Amphiareus constrictus ( Stål, 1860 )

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 : 211

Amphiareus constrictus ( Stål, 1860)

( Fig. 1 )

Xylocoris constrictus Stål, 1860: 44 . HOLOTYPE:, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (NHRS).

Xylocoris fulvescens Walker, 1872: 160 . LECTOTYPE (designated by PÉRICART 1972: 269, as ‘type’):, Ceylon [= Sri Lanka] (BMNH). Synonymized by HERRING (1965: 203).

Amphiareus fulvescens : DISTANT (1904): 221 (new generic placement). Amphiareus constrictus : HERRING (1965): 203 (new combination).

Material examined. INDIA: KARNATAKA: Mandya, ii.2013, 2 2 ♀♀ ( TKPM, NBAIR). TAMIL NADU: Attur, 6.ii.2014, 1 ♀ ( TKPM); Wellington, Ooty, ii.2016, 1 ♀ ( TKPM) .

Distribution in India. Karnataka: Mandya (this paper); Kerala: Kottayam, Thekkady, Trivandrum (MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a); Meghalaya: Garo Hills, Songsak ( MURALEEDHARAN 1977a); Tamil Nadu: Kallar ( MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a), Attur, Wellington (this paper).

General distribution. Pan-temperate and pan-tropical areas ( PÉRICART 1996, YAMADA 2008 b, AUKEMA et al. 2013).

Biology. The species is widely distributed, generally occurring in hay stacks, sheats of palms, nests of birds and leaf litter. It feeds on thrips Apelaunothrips consimilis (Ananthakrishnan, 1969) ( MURALEEDHARAN & ANANTHAKRISHNAN 1978a). In Karnataka, it was recorded from sugarcane and mango, and found associated with thrips and mites (this paper).

Figures

Figs 1–12. Habitus photographs of selected Indian Anthocoridae. 1 – Amphiareus constrictus (Stål, 1860); 2 – Anthocoris muraleedharani Yamada, 2010; 3 – Physopleurella armata Poppius, 1909, from Thailand; 4 – Xylocoris (Arrostelus) flavipes (Reuter, 1875); 5 – Xylocoris (Proxylocoris) afer (Reuter, 1884); 6 – Blaptostethoides sp.; 7 – Montandoniola indica Yamada, 2011 (source: www.nbair.res.in); 8 – Xylocoris (Arrostelus) ampoli Yamada & Yasunaga, 2013; 9 – Carayonocoris indicus Muraleedharan, 1977; 10 – Xylocoris (Proxylocoris) confusus Carayon, 1972; 11 – Bilia sp. (this specimen is not examined); 12 – Buchananiella indica Muraleedharan, 1977. Photo credits: C. Ballal (1–2, 4–7, 9–12), K. Yamada (3, 8).