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.