JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

64(4),1991, pp. 438-443

SHORT COMI\-IUNICATIONS
Nomenclatural Notes on Aquatic and Semiaquatic Heteroptera l
JOHN T. POLHEMUS
University of Colorado Museum, 3115 S. York, Englewood, Colorado 80110

ABSTRA(."'T: NOrl'"ncJn!llral notes'k given as follows. New synonymies: Hydrometra wileyae Hun-
gerford i 923 = Hy..tr6m£tra bearneri Mychajliw 1961; Hydrometra okinawGlla Drake 1951 = Hydro-
metra yasumatsui MiyanlOto 1964; PriJomera tigrina Uhler 1860 = Ptilomera harpyia Schmidt 1926;
Telmatomerra panamensis Drake & Harris 1941 = Telmatometra acuta Kenaga 1941: Tenagogonus
pravipes Bergroth 1915 = Limllometra brevis Lundblad 1933 = Tenagogonus robustus Hungerford &
Matsuda 1958; Tenagogonus maai Hungerford & Matsuda 1962 = Tenagogonus quinquemacu/a!Us
Miyamoto 1967; Esakia ventilOides Lundblad 1933 = Esakia kuiterti Hungerford & Matsuda 1958;
Esakia fernandoi Cheng 1966 = Esakia hungerfordi Miyamoto 1967; Rhagove!ia pallida Lundblad
1936 = Rhagovelia ulugurui Sallier Dupin 1976 = Rhagove/ia perplexa Saltier Dupin! 976. New name
proposed for homonym: Rhagovelia f('it/cri poissoni Polhemus proposed for Rhagovelia reilleri fe··
morala Poisson 1942, primary homonym of Rhagoveliafemorata Champion 1898. New combinations.
with previous genus in brackets: Neopiea semipicta (Horvath) [Plea]; Rhagoveiia saOlomae (Sallier
Dupin) [Angilia]; Rupisalda uichanchoi (Drake & Viado) [Saldula]; Rupisa/da subsolal15 (Drake &
Hottes) [Sa/dula]. Miscellaneous notes as follows: Tenagobia peruana Egbert 1949 chosen as correct
name for species given 2 names in original publication; Anisops breddini Kirka1dy and Anisops exigua
Horvath given as correct names for species incorrectly emended: Ochterus barberi Viets Schell given
as correct cita-tion for species whose holotype is incorrectly labelled; Laccotrepiles chinellsis (Hollmann)
listed as available name; Hydromerra greeni var. suellSoni Hungerford & Evans listed as unavailable
name.

During the curation of the collections of the University of Kansas, the United States National
Museum and other institutions, various synonymies. incorrect citations. and erroneous combinations
have been noted. Some of these nomenclatura! problems are addressed here in the interest of stability.
and because their resolution is needed for various ongoing studies in zoogeography and phylogeny,
as well as the preparation of a catalog of the aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera of the world.

NEW SYNONYMS AND HOMONYMS

Family Hydromctridae
J-!.nirometra wileyae Hungerford
Hydrometra wi/eyi Hungerford. 1923. Can. Entomo!. 55:57. Holotype, male. Colorado County, Texas,
SEMC.
HydromeTra beameri Mychajliw, 1961. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 34:27. Holotype, male. Tamaulipas,
Mexico, SEMC. New synonymy.
I have studied the types of these two species and they are identical. The anteclypeus. fovea of lllc
thorax and male processes on the seventh sternite are the same in both species. MychajIiw compan:d
ll. beameri with H. priscil/ae Bueno and H. fruhSlOrferi Hungerford & Eva."lS. but not with H. wileyae.

H'\'drometra okinawana Drake

Hydrometra okinawana Drake, 195 i. Bull. Southern C.alif. Acad. Sci. 50: 10 1. Holotype, brachyplcrous
male, Okinawa, CAS.
Hydromerra yasumatsui Miyamoto. 1964. Sieboldia 3:214. Holotype. male. Kyushu. Japan, KUEC.
New synonymy.

