Lethocerus indicus (Lepeletier & Serville, 1825)

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 : 26-27

Lethocerus indicus (Lepeletier & Serville, 1825)

( Fig. 1 )

Belostoma indica Lepeletier & Serville, 1825: 272

Amorgius indicus: Green, 1901: 113

Lethocerus indicum: Hale, 1924: 521

Material examined. — SINGAPORE: 1 male, Changi Airport hanger (origin possibly PNG) , 14 Nov.1987, coll. Razali ( ZRC) . MALAYSIA: Kedah: 1 male, no further data ( ZRC) . Selangor: 1 male, no further data ( ZRC) .

in comparison to Thailand and Laos, where the species is still very abundant, being commonly sold as a food item in local market stalls.

The biology and life history of this species was described by Hoffman (1933a, 1933b). Although lentic habitats potentially suitable for L. indicus exist in the Selatar Reservoir and Nee Soon Swamp Forest areas of Singapore, there is no indication that L. indicus currently occurs on the island, with no captures of this species in over two decades. The absence of recent specimens in the ZRC collections of an insect this large and conspicuous is notable, and given that Lethocerus species are strongly attracted to lights suggests ecological changes, possibly including urban light pollution, may have had a deleterious effect on this species, as has been documented for other Lethocerus species elsewhere in Asia ( Yoon et al., 2010).

Figures

Fig. 1. Lethocerus indicus (Lepeletier & Serville), male, specimen from Laos, Vientiane Prov.