Laccotrephes, Stal, 1865

Polhemus, Dan A. & Polhemus, John T., 2013, Guide To The Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia. X. Infraorder Nepomorpha-Famlies Belostomatidae And Nepidae, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (1), pp. 25-45 : 39

Genus LACCOTREPHES Stål, 1865

( Figs. 30–38 )

Discussion. — Members of the genus Laccotrephes are broad-bodied, dorso-ventrally flattened water scorpions, generally brown or grey in colouration, which resemble dead leaves ( Fig. 30 ). The genus contains 66 currently recognised species (exclusive of subspecies) occurring throughout the Paleotropical and southern Palearctic regions, with the vast majority of species endemic to Africa ( Polhemus & Polhemus, 2008). The four species of Laccotrephes occurring in Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia vary widely in size, from the large L. pfeiferiae (over 35 mm in body length) to the small L. simulatus (less than 20 mm in body length), and generally inhabit standing pools amid submerged leaf litter. In certain cases multiple species may occur together in the same pool, such as at Mawai in Johor where L. archipelagi , L. simulatus and L. longicaudatus were found intermixed in the same sample. The most recent works on this group are those of Polhemus & Keffer (1999), Keffer (2004), Zettel (2008), and Nieser et al. (2009), but no current revision of this genus is available for Southeast Asia, making species determinations problematic within the genus as a whole.

Figures

Fig. 30. Laccotrephes simulatus Montandon, male, specimen from Malaysia, Johor.

Figs. 31–34. Laccotrephes species, prosterna, left lateral views (FC = fore coxa, PS = prosternum, PP = propleuron). 31, L. pfeiferiae. 32, L. archipelagi, specimen from Malaysia, Johor. 33, L. simulatus, specimen from Malaysia, Johor. 34, L. longicaudatus, specimen from Malaysia, Johor.

Figs. 35–38. Laccotrephes species, male parameres, left lateral views (all to same scale). 35, L. longicaudatus, specimen from Malaysia, Johor. 36, L. simulatus, specimen from Malaysia, Johor. 37, L. archipelagi, specimen from Malaysia, Johor (paramere apex only). 38, L. pfeiferiae, specimen from Laos, Vientiane Prov. (paramere apex only).