I Funds for publication of this paper .,,"ere provided by an allocation from an endowment to the
Journal of Kansas Entomological Society by the estate of Dr. C. P. Alexander. .
Accepted for publication 8 April 1991.
 VOLUME 64, NU~BER 4 i 439

I have studied the type of okinawana and have paratypes of yasumatsui in the Polhemus collection,
and they are identical. Miyamoto was not able to study Drake's species, and was misled by Drake's
descliption which gives the length of the head and thorax as equal when in fact the laner is only about
half as long as the head.

Family Gerridae
Ptilomera tigrina Uhler
Ptilomera tigrina Uhler, 1860. Pree. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1860:230. Syntypes, three females,
. Hong KC)l1'g, USNM.
Pltlomera harpyia Schmidt, 1926. Ent. Mitt. 15:65. Holotype, apterous female, "Cambodja", Polish
Acad. Sci., Warsaw. New synonymy.
In their monograph of the genus Ptilomera. Hungerford and Matsuda (1965) hypothesized that this
synonymy existed but were reluctant to formalize it without having associated males and females of
tigrina from the type-locality ofHong Kong. During our National Geographic expedition to this region.
D. A. Polhemus and I collected numerous specimens of this species in Hong Kong as well as in
Malaysia and Thailand, and latcr studied the Uhier types in the USNM. firnily establishing the
synonymy.
In the specimens from Hong Kong, the ventral lateral lobes of the male genitalia (lateral projections
of the pygophore) are well developed, long and sharp; however, in specimens from the Malay Peninsula
they are shorter and more rounded.. and in the series from Thailand they are intermediate. The female
ventrolateral lobes of the seventh sternite are somewhat truncate in specimens from Hong Kong.
sharper in specimens from the Malay Peninsula, and intermediate in those from Thailand. The male
parameres are the same in ail of these. D. A. Polhemus has made numerous dissections of specimens
from-Hong Kong ar;d~the Malay PenirrslIla. establishing dinal differencesoctween them. bilt tliese are
lIot enough to justify separate species status for them.

Te1matometra panamensis Drake & Harris

Telmatometra panamensis Drake & Harris, 1941. Iowa State ColI. J. Sci. 15:239~ Published April
1941. Holotype, male. Panama Canal Zone, USNM.
Telmatometra anita Kenaga, /941. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 27:! 76. Published either Nov. j or Dec.
15. 1941. Holotype, male, Peru. SEMC. New synonymy.
The type of T panamensis and type-series of T. aCUla have been studied, and the specimens are
identical. The synonymy is not surprising, because both of these papers were apparently in pres, at
the same time. Numerous specimens are at hand from near IQuitos. Peru, collected during our recent
Nation"l. Geographic
--.
~;.-.,~.,-.
Societ-y ci'{pedition to South America.

Tenagogonus pravipes Bcrgroth

Tenagogonus pravipes Bergroth. ! 915. Zool. Meded. Lciden l: 12 i. Ho]otypc. apterous male. Magelang.
Java, Zoologisch Museum, Uni\'crsiteit vall Amsterdam.
Limnomelra brevis Lundblad, 1933. Arch. Hydrobiol., Suppl. Bd. 12 (Trop. Binnengewass. 4):388.
HoJotype, apterous male. Sumba. Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense. Bogor. Indonesia. New svn~
onymy.
Tenagogollus robust us Hungerford & Matsuda. 1958. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 39:388. Holotype.
apterous male, Sumba. Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel. Switzerland. New synonymy.
During our National Geographic Expedition to the Malay Archipelago, D. A. Polhemus and I
collected numerous specinlens of this species in the south Celebes, Java, Bali. Flores and Sumba\va.
After numerous dissections I concluded that T. brevis and T. robustus were synonyms. Dr. Lundblad's
figure is somewhat diagrammatic and does not properly depict the male genitalia. which misled
Hungerford and Matsuda and caused them to describe the species as new. The type of T pravipes
was not known to any of these workers. These authors figure the apical shape of the male para mere
slightly differently. however this struclure varies somewhat in the degree of sclerotization of the basal
part as well as the degree of visibility of the apical pa11 extending from the pygophore. so that various
specimens match the ligures in both papers. While there are slight variations between populations.
these are certainly not sufficient 10 warrant separation as distinct species. The shapes of the aedeaga!
,clerites, which are a good specific character in this genus. are the same in all populations, as weil as
440 JOURNAD OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIEfY

