Saldula sonneveldti Blöte, 1947

Polhemus, John T. & Polhemus, Dan A., 2012, Guide To The Aquatic Heteroptera Of Singapore And Peninsular Malaysia. Viii. Leptopodomorpha, Families Saldidae, Leptopodidae, And Omaniidae, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60 (2), pp. 329-341 : 338-339

Saldula sonneveldti Blöte, 1947

( Fig. 20)

Saldula sonneveldti Blöte, 1947: 548

Material examined. — MALAYSIA, Kelantan: 4 males, Beach of Passionate Love, E. of Kota Bharu , estuary, 20 Aug.1985, CL 2083, coll. J. T . & D. A. Polhemus ( JTPC) .

Extralimital material examined. — MALAYSIA, Sabah: 1 male, 1 female, Tanjung Tajau , 7 km NW of Kudat, 19 Sep.1983, at black light, coll. G. Hevel & W. Steiner ( JTPC) . EAST TIMOR, Dili Dist.: 2 males, 4 females, Tasitolu wetland complex, W. of Dili, middle lake, sea level, 8°33'43"S, 125°30'29"E, water temp. 32°C., salinity 75 ppt., 1 Sep.2004, 1130–1200 hours., CL 7310, coll. D. A. Polhemus ( USNM, BPBM) .

Diagnosis. — Male length 2.40–2.70, maximum width (across hemelytra) 1.15–1.25; female length 3.00, maximum width (across hemelytra) 1.50. Head satin black, eyes brown; pronotum and scutellum satin black; hemelytra mostly black, outer corium external to vein R + M black except for prominent white spot at posterior end, inner corium black with 3 small indistinct brownish spots, clavus black with a single indistinct brownish spot near posterior apex; wing membrane including veins pale translucent fumate, distal section of membrane with 4 creamy white spots in the posterior apices of the cells; antennae with segment I black, segments II–IV brown; legs with coxae black, trochanters and bases of femora pale brown, central sections of femora black, apices of femora white, tibiae pale brown with white apices, tarsi pale brown; ventral surface black.

Distribution. — Originally described from Makassar, Celebes ( Blöte, 1947), with subsequent records from Borneo, Celebes, and Peninsular Malaysia. We provide the first specific record for the Malaysian state of Kelantan, and a new country record for East Timor, greatly extending the eastward range limit of this species.

Discussion. — Easily recognised by its small size, the generally black colouration with very limited pale markings ( Fig. 20), and antennal segment II being longer then either segment III or segment IV.

Ecological notes. — Saldula sonneveldti is a small and distinctively coloured halophilic species that occurs along the margins of salt pans behind mangrove estuaries, and forms a component of a distinct halophilic guild of Asian saldid taxa, which often occur in mixed species assemblages. For instance, at the Tasitolu wetland complex near Dili, East Timor, the second author found this species on salt flats along the margins of three hypersaline lakes with measured surface salinities ranging from 75–100+ ppt., where it occurred sympatrically with Micracanthia ornatula and an undescribed Pentacora species. Similarly, S. sonneveldti was taken along the margins of a mixohaline estuary near Kota Bharu, in the peninsular Malaysian state of Kelantan, in company with Pentacora malayensis .