Bagrada (Bagrada) hilaris (Burmeister, 1835)

Nicolas, Vincent, Carapezza, Attilio, Rider, David A. & Kment, Petr, 2024, New records, diagnostics and preliminary checklist of the superfamily Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the Comoro Islands, Zootaxa 5481 (1), pp. 1-29 : 15-16

Bagrada (Bagrada) hilaris (Burmeister, 1835)

( Fig. 26 )

= Cimex pictus Fabricius, 1775 (junior primary homonym of Cimex pictus Drury, 1770 , Coreidae; synonymised by Horváth 1909: 631)

= Cimex hebraicus Germar, 1838 (synonymised by Dallas 1851: 259)

= Bagrada cruciferarum Kirkaldy, 1909 (new substitute name for C. pictus Fabricius, 1775 )

= Bagrada (Bagrada) picta var. connectens Horváth, 1936 (synonymised by Rider 2006: 360)

= Bagrada (Bagrada) picta var. modesta Horváth, 1936 (synonymised by Rider 2006: 360)

Material examined. MAYOTTE: Coconi , 12.834829°S, 45.136545°E, 103 m a.s.l., 10.v.2023, 1♂, T. Ramage lgt., P. Kment det. ( TRCF) ; Longoni, 16.x.2023, 1♂, 1♀, V. Nicolas lgt. & det.; Chirongui, 17.x.2023, photo, V. Nicolas lgt. & det.; Mzouazia, 17.x.2023, photo, V. Nicolas lgt. & det. ( VNBF) .— NAMIBIA: Katima Mulilo , 4.–6.ii.1997, 1♂, 1♀, M. Just lgt., P. Kment det. ( NMPC) .

Biology. Bagrada hilaris , the Painted bug (or Bagrada bug ), prefers plants of the Brassicaceae . It is a serious pest of some vegetables or oilseed crops (e.g., cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, Indian mustard, rape, canola) (e.g., Azim & Shafee 1986, Bundy et al. 2018b, Salini 2020). It is also common on Capparis ( Capparaceae ), often damaging leaves ( Linnavuori 1993, Carapezza 1995). In Mayotte it has been highly abundant on Cleome viscosa ( Cleomaceae ) in grassy wasteland of coastal areas of Mayotte (V. Nicolas, pers. observ.). All three of the above families are closely related within the plant order Brassicales . It has also been recorded on numerous plants from other families ( Bundy et al. 2018b, Salini 2020). In Yemen it was reported on Salsola ( Amaranthaceae ) and Zygophyllum ( Zygophyllaceae ) ( Linnavuori & van Harten 1997), these may be incidental associations. Both larvae and adults are aposematic and often aggregate on host plants throughout the growing season ( Reed et al. 2013); the immatures were described by Azim & Shafee (1986). It is multivoltine and favours warm and dry conditions, and may be active throughout a year. For a detailed review of its biology see Bundy et al. (2018b).

Distribution. Comoros: Mayotte (new record), Madagascar ( Cachan 1952, as B. picta ), Réunion ( Vayssières et al. 2001). Africa: Algeria ( Wagner 1958, as B. picta ; Derjanschi & Péricart 2005), Angola ( Anonymus 1981), Botswana ( Walker 1867, Hesse 1935; Krüger & Deckert 2016, as B. picta ), Burkina Faso ( Anonymus 1981), Cape Verde Islands ( Lindberg 1959, as B. picta ), Chad ( Bergevin 1936), Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Distant 1901, Schouteden 1909, Mayné & Ghesquière 1934), Egypt ( Priesner & Alfieri 1953, as B. picta ), Eritrea ( Schouteden 1905a, as B. picta ), Ethiopia ( Horváth 1936, Mancini 1956, both as B. picta ), Kenya ( China 1937, as B. picta ), Libya ( Eckerlein & Wagner 1970, as B. picta ), Malawi ( Distant 1898), Morocco ( Vidal 1937, as B. picta ; Derjanschi & Péricart 2005), Mozambique ( Horváth 1936, as B. picta var. connectens and B. picta var. hilaris ), Namibia ( Horváth 1936, as Africa merid. occ., no exact locality, as B. picta var. connectens and B. picta var. hilaris ; this paper), Senegal ( Anonymus 1981), Somalia ( Mancini 1939, as B. picta ), South Africa ( Germar 1838, as B. hebraica ; Distant 1898; Horváth 1936, as B. picta var. connectens and B. picta var. hilaris ), Sudan ( Linnavuori 1975), Tanzania ( Horváth 1936, as B. picta , B. picta var. connectens and B. picta var. hilaris ), Uganda ( Le Pelley 1959, no exact record, as B. cruciferarum ), Zambia ( Evans 1952, no exact record), Zimbabwe ( Evans 1952, no exact record). Europe: Italy (Pantelleria) ( Carapezza 1981, 1995), Malta ( Rieger 1986), North Macedonia ( Protić 1987). Asia: Afghanistan ( Hoberlandt 1961, as B. picta ; Hoberlandt 1997), Bangladesh ( Ahmad et al. 1974), China (Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan) ( Hsiao et al. 1977, as B. picta ; Hua 2000; Rider et al. 2002), Egypt (Sinai) ( Gadalla 1999), India ( Distant 1902, as B. picta ; Horváth 1936, both as B. picta and B. picta var. modesta ; Salini & Viraktamath 2015), Iran ( Horváth 1936, Hoberlandt 1955, both as B. picta ; Hoberlandt 1997; Linnavuori 2004; Ghahari et al. 2014), Iraq ( Horváth 1936, as B. picta ; Linnavuori 1993), Israel ( Hoberlandt 1952, Linnavuori 1960, both as B. picta ), Myanmar ( Anonymus 1981), Nepal ( Horváth 1936, as B. picta ), Pakistan ( Ahmad et al. 1974, Ahmad & Kamaluddin 1981), Saudi Arabia ( Horváth 1936, as B. picta var. hilaris ; Linnavuori 1986), Sri Lanka ( Distant 1902, Breddin 1909, both as B. picta ), Syria ( Linnavuori 1964, B. picta ; Derjanschi & Péricart 2005), Thailand ( Roca-Cusachs & Jung 2019, no exact record), Yemen ( Linnavuori 1989, Linnavuori & van Harten 1997). Introduced to North America: Mexico ( Sánchez-Peña 2014, Torres-Acosta & Sánchez-Peña 2016, Hernández-Chávez et al. 2018), United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah) ( Palumbo & Natwick 2010, Bundy et al. 2012, Lambert & Dudley 2014, Rider & Swanson 2019). South America: Argentina (Mendoza) ( Carpintero et al. 2021), Chile ( Faúndez et al. 2016). Oceania: Hawaii ( Matsunaga et al. 2019).

Figures

FIGURES 24–29. Habitus of Comoro Pentatomidae and Plataspidae: 24—Antestiopsis clymeneis cf. galtiei (Frappa, 1934), 25—Piezodorus hybneri (Gmelin, 1790), 26—Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister, 1835), 27—Stenozygum mirabile (Signoret, 1861) (scale bar 5 mm), 28—Brachyplatys hemisphaerica (Westwood, 1837), 29—Coptosoma maculatum Westwood, 1837. Photos: V. Nicolas (24–26, 28–29), T. Ramage (27).