a number of somatic characters such as coloration and markings, body shape, and curvature of the
male fore femur; the expanded base of the male fme femur varies even within the same series.
Very fortunately, Dr. N. M. Andersen located the type of T. pravipes in the collections at Amsterdarn,
and I have had an opportunity to study it and establish the synonymies noted above. The latter type
did not bear a holotype label, so I have added one. There are three other labels on the specimen: I)
A. Jacobsen, Magelang, Java, Maall 1900; 2) colI. Dr. D. McGillavry; 3) Tenagogonus pravipes Bergr.
forma aptera dec. Bergrotll 1915. Spec. typicum (verifit McGillavry). (This label is in Ml-Gillavry's
handwriting.)

Teaagogonus maai Hungerford & Matsud~"""

Tenagogonus maai Hungerford & Matsuda, 1962. Bull. Brooklyn Entomo!. Soc. 57:143. Holotype,
apterous male, Ranau, Sabah, BPBM.
Tenagaganus quinquemaculatus Miyamoto, 1967. Nature and Life in Southeast Asia 5:221. Holotype,
apterous female, Sarawak, Entomological Laboratory, KUEC. New synonymy.
Miyamoto compared his species only to T. rabustus Hungerford & Matsuda in spite ofthe publication
of T. maaifive years earlier. While I have not studied the type of either species the descriptions are
adequate to establish the synonymy. We have specimens from peninsular Malaysia as well as Kali-
mantan Timur, Indonesia, also on the island of Borneo, so the range of this species is quite extensive
although paralleled by the ranges of a number of other species. The dark ventral markings. used as a
key character by Miyamoto, were not mentioned by Hungerford and Matsuda; they are more pro-
nounced in the female, and the more medial pair on the mesosternum are sometimes weakly expressed
or absent.

Esakia vemitoides Lundblad

Esakiella ventitaides Lundblad, 1933. Arch. Hydrobio!., Supp!. 13d. 12 (Trap. Binnengcwas5. 4):405.
Holotype, apterous male, Sumatra. Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm.
Esakia ventitaides Lundblad, 1933. Arch. Hydrobiol., Supp!. Bd. 12 (Trop. Binnengewass. 4): 19. (In
the same publication; a new name for Esakiella Lundblad, preoccupied by Esakieiia China in
Helotrephidae.)
Esakia kuiterti Hungerford & Matsuda, 1958.1. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 31:1'13. Hulotype. apterous
male, Burma, SEMC. New synonymy.
Lundblad's species was previously known only from the holotype; however. a series from Sumatra
housed in the Leningrad Museum (ZMAS) has been studied which includes both males and females.
I have also studied the type-series of E. klliteni from Burma. The apical lateral angle of the metacetabula
is the same in both series, the within-series variability in leg length is as great as that between the two
populations, and the male genitalia are the same, thus k/liteni is here pJaced as a junior synonym of
ventitoides.

Esakia (erna ndoi Cheng

Esakia femandoi Cheng, 1966. Proc. R. Entomol. Soc. Land. (B) 35: 16. Holotype. apterous male.
Johore, Malaysia, BMNH.
Esakia hungerfordi Miyamoto. 1967. Nature and Life in Southeast Asia 5:252. HoIOl~"pe. aplerous
male, BlUnei. Entomological Laboratory. KUEC. New synonymy.
During our expedition to SOUlheast Asia and the IVlalay Archipelago. numerous specimens of this
species were collected in both peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak. I have studied the type of E. !lun-
ge/fordi, and in the Polhemus collection there are paratypes of E.jemandoi; they are the same species.
Miyamoto apparently had his paper in preparation or in press when Cheng's paper appeared. because
his type of E. hunge~rordi is labelled "Esakia lundb/adi Miyamoto." He also has a type labelled
"VentidiliS hungel/ordi Miyamoto." When Cheng preempted both of these names. Miyamo;o appar-
ently reversed the specific names in his manuscript bm forgot to change the labels on the type-
specimens.

