Androclus pictus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1848)

Krüger, Andreas, 2019, Notes on Afrotropical Enicocephalidae and Reduviidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) with emphasis on vehicle-mounted net samples from Liberia, West Africa, Zootaxa 4688 (2), pp. 232-248 : 235

Androclus pictus (Herrich-Schäffer, 1848)

( Fig. 2C )

Material examined: LIBERIA: Bong county, Bong mine tailings pond area at Dam 12, 6°46′15″N 10°18′33″W, 29.–30.v.1989, at light, leg. Rolf Garms (1 ♂) . TOGO: Lama-Kara , 9°33′N 1°12′33″E, 05.x.–15.xi.1988, at light, leg. Rolf Garms (3 ♂, 4 ♀) .

Distribution: New for Liberia and Togo. Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, East Africa.

Remark: The genus needs revision. Eight species have been reported from Africa ( Maldonado Capriles, 1990), but Miller (1956) described five of those ( A. dilectus Miller, 1956 ; A. ferus Miller, 1956 ; A. meridionalis Miller, 1956 ; A. occidentalis Miller, 1956 ; A. singularis Miller, 1956 = A. seyidiensis Jeannel, 1916 ) based on single specimens and without referring to the previously described species ( A. pictus , syn. A. sculpturatus Breddin, 1903 ; A. seyidiensis ). On the other hand, Miller (1956) described the male genitalia of four of his new species (apparently revealing not much diagnostic value), which are neither known for the older species nor for A. guineensis Villier, 1963 and A. sahelensis Villier, 1971 . In any case the range of variability is impossible to judge, not to mention the fact that A. pictus is also reported from the Oriental region.

The present specimens show variable characters and are treated as A. pictus for the time being. In one male from Liberia and two females from Togo (“form 1”) the tylus (in lateral view) is straight to slightly konvex (like in most above mentioned species) and the lateral margins of the posterior pronotal lobe are broadly lamellate as illustrated for A. occidentalis ( Villiers, 1971) . In three males and one female from Togo (“form 2”) the tylus is arcuate, similar to A. sahelensis , but the lamellate margins of the posterior pronotal lobe are narrower (more or less like in all other mentioned species). One female from Togo shows the exact intermix of both combinations. To make things more confusing, slightly different male genitalia of one “form 1” and two “form 2” males do not correspond to the respective forms, i.e. one “form 2” male shows another left paramere than the other but resembles “form 1” (the right parameres are indistinguishable, but differ from A. dilectus , A. meridionalis and A. seyidiensis ). Eventually it should be noted that both forms exhibit a sexual dimorphism in the abdominal shape, being broader oval in females than in males, and in the relative proportions of the antennal segments, particularly segment 2, which is shorter in females.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Reduviidae. A, Acanthaspis sulcipes; B, Ademula pauliani; C, Androclus pictus; D, Authenta quadridens; E, Cosmolestes aethiopicus; F, Ectomocoris pretiosus; G, Empicoris sp. near morstatti; Scale bars: A–F, 5mm; G, 1mm.