Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2024 | 16(9): 25894–25903
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9088.16.9.25894-25903
#9088 | Received 11 April 2024 | Final received 01 September 2024 |
Finally accepted 10 September 2024
The first report of an assassin
bug of the genus Ademula McAtee & Malloch (Reduviidae: Emesinae)
from India and its rediscovery from Sri Lanka
H. Sankararaman 1,
Tharindu Ranasinghe 2, Anubhav Agarwal 3, Amila
Sumanapala 4 & Hemant V. Ghate 5
1 Department of Crop Protection
(Entomology), Vanavarayar Institute of Agriculture, Manakkadavu, Pollachi,
Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu 642103, India.
2 Wild Island Foundation, 6A,
Mendis Lane, Moratuwa, 10400, Sri Lanka.
3 12 Z Rutland Gate, 4th
Street, Aroshree Kailash, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600006, India.
4 Department of Zoology and
Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
5 Post-Graduate Research Centre,
Department of Zoology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce
(Autonomous),
Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra
411005, India.
1 sankararaman05@gmail.com, 2 tharindu2010ac@gmail.com,
3 anubhavpost@gmail.com, 4 apsumanapala@gmail.com,
5 hemantghate@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Editor: Hélcio R. Gil-Santana, Instituto Oswaldo
Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Date
of publication: 26 September 2024 (online & print)
Citation:
Sankararaman, H., T. Ranasinghe, A. Agarwal, A. Sumanapala & H.V. Ghate (2024). The first
report of an assassin bug of the genus Ademula McAtee & Malloch
(Reduviidae: Emesinae) from India and its rediscovery from Sri Lanka. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(9):
25894–25903. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9088.16.9.25894-25903
Copyright: © Sankararaman et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in
any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Funding: Self-funded.
Competing
interests: The authors declare no competing
interests.
Author details: Sankararaman.
H is a determined insect collector, interested in the taxonomy and
natural history. He works on hover flies (Syrphidae) from India and has
described few species new to science. He has documented several groups of
insects across India, especially from the biodiversity
hotspots. Tharindu Ranasinghe is a researcher at the Wild Island
Foundation in Sri Lanka, where he works as a field biologist. His research
primarily focuses on Sri Lankan freshwater fishes, insects, and arachnids. He
has co-authored around twenty research papers and has
described two new fish species. Anubhav
Agarwal has been studying insects independently for many years. He also
engages in educating about the same to school students, teachers, and stake
holders in various habitats. Amila
Sumanapala is a postgraduate researcher at University of Colombo studying Odonata
taxonomy and biogeography. He has over 15 years of experience exploring the
faunal biodiversity of Sri Lanka and research related to ecology and
conservation biology. H.V.
Ghate is a retired zoologist working on
taxonomical problems about bugs and a few other insects.
Author contributions: Ranasinghe and Sumanpala recorded natural
history and did photography in Sri Lanka. Sankararaman and Agarwal recorded,
photogarphed and collected Indian specimens. H.V.
Ghate identified, dissected, prepared images and prepared the first draft. All
authors contributed to revision of the first draft and preparation of final
draft.
Acknowledgements: We are indebted to the
authorities of Modern College, Pune, for the facilities and encouragement to
HVG. TR and AS would like to thank Nuwan Chathuranga and Ruvinda de Mel for
assistance in the field. HS and AA are grateful to Saravanaraja for his
assistance in the field and also for sharing the images of live individuals of
Ademula from Padappai, Tamil Nadu. We also thank Mr. Gaurav for allowing us to
explore his farm, from where these bugs were collected. Line drawings from
photos were prepared by Miss Shruti Paripatyadar and we are thankful for that.
We thank Dr. Mr. Yugandhar Shinde, Mr. Digvijay Jadhav and Ms. Shruti Yeola for
their assistance in preparation of slides and photography. We are indebted to
Dr. Hélcio Gil-Santana (Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) for
reading and improving the first draft of this manuscript. Special thanks are
due to Dr. Dávid Rédei (National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan), for
constant support for our work on Emesinae and other bugs. Finally, we thank all
the reviewers for useful suggestions for the improvement of this manuscript.