Family Vcliidae
Rhagove/ia pailida Lundblad
Rhagovelia pallida Lundblad. 1936. Arch. Zoo!. 28. No. 21 :26. Holotype, apterous male. Tanganyika
(Tanzania), Naturhistoriska Riksmusect, Stockholm.
VOLUME 64, NUMBER 4 441

Rhagovelia ulugurui Sallier Dupin, 1976. Rev. Zool. Afr. 90:661. Holotype, apterous male, UIUgUll.l
Mts., Tanzania, Muse.: Royal de I'Afiique Centrale, Tervuren. New synonymy.
Rhagovelia perplexa Sallier Dupin, 1976. Rev. Zool. Afr. 90:663. Holotype, apterous male, Uluguru
Mts., Tanzania, Musec Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. New synonymy.
The new species described by Sallier Dupin are simply size variants of R. pal/ida. all of which are
present in a long series at hand from the same locality as her two new species.

Rhagoveiia poissoni. new name

Rhagovelia reitleri femoralis Poisson. 1942. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 36: 149. Primary homonym of Rho-
goveliajemaralis Champion 1898. BioI. Centr. Amer. 2:132, 134.
Varietal names proposed before 1961 have standing as valid species group names, thus Poisson's
species is a primary homonym and must be renamed. I here propose the new name Rhagovelia poissoni,
to be carried in the nomenclature as a subspecies, Rhagorefia reitteri poissoni Polhemus, pending
further clarification of its rank in the species-group.

NEW COMBINATIONS
Family Pleidae
Neap/ea semipicla (Horvath), new combination
Plea semipicla Horvath, 1918. Ann. Mus. Nat. Hungarici \6:145. Syntypes, Colqmbia, Paraguay.
Hungarian Museum of Natural History, Budapest.
This species has been overlooked by all modem authors as far as I can determinc. Drake and
Chapman (1953) claimed lO have;. listed all d~criJ'~d spec'ies-.2f.J~leidae from the New World, but
overlooked this one. They were followed in this error by Bachmann (1968). Roback and Nicser (! 97-1)
and Nieser (1975). Through an exchange with the Budapest Museum, there are paratypes in the
Polhemus collection that have a tarsal formula 3-2-3 thus this species is transferred to Neaplea.

Family Veliidae
Rhagovelia saOlOmac (Sa!iier Dupint new combination
Angilia saOiOmae Sallier Dupin, 1976. Rev. Zooi. Afr. 90:665. Holotype. macropterous male, lie Sao
Tome, Musee Royal de I'Afrique Centrale. Tervuren.
For some incxplicable reason, Sallier Dupin placed this species in the genus Angilia. Through an
exchange with the Museum at Tervuren, the Polhemus col!eclion contains paratypes. which clearly
belong to the genus Rhagovef.ia by reason of the deeply cleft middle larsi with a swimming plume.

Family Saldidae
Rupisa/da Ii/chancoi (Drake & Viado). new combination
Salduia uichancai Drake & '1iado. 1952. Phil. 1. Sci. 80:340. Hololype, female, Luzon, USNl\'!.
This and the following species arc transfelTed to the genus Rupisalda because of the shape of the
hypocostal region of Ihe hemelylra and othcr defining characters as given by Polhemus (] 9XS. Pi).
151-152). These transfer~ considerably extend the range of Ihc genus Rl.Ipisaida. which now includes
the pantropical regions of the world with the exccption of the mid-oceanic Pacific islancs. Several
undescribed species are at hand from the Malay Archipelago and Australia.

