Naucoris, Geoffroy, 1762

Polhemus, Dan A. & Polhemus, John T., 2013, Guide To The Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia. Xi. Infraorder Nepomorpha- Families Naucoridae And Aphelocheiridae, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (2), pp. 665-686 : 666

Genus NAUCORIS Geoffroy, 1762

Discussion. — The genus Naucoris presently contains 23 species, with nine in Africa, six in Asia, five in Australia, and three in the Palearctic region. The genus is absent from New Guinea as far as is known, and is functionally replaced in the Neotropical region by the morphologically similar naucorine genus Pelocoris (J. Polhemus & D. Polhemus, 2008a) . The genus Thurselinus Distant , although treated as valid by Zettel & Lane (2011), is considered herein to be a synonym of Naucoris following Bergroth (1911).

Discussion. — The family Naucoridae , also known as creeping water bugs, has a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate zones, with its greatest species richness in the Neotropical and Oriental regions (J. Polhemus & D. Polhemus, 2008). Members of this family are moderate sized, with generally ovate body forms and a modest to pronounced degree of dorsoventral flattening. Character states within the family include 4-segmented antennae; a short, stout labium; enlarged, raptorial fore femora; the fore tarsal segments fused with the fore tibia and generally non-articulating; the absence of venation on the forewing; the male genital capsule inverted and folded forward within the body when at rest, with the proctiger and parameres lying anterior the the phallothecal base; and the abdominal spiracles lacking rosettes, but with the adjacent paratergites often bearing a variety of pressure receptors.

Five subfamilies are currently recognised within the Naucoridae (Štys & Jansson, 1988) , of which three, the Naucorinae , Laccocorinae , and Cheirochelinae , occur in the region under study.