is small with its basal width only slightly more than its median length.” These are precisely the characteristics in which the macropterous form differs from the brachypterous form, so A. kempi is to be considered the macropterous form of A. breddini and is herewith synonymized.

Distribution. – A widespread species recorded from India and Sri Lanka through Indochina to Java and Sulawesi (Nieser & Chen, 1991). In the Malay Peninsula this is the commonest species occurring in ponds in wild and agricultural areas. Fernando & Cheng (1974) and Fernando & Leong (1976) recorded it from Kedah, Melaka, Johor and Singapore. In the ZRC there are additional samples from Melaka, Johor, Singapore, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor.

Figures

Figs. 25-26. Anisops breddini, male, anterior part of body in dorsal view. 25 brachypterous form; 26 macropterous form. p = ciliated pit at base of hemielytral commissure.