Rupisalda subsolans (Drake &. Hottes). new combination

Saldula slibsolans Drake &. Hottes. \ 950. Proc. Bio!. Soc. WasiL 63: 177. Holotype, male. Java. RMNH.

MISCELLANEOUS NOMENCLATURAL NOTES

Family Corixidae
Tenagobia pcruana Egbert
Tenagobia peruana Egbert, 1949. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 22:35. Ho!otype. male, LorelO. Peru. SH,IC
Egbert published her new species of Tenagabia under twa names in the same paper. peruiana and
peruana. I here choose Tenagobia perUal!ll Egbert as the COlTect name. The type-series printcd labels
442 JOURNAL OF THE KANSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

list Hungerford as the author of this species; according to Dr. Robert Brooks, these have been replaced
with correct labels. The type-catalog in the Snow Entomological Museum listed this species as peruiana,
now corrected according to Dr. Brooks.

Family Notonectidae
Anisops breddini Kirkaldy
Anisops breddini Kirkaldy, .1901. Entomol. 34:5. Type, sex unknown, Breddin Collection, location
unknown.
Anisops breddeni Ji'ooks. ; 951. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34:439. Unjustified emendation.
In his monograph on the genus Anisops, Brooks consistently used the name breddeni. Other authors,
e.g., Lan3bury and Lundblad, have used the correct name.

Anisops exigua Horvath

Anisops exigua Horvath, 1919. Abhand. Senckenberg. naturf. Gesell. 35:314. Syntypes, New Guinea,
Hungarian Museum of Natural History, Budapest.
Anisops exigera Brooks, 1951. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34:447. Unjustilied emendation.
In his monograph on the genus Anisops, Brooks consistently used the name exigera. Lansbury
(l964a, b) followed him in this error; however, Lundblad used the correct name.

Family Ochteridae
Ochterus barberi Viets Sche!!
Ochterus ba~i Viets Schell, 1943. J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 16:4!. Holotype, male. Arizona, SEMC.
The type series oro. barberi Viets Schell is labelled as "Ochterm harberi Viets". Ms. Schell apparently
got married before the paper was published. The labels on the specimens will be changed to Viets
Schell.

Family Nepidac
Laccotrephes chinensis (Hoffmann)
Nepa chinensis Hoffmann, i 925. Lingnaam Agr. Rev. 3:39. Type, sex unknown, Kowloon, China,
repository not given.
Laccotrephes chinensis Hoffmann, 1933. Lingnan Sci. J. 12:245. New combination.
Laccocrephes sp. Hoffmann. 1933. Lingnan Sci. J. 12(SuppL):252. List
After first describing this species as a /Yepa. then transferring it to Laccolrephes, Hoffmann dl~cided
that it was probably a synonym but of what species he did not know, so henceforth he simply listed
it as Laccolrephes sp. It seems clear that chinl'nsis is an available name, but whether type material
now exists is not known. When this genus is monographed. a lectotype or neotype should be established
and the proper synonymy effected.

Family Hydrometridae
HydrolJ1('{/'{l albofineata (Scott)
Limr,obates allJolinearus Scott. 1874. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hisl. (4) 14:447. Types. sex unknown. Japan;
repository not given but presumably in British Museum (Natural History). London.
HydrornelrQ greeni suensoni Hungerford & Evans, 1934. Ann. Mus. Nat. Hung. 27: 11 0, pI. 8. Manu-
script name.
In the figure legend on p. 110, Hungertord and Evans point out that the figures in plate VIlllabelled
"H. greeni val'. suensoni" refer to lfydromerra albolincata (Scott). Apparently they intended 1.0 propose
a new species group name. but changed their minds and forgot to change the fIgure captions. According
to the latest International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (J 985). a species group name proposed
after! 930 without a description or definition in words is not available. thus "suensoni" is simply a
manuscript name because the only indication is by the figures. Unfoflunalcl" there are a number of
specimens in the University of Kansas collection and other collections (e.g.. USNM. J. T. Pohemus
collection) that bear paratype labels "H. greeni val'. suensoni": these should be labelicd as alho/ineaia.
 f !
VOLUME 64, NUM.BER 4 443
I

