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Rediscovery of Platerus pilcheri Distant (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), a forgotten assassin bug from India, with comments on its range extension

Authors

  • H. Sankararaman Parasitoid Taxonomy and Biocontrol laboratory, Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu 608002, India.
  • Anubhav Agarwal 12 Z Rutland Gate, 4th street, Aroshree Kailash, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600006, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2711-8888
  • Valérie A. Lemaître Department of Life Sciences (Insects), The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
  • Hemant V. Ghate Post-Graduate Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Autonomous), Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411005, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4934-7542

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7765.14.2.20631-20636

Keywords:

Harpactorinae, Nagusta, Nagustoides, Oriental region, China

Abstract

Platerus pilcheri Distant, 1903, a harpactorine reduviid, is rediscovered from India after more than a century since its original description. A brief diagnosis of this species, a note on its range extension, a distributional map, and images of live habitus are provided along with the images of a syntype preserved in the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH). We also present a comparison with the other Indian congeneric species, Platerus bhavanii Livingstone & Ravichandran, 1991, and show that this latter species does not belong in the genus Platerus and is to be treated as species inquirenda. The issue of the subsequent documentation of Platerus bhavanii from Karnataka is also discussed.

References

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Published

26-02-2022

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Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2022)

Section

Short Communications

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Copyright (c) 2022 H. Sankararaman, Anubhav Agarwal, Valérie A. Lemaître, Hemant V. Ghate

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