Tropidothorax sternalis
| Tropidothorax sternalis | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tropidothorax sternalis | ||||||||||||
| ( Dallas , 1852) |
Tropidothorax sternalis is a plant-sucking species of ground bugs with a main distribution in Africa, with some evidence from the Mediterranean area. The kind is, like many knight bugs (Lygaeini), conspicuous by their red-black warning color .
features
Tropidothorax sternalis reaches a body length of 8 to 9 millimeters. When viewed from above, it is oval in shape, slightly widened in the distal (rear) third. The species has a characteristic, black and red warning color. The head is colored black with two red vertical stripes. The pronotum is predominantly red, with two teardrop-shaped black spots on top. The scutellum is predominantly black, with a red longitudinal spot. On the forewings ( hemielytres ) the inner field (clavus) is black, the outer (corium) is colored red with two round, black spots. The wing membrane is black with a narrow white border and a white spot in the inner corner. Both antennae and legs are colored black.
The species can be distinguished from the swallow- root bug ( Tropidothorax leucopterus ), which is more widespread in Europe , by its red-striped head. In addition, the entire body is longer, yellowish hairy half erect, the central keel on the pronotum is sharper and the black-colored parts on the disc of the pronotum are more dotted.
Way of life and habitat
In Spain and Italy the species feeds monophag on leaves and fruits of Cynanchum acutum ( silk plant family ), from Africa also occurrences of Morettia philaena ( cruciferous vegetables ) are reported. In Spain, the species lives in wetlands with high humidity, in cultivated land, by ditches, rivers, in reed beds and on the coast. Not much else is known about their biology. Adults can be found in the summer months, from May to October / November. Nymphs of the last (fifth) instar were found in June. Presumably the kind is imaginal hibernator with one generation per year.
distribution
The species is mainly found in tropical Africa. In a few small outposts it reaches the Mediterranean. Further findings are available from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. There are only a few finds in Spain, mainly in the province of Alicante (evidence from the neighboring province of Murcia). The species is represented quite individually in some of the areas, where it is possibly threatened by the use of insecticides and fires. Due to its small distribution area, it is on the red list in Spain in the "vulnerable" category. The few Italian records come from Apulia and Basilicata . The only Israeli evidence comes from Shemurat `En Nimfit near Haifa .
Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:
- Tropidothorax sternalis sternalis
- Tropidothorax sternalis saudiensis Hamid & Hamid, 1985, from Saudi Arabia
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Jean Péricart: Hémiptères Lygaeidae Euro-Mediterranéens. Volume 1: Généralités systématique: premiére partie. Faune de France 84a. Fédération Française des Sociétés de Sciences naturelles, 1998. ISBN 2-903052-18-2 . Tropidothorax on page 86 ff.
- ↑ a b c Tropidothorax sternalis sternalis. in: Atlas y Libro rojo de los Invertebrados Amenazados de España (Especies Vulnerables). Vol: I. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. 371-374. download
- ↑ a b Nicola Olivieri (2013): 570 - Tropidothorax sternalis sternalis (Dallas, 1852) (Heteroptera Lygaeidae). Segnalazioni Faunistiche Italiane. Bollettino della Società entomologica italiana 145 (3): 9.
- ^ Tropidothorax sternalis (Dallas, 1852) in Pablo M. Dellapé & Thomas J. Henry. Lygaeoidea Species File online. Version 5.0 / 5.0. Retrieved July 29, 2016
