Arocatus suboeneus Montandon, 1893

Gao, Cuiqing, Kondorosy, Előd & Bu, Wenjun, 2013, A Review Of The Genus Arocatus From Palaearctic And Oriental Regions (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (2), pp. 687-704 : 700-701

Arocatus suboeneus Montandon, 1893

( Fig. 4I )

Arocatus suboeneus Montandon, 1893: 404 . Syntype (s): “ Mozambique, Rikatla ”; MGAB?

References. — Slater, 1964a: 30 (catalogue); Péricart, 2001: 38 (catalogue, Palaearctic).

Diagnosis. — Body less than 6.5 mm, dorsally black to dark brown, without red colour (sometimes with yellow colouration). Dorsum of body with rather short decumbent hairs. Head short (antennal segment I reaching apex of head). Labium reaching hind coxae.

Material examined. — YEMEN: 1 male, Jebel Jihaf, Wadi Lejij , coll. H. Scott & E. B. Britton, 28 Sep.1937, ca. 2133 m, beaten from wild Clematis (BMNH) ; KENYA: 1 female, Jembeni Hills, coll .

Van Someren , May 1947 ( BMNH) ; MALAWI: 1 male, Kandeu , coll. R. C. H. Sweeney, Jun.1958 ( BMNH) ; SOUTH AFRICA: 1 female, Port Elisabeth , coll. Brauns ( NHMW) ; ZAMBIA: 1 male, 240 km SE Mansa, 25 km SE Madutu , 29 Nov.2004, coll. Snizek & Tichy ( NHMW) .

Host plants. — Collected on Clematis based on label data, but its host plant status needs confirmation.

Distribution. — Asia: Yemen; tropical Africa (need to be clarified, see Remarks below).

Remarks. — The type of A. suboeneus is perhaps in Muzeul de Istoria Naturala “Grigore Antipa”, Bucharest, Romania. The identity of the species is doubtful, and needs clarification based on the type material. In the collections of BMNH and NHMW specimens identified as A. suboeneus , in fact represent more (at least three) closely related species collected from Africa. The description of them needs further study. The figure of this species is based on a BMNH specimen.

Figures

Fig. 4. Arocatus spp., dorsal, ventral or lateral view. A, B, A. pilosulus, one of the syntypes; C, A. pilosulus; D, E, A. pseudosericans, new species, holotype; F, A. pseudosericans, new species; G, A. roeselii; H, A. rufipes; I, A. suboeneus. Scale bars = 5.0 mm.