Abstract: Emesine bug Ademula
contaminata (Distant, 1903) is recorded from India for the first time and
rediscovered from Sri Lanka. Details of its morphology, including the male
genitalia, are presented along with images of the habitat. Images of living
bugs in natural habitat are presented along with some comments on natural
history of these bugs.
Keywords: Assassin bug, distribution,
emesine bug, Emesini, natural history, Oriental region, thread-legged bugs.
INTRODUCTION
The subfamily Emesinae
(Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), commonly called thread-legged assassin
bugs, is one of the most remarkable and species-rich subfamilies of the family
Reduviidae, as is evident from the monograph by Wygodzinsky (1966) and the
catalogue of Reduviidae of the World by Capriles (1990). There are six tribes,
about 90 genera, and 950 species of Emesinae (Wygodzinsky 1966; Schuh &
Weirauch 2020) and new species continue to be added.
Ademula McAtee & Malloch, 1926
includes small macropterous species distributed in Australian, Ethiopian, and
Oriental regions; key to the species described prior to 1966 was published by
Wygodzinsky (1966); Capriles (1990) subsequently listed 13 species and the 14th
species was added by Rédei (2005). Very recently, Chen et al. (2023) added two
more species from southwestern China, so the total number of species of Ademula
is now 16. The list of all Ademula species and their distribution has
also been tabulated by Chen et al. (2023). Of the seven species recorded from
the Oriental region, only one species, namely Ademula contaminata
(Distant, 1903), is recorded from Sri Lanka. The genus Ademula has not
been previously recorded from India (Ambrose 2006; Mukherjee et al. 2020).
Following the latest classification (discussed later), the genus Ademula
is now placed under tribe Emesini (formerly it was under Ploiariolini).
Ademula was erected by McAtee &
Malloch (1926) to accommodate two species described simultaneously: A.
reticulata as the type species of the genus (type locality: Singapore; a
paratype from Sandakan, Borneo) and A. nubecula (type locality:
Sandakan, Borneo); however, only comparative comments with reference to a few
other genera like Tridemula Horváth, 1914 and Empicoris Wolff,
1811 were given by the original authors. A detailed diagnosis of the genus was
subsequently given by Wygodzinsky (1966).
During a biodiversity survey in
March 2021, one of the authors (TR) documented and photographed an Emesinae species
from a garden in Kandumulla, Sri Lanka. Subsequent surveys revealed a few more
individuals of the same bug as well as nymphs in other locations (Image 1a–f).
Within a short time from the above discovery, two males of the same species
were photographed (26 January 2022) and collected after few days, by two of the
authors (HS & AA), in southern India. These were studied in detail to
establish the identity of the species. This Emesinae species was identified as Ademula
contaminata based on Wygodzinsky (1966) and confirmed using recent keys for
the Oriental species (Rédei 2005; Chen et al. 2023)
Distant (1903a) described Ploiariola
contaminata from ‘Biserat, Jalor’ based on material collected during
1901–1902 expedition to the ‘Siamese Malay States’; Wygodzinsky (1966) studied
a specimen from Peradeniya, Ceylon (= Sri Lanka), preserved at NHM, London, and
placed it in a new combination as Ademula contaminata and gave the
distribution of this species as ‘Malaya; Ceylon’. The original description and
illustrations given by Distant (1903a) were also consulted and those helped
further to confirm the identity of the species. The image of the type available
in the database of the Natural History Museum, London (NHM) was also found to
be useful; the colouration of forewing of the type is almost identical to what
is seen in our material.
Ademula contaminata is described here in greater
details, based on two male specimens collected from Padappai, Kanchipuram,
Tamil Nadu, India, with several digital photos. Photos of live specimens from
India as well as Sri Lanka, with some comments on the natural history, are also
provided. Sri Lankan specimens were not collected but bugs were watched for
behaviour and photographed.
