Lethaeus Dallas, 1852

Li, Junlan, Gao, Cuiqing & Bu, Wenjun, 2011, Review of the tribe Lethaeini Stål (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea: Rhyparochromidae) from China, with a key to Chinese genera and species, Zootaxa 3126, pp. 28-38 : 35-36

Lethaeus Dallas, 1852 New Record for China

Lethaeus Dallas, 1852: 557 ; Slater, 1964: 825 –834; Slater & O’Donnell, 1995: 98; Péricart, 2001: 158 –159.

Diagnosis. Pronotum lacking a collar–like area; posterior margin of abdominal segment VII of male without three pointed protuberances; hind femora of male without spine and protuberance; sperm reservoir lacking holding sclerites, sleeve reduced to a small spur near the base of conjunctival seminal duct.

Notes. Slater (1999) noted that “generic limits in the eastern hemisphere are, in part, unsatisfactory. This is especially true of a complex of medium to large-sized species that traditionally included Lethaeus and its allies.” Chinese Lethaeus Dallas is very similar to Neoletheaus Distant, but it can be distinguished by diagnosis as above mentioned.

About 32 species have been known in this genus ( Slater, 1964; Slater & O’Donnell, 1995), all occurring in the eastern hemisphere (Asia, Africa, and Europe). It was reported from China for the first time.