Leptoglossus australis (Fabricius)

Usinger, Robert L., 1946, Hemiptera Heteroptera of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 189, pp. 11-103 : 23-24

11. Leptoglossus australis (Fabricius) .

Cimex australis Fabricius, Syst. Ent., 708, 1775.

One specimen, Guam, Fullaway (1190 ); two specimens, Guam, 1923, American sunflower and milkweed, Hornbostel ; 13 specimens, Barrigada , June 12 and 14, on Passiflora foetida, Usinger ; four specimens, Barrigada , June 24, on Passiflora fruit, Swezey ; two specimens, Barrigada , Nov. 25, at school farm, on sunflower, Swezey ; Piti , Oct. 10, on pumpkin, Swezey ; two specimens, Piti , Sept. 26, on pumpkin, Swezey ; two specimens, Piti , Aug. 28, on pumpkin, Swezey ; three specimens, Piti , Sept. 5, Oct. 17, on beans, Swezey ; two specimens, Talofofo , Nov. 18, Swezey ; Yigo , May 19, Usinger .

Leptoglossus was found in greatest numbers at Barrigada where eggs, nymphs, and adults were found on Passiflora foetida , feeding on the fruit. L. australis is a conspicuous species of wide distribution. In addition to Samoa, China records it from New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Fiji, and the Society Islands. I have specimens from all of these regions and can add the Caroline Islands and the Philippines. The Philippine species has been recorded from earliest times as the widespread Ethiopian and Oriental membranaceus (Fabricius) but specimens before me from Mindanao and specimens which I collected on Luzon fall well within the range of variation seen in the Oceanian series. Regardless of possible synonymy, the name australis will remain for Pacific specimens because it was described six years earlier than 1nembranaceus.