Although the species has
previously been recorded from Sri Lanka, there have been no subsequent reports
from the country for more than 120 years – a fact probably related to lack of
surveys and lack of taxonomic expertise in this group. This report is therefore
the first record of this genus from India and an interesting rediscovery of the
species from Sri Lanka.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In Sri Lanka the various
potential habitats for the bugs were explored using a visual encounter survey
method. Observations of Emesinae bugs were documented with photographs,
primarily using Canon EOS 7D or Canon EOS 7D Mark ii camera, fitted with a
Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 L IS USM macro lens.
In India, small patches of grass
and shrub vegetation were being surveyed when these bugs were found. The bugs
were collected and preserved in 70% alcohol and subsequently studied and
photographed under a Leica Stereozoom MZ6 with attached Canon PowerShot S50.
The methods of preparation of genitalia follow those outlined by Ghate et al.
(2021).
Results
Material examined: Two males collected from Padappai
(12.88 °N, 80.01 °E), Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India).
Date 12.ii.2022; leg. HS and AA. Preserved in Modern College, Pune.
Taxonomic position
Family Reduviidae Latreille,
1807
Subfamily Emesinae Amyot
& Serville, 1843
Tribe Emesini Amyot &
Serville, 1843 [sensu Standring et al. 2023]
Genus Ademula McAtee
& Malloch, 1926 (1926: 125); Wygodzinsky & Usinger (1960: 262 new
species); Wygodzinsky (1966: 337, diagnosis, key to the species and
distribution); Villiers (1970: 818, distribution of the genus, new species
1982: 27 new species); Capriles (1990: 141, catalogued); Ishikawa &
Yasunaga (2004: 1, diagnosis, distribution, redescription); Rédei (2005: 128,
distribution, new species); Chen et al. (2023: 702, diagnosis, distribution,
new species, DNA Barcodes, key to Oriental species)
Ademula contaminata (Distant, 1903):
Ploiariola contaminata Distant, 1903 (1903a: 258,
original description, habitus drawing)
Ademula contaminata (Distant): Wygodzinsky (1966:
339, new comb., in key, distribution); Capriles (1990: 142, catalogued); Rédei
(2005: 131, in key); Chen et al. (2023: 710, in key)
Genus Ademula: diagnostic
characters
Diagnostic characters of the
genus Ademula, as given recently by Chen et al. (2023), are stated
verbatim here: “Members of Ademula are small-sized and usually
pale-coloured species with variable colour patterns on legs and forewings, and
can be recognised within the tribe by the following combination of characters:
the posterior pronotal lobe has a well-developed lateral carina; the scutellum
and the abdominal tergite I each bears a spine-like process; the metanotum is
rounded apically or has a small process; the fore tarsus is three-segmented;
the fore wing has a single discal cell, and a single vein (M + Cu) is extending
basally from the cell”. Similarities and differences of Ademula with
related genera are discussed later.
Redescription of Ademula
contaminata
Colouration and vestiture: Colour
(after preservation). General colour ochraceous with pale or dark brown areas
on head, thorax, fore legs, and fore wings. Head uniformly brown, eyes dark
brown to black; antennae: first antennomere pale, with subapical dark
annulation; remaining antennomeres darker; labium: first visible segment
(actual second) very pale, remaining segments dark. Pronotum: disc of anterior
lobe dark brown, posterior lobe with median and lateral longitudinal pale brown
bands (Image 2a–c); area around scutellum dark brown. Fore legs: coxa pale
brown, distal one third darker; femora with three incomplete annulations of
dark brown which appear darker on external (posterior) face than on internal
(anterior) face; femoral basal dark annulation occupies almost half length of
femur, second large one near middle, third and smallest subapical; fore tibiae
also possess three annulations of brown that are basal, near middle and apical
in position; tarsal segments dark brown to blackish (Image 2e). Mid and hind
femora with four dark spots or incomplete annulations, two before middle and
two after middle; mid and hind tibiae show one dark, sub-basal dark annulation;
mid and hind tarsi dark brown (Image 2f). Abdomen pale brown, segments V and VI
with orange tinge. Pygophore brownish.
Body surface mostly dull, some
parts of head and pronotum sub shining; all body except wings covered with
short and long pubescence or setae, as shown in Images 2 and 3. Mid and hind
legs with sparse macrochaetae.
