Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913

Ballal, Chandish R., Akbar, Shahid Ali, Yamada, Kazutaka, Wachkoo, Aijaz Ahmad & Varshney, Richa, 2018, Annotated catalogue of the flower bugs from India (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae, Lasiochilidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 58 (1), pp. 207-226 : 212-214

Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913

( Figs 13 , 19–21 )

Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913: 253 . HOLOTYPE: ♀, Sri Lanka, Paradenyia (MZHF).

Cardiastethus pygmaeus Poppius, 1915: 7 . SYNTYPE (S): Taiwan, Anping (DEIC, MZHF). Synonymized by CARAYON (1976: 467).

Cardiastethus inquilinus Delamare Deboutteville & Paulian, 1952: 83 . HOLOTYPE: Ivory Coast, Len Banco (MNHN). Junior homonym of C. inquilinus China & Myers, 1929. Synonymized by CARAYON (1957: 167)

Cardiastethus pauliani Lansbury, 1954: 90 (new substitute name for C. inquilinus Delamare Deboutteville & Paulian, 1952). Synonymized by CARAYON (1957: 167).

Cardiastethus pygmaeus pauliani : CARAYON (1957): 168 (downgraded to subspecies rank).

Material examined. INDIA: KARNATAKA: Bangalore, ii.2016, 2 7 ♀♀ ( TKPM). KERALA: Trivandrum, xii.2015, 1 ( TKPM).

Distribution in India. Andhra Pradesh: Tirupathy ( MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a, as C. pygmaus pauliani); Karnataka: Bangalore (this paper); Kerala: Thekkady ( MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a, as C. pygmaus pauliani); Tamil Nadu: Madras [= Chennai], Dharmapuri, Salem ( MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a); West Bengal: Sagar Hills ( MURALEEDHARAN 1975).

General distribution. Tropical Africa, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand ( AUKEMA et al. 2013, JUNG et al. 2013).

Biology. Our observation reveals that C. exiguus was

collected from coconut, papaya, dry fruits of jamun (Syzygium cumini), Aristolochia indica, and Cassia auriculata. It is also observed to feed on eggs of Opisina arenosella, Corcyra cephalonica, Orthaga exvinacea, Anadevidia peponis (Fabricius, 1775), and papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus).

Figures

Figs 13–18. Habitus photographs of selected Indian Anthocoridae. 13 – Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913, feeding on papaya mealybug; 14 – Orius (Dimorphella) tantillus (Motschulsky, 1863), feeding on eggs of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner, 1808); 15 – Cardiastethus affinis Poppius, 1909, feeding on scale insects; 16–17 – Blaptostethus pallescens Poppius, 1909, feeding on thrips and Spodoptera litura eggs; 18 – Xylocoris (Arrostelus) flavipes (Reuter, 1875), feeding on mite. Photo credits: C. Ballal.

Figs 19–27. Life stages of Indian anthocorids (egg, nymph, adult). 19–21 – Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius, 1913; 22–24 – Blaptostethus pallescens Poppius, 1909; 25–27 – Xylocoris flavipes (Reuter, 1875). Photo credits: C. Ballal.