Diaphorocoris punctatissimus (Kirby)

Sites, Robert W. & Zettel, Herbert, 2011, Waterfall-inhabiting Naucoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of southern India and Sri Lanka: Pogonocaudina Sites and Zettel, n. gen., and a review of Diaphorocoris with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 2760, pp. 1-17 : 16

Diaphorocoris punctatissimus (Kirby)

Fig. 14

Naucoris punctatissima Kirby, 1891: 125 .

Diaphorocoris notatus Montandon, 1897a: 61 .

Diaphorocoris punctatissimus Montandon, 1897b: 445 .

Diagnosis. This species can be distinguished from D. dubreuili by size: D. punctatissimus is 7–8 mm in length, whereas D. dubreuili is over 9 mm. It can be distinguished from D. kiliyur most easily by the medium brown to reddish brown ventral coloration, whereas the latter species is dark brown to black. It can be distinguished from both D. kiliyur and D. arunachalami by the pronotum’s being broadly sunken below the level of the rounded ridge of the anterior margin, whereas the other species have some flattening or concavity, but are not sunken below the level of the anterior margin; the dark coloration of the embolium immediately anterior to the distal mesal incursion of the yellowish-white marginal coloration extends only halfway from the embolar suture to the lateral margin; and the marginal vestiture of the embolium is a row of short, brown pegs ( Fig. 14 ).

Discussion. This species is known only from Sri Lanka, whereas the other three species of Diaphorocoris have been recorded only from India. Although more collecting is needed, this species appears to be geographically distinct from its congeners. Kirby's (1891) report that D. punctissimus was collected on wet rocks near running water was previously the only notation in the literature concerning biology or ecology for any species in the genus.

Material examined. SRI LANKA: Bad. Dist., Koslanda, Diyaluma Falls, 19 March 1973, 3,000 ft, Baumann & Cross (1 male). " Ceylon Kirkaldy" (1 male). Punduloya, III.[18]97, leg. E.E. Green (2 males). Simharaja Forest, II.1993, leg. Ehrmann (2 females).

Figures

FIGURES 11 – 14. Right embolium of macropterous (11) Diaphorocoris arunachalami n. sp., (12) Diaphorocoris dubreuili Montandon, (13) Diaphorocoris kiliyur n. sp., (14) Diaphorocoris punctatissimus (Kirby).