Structure
Head short, broader than long due
to very large eyes; ante-ocular slightly longer than postocular portion in
lateral view, slightly convex dorsally; ante-ocular with sides parallel in
dorsal view; postocular narrowed posteriorly, semiglobular in dorsal and
lateral aspects. Eyes very large, occupying almost 50% area of head, as seen
laterally, and appearing nearly sub-hemispherical in dorsal view (Image 2d).
Labium 4 segmented but first segment not visible hence visible segments are
actually second, third and fourth; labium curved, strongly bent between second
and third segments; second segment longest and stout, third short and swollen
in middle, fourth very slender and longer than third (Image 2b,c).
Antenniferous tubercles large, inserted in front of eyes, towards anterior
border of head; first antennomere (scape) with long setae. Transverse
interocular sulcus curved, situated between eyes, almost at level of middle of
eye in dorsal view.
Pronotum short, saddle like,
constricted before middle; anterior lobe nearly as wide as long, its sides
slightly rounded, disk with roundish or oval depression medially in posterior
part; posterior lobe with its sides diverging posteriorly, its surface finely
punctate, with short, lateral carina on anterior portion (Image 3a,b).
Scutellum and first abdominal tergite with a distinct spine (Image 2b,f).
Forewing smooth, passing apex of abdomen; one large discal cell present,
pterostigma reaching apex of wing; venation, and pattern of dark patches as
shown in Image 4.
Fore leg slender, its femur with
usual two series of spiniferous processes. Posteroventral series, beginning
close to base of article, including three relatively thick, long, prominent
spiniferous processes and numerous short processes in between, long processes
about one third shorter than diameter of femur; first long spiniferous
processes close to base appears slightly longer than remaining two, second one
situated close by, third farther, beyond middle of femur. Anteroventral series
continuous, uninterrupted, starting slightly distal to first long spine of posteroventral
series, without long processes. Fore tibia long, thinner than femur, about
four-fifths as long as femur, ventrally with series of strong decurved
spine-like setae. Fore tarsus three segmented (see inset Image 3c). Claws of
equal size. Mid and hind legs very slender, thread-like; hind femora distinctly
surpassing apex of abdomen.
Abdomen elongate, narrow at base
in lateral and ventral views, wide distally. Seventh tergite short in male, not
projecting over pygophore; eighth sternite visible. Pygophore elongate, small,
broader at base and narrowed apically, longer than high in lateral view,
pygophoral process (superoposterior spine, SP) blunt spine-like as seen in
ventral view (Image 5a,b). Parameres (P) short, slender, slightly curved at
base, dilated beyond middle, with sparse, simple setae and sharp point at one
side in apical region (Image 5e). Phallus slightly sclerotized, dorsally with
saddle-shaped sclerotization on phallotheca; vesica arms long and slender, with
swollen base and apical thread-like part; articulatory apparatus well developed
and sclerotised (Image 5c,d).
Notes on the habitat in India
The specimens were collected from
a teak Tectona grandis plantation in an undisturbed suburban wild patch,
with mixed vegetation of perennial trees and grassland. The bugs were resting
on the under surface of teak leaves, in the low-lying branches of the trees, a
couple of feet above the ground level. The collected bugs were docile as they
were collected during day time. The pale colouration of the bugs made it
difficult to spot them when they were resting on the dry leaves. Furthermore,
the bugs remained almost flat, keeping their legs and entire body very close to
the leaf surface when approached, merging totally with the environment. Some
images of live specimen, before those were collected, are available on the
following links of iNaturalist (courtesy: Saravanaraja and Anubhav Agarwal), (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105676730),
(https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105671338). Habitat pictures are
shown in Image 6a,b.
Natural history observed in Sri
Lankan population
Both adults and nymphs appear to
be arboreal and were observed in well wooded home gardens or forested areas.
These bugs are nocturnal and the individuals observed in day time were found
resting in abandoned spider webs under the leaves, about 1.5–2.0 m above the
ground. If disturbed these bugs walk away from their resting place rather than
flying. When resting, both adults and
nymphs, usually keep their forelegs retracted and close to the head (Image
1a–f). These emesine bugs seemed to prefer well shaded undergrowth as their
habitat. We observed both adults and nymphs in the same location, close to each
other, but never on the same leaf.
Individuals observed at night
seemed to be active and foraging for prey and unlike in the daytime, these
usually flew away if disturbed and landed on another leaf close by. One of the
individuals recorded at night was observed preying on a limoniid crane fly
(most probably Styringomyia sp.; Image 1d) which was slightly larger
than the bug.
DISCUSSION
According to the keys given
recently by Rédei (2005) and Chen et al. (2023), the diagnostic characters of A.
contaminata are: ‘mid- and hind-femora with a subapical annulus and three
more annuli along its length; fore femur 10 times longer than its breadth and
forewing with numerous large and small dark spots’. All these characters are
present in the specimens shown here. The species is distributed widely in Sri
Lanka (Image 7) but is known from a single locality in India so far.
There is not much information
concerning biology of any species of Ademula described so far, except
for the fact that A. aemula Rédei, 2005 was collected from dry, mixed
subtropical forest when attracted to light (Rédei 2005) and two recently
described species were found resting on underside of leaves and were collected
by sweeping with net (Chen et al. 2023). In the present study, the specimens
were collected from a similar habitat (Image 6a,b) in India, but during the
day. A mummified spider Myrmaplata plataleoides (Salticidae) was found
in close proximity to Ademula, although the bug was not found actually
feeding on that spider. The habitats in which Emesinae are found are varied and
this fact, along with comments on general bionomics and geographical
distribution, has been discussed in detail by Wygodzinsky (1966).
Wygodzinsky (1966) had recognized
six tribes under Emesinae: Collartidini Wygodzinsky, 1966; Leistarchini Stål,
1862; Deliastini Villiers, 1949; Metapterini Stål, 1874, Emesini Amyot &
Serville, 1843, and Ploiariolini Van Duzee, 1916. Very recently the
classification of Emesinae was revised, based on morphological as well as
molecular analyses; this new classification has treated the former subfamilies
Saicinae Stål, 1859 and Visayanocorinae Miller, 1952 as tribes under Emesinae.
This so called “Emesine Complex” now is said to include over 1,000 species and
the currently recognized six tribes under Emesinae are: Collartidini
Wygodzinsky, Leistarchini Stål, Visayanocorini Miller, Emesini Amyot &
Serville, Oncerotrachelini Standring et al., 2023 and Saicini Stål. Former
tribes such as Metapterini and Ploiariolini are now treated as synonyms under
Emesini; the tribe Deliastini was already treated as a junior synonym of
Metapterini (Castro-Huertas et al. 2020; Standring et al. 2023).
Even though Emesinae in India
have received considerable attention in the past few years, with new species
descriptions as well as redescriptions of a few species, as referred before in
Joshi et al. (2022), Sri Lankan Emesinae need detailed redescriptions; only one
new species (Ghate et al. 2018) has been added since the work by Villiers
(1970).
Earlier we reported and
redescribed Myiophanes greeni Distant, 1903, and Onychomesa
susainathani Wygodzinsky, 1966 [now treated as synonym of O. alata
(Distant, 1903) which was originally described as Ischnocytes alatus (Distant 1903b): see Chen et al. 2024], both
originally described from Sri Lanka; similarly, we also recently reported from
India Gardena melinarthrum Dohrn, 1860, Lutevula hortensia
(Distant, 1906), Bagauda aelleni Villiers, 1970 and Hornylia nalanda
Wygodzinsky, 1966 – all species originally described from Sri Lanka (Kulkarni
& Ghate 2016; Ghate & Sarode 2019; Hiremath et al. 2022; Ismavel &
Ghate 2024; Ranasinghe et al. 2024; Boyane et al. 2024). Some of these species
were also rediscovered from Sri Lanka after a considerable gap (Ranasinghe
& Ghate 2022; Ranasinghe et al. 2024). Ademula contaminata becomes
yet another Sri Lankan emesine recorded in southern India. Extensive surveys in
India and Sri Lanka will surely recover more Emesinae, known or new, from both
these countries.
For
images - - click here for full PDF
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