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 1 am indebted to the following for the opportunity to study collections under
their care, or for the gift, loan or exchange of specimens; G. W. Byers, R. W. Brooks, Snow Ento- -
mological Museum, Lawrence, Kansas (SEMC); R. C. Froeschner, Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
ington, D.C. (USNM); Dan A. Polhemus, B. P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu (BPBM); P. H. Van
Doesburg. Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, The Netherlands (RMNH); 1. M. Kenhner,
Zoological Museum, Academy of Science, Leningrad (ZMAS): Lanna Cheng, Scripps Institute of
Oceanography, La Jolla; P. H. Arnaud Jr., California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (CAS); S.
Miyamoto, Kyushu University, Fukuoka (KUEC). A special debt of gratitude is due to Dan- A.
Polhemusfor assistance in the field, helping to establish the synonymy in Plilomera and Telrwllomclnz,
and reviewing the manuscript. I am indebted to Nils Meller Andersen for helpful comments, and
facilitating the study of material. The field work which helped establish some of the nomenclatural
changes proposed here was supported in part by National Geographic Society grants 3053-85 and
4092-89. The research was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant BSR-902 0442.

Bachmann, A. O. 1968. Las Pleidae de la Republica Argentina. Rev. Soc. Entomo!. Arg. 30:121-
129. +--
Drake, C. J., and H. C. Chapman. 1953. Preliminary rc;pon on the Pleidae (Hemiptera) of the
Americas. Proc. Bio!. Soc. Washington 66:53-60. 'i-
Hungerford, H. B., .and R. Matsyda. 1965. The gcnus Ptilomera Amyot and Serviile. Univ. Kansas
SCI. Bul!. 45.397-515. J
Lansbury, I. 1964a. The genus Atsops in Australia (Hemiptera: Notonectidae). part 1. J. Entomo!.
Soc. Queensland 3:52-65.
Lansbury, I. 1964b. Some observations on the NOlOnectidae (Hemiptera- HeteroPter~'of Viet-Nam
and adjacent regions. Ann. Zool., Inst. Zoo!., Polska Akad. Nauk 22:203-219.
Nieser, N. 19-75. The water bugs of the Guyana Region. Studies on the fauna of Suriname and other
Guyanas: No. 59.310 pp.. 24 pis. V
Polhemus, J. T. 1985. Shore Bugs (H.eteroptera, Hemipt.era: Saldidae). A World Overview and
Taxonomy of Middle American Forms. The Different Drummer, Englewood, Co. v + 252 pp.~
Roback, S. S., and N. Nieser. 1974. Aquatic Hemiptera (Heteroptera) from the Llanos of Colombia.
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 126:24-49. I--

JOURNAL OF THE KA.NSAS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

64(4).1991, pp. 443-444

The Lepidopteran Host of a Neotropical Bombyliid Fly

(Lepidoptera: Limacodidae, Diptera: Bombyliidae)
JAMES K. ADAMS' AND DOUGLAS YANEGA
Snow Entomological Museum, University of Kansas.
Lawrence, Kansas 66045

The Bombyliid subfamily Systropinae contains three genera. Doiichornyia \Vicdemann. Sys/ropus
Wiedemann, and Zaclava Hull. members of which are typically very wasp-like in appearance. These
flies are primarily tropical am; subtropical in distribution. throughollt the Americas, Africa, and
southern Asia. with a few species iII Australia, and have been recorded as parasites of Limacodid
moths. Hull (1973) reviews the known host relationships of the Afncan species. and Greathead (1987)
lists those for Asia. There are 23 described species of Systropus in North and Central America, including
3 found north of Mexico (Painter L'nd Painter. 1963). Of the northern species. host records exist only
for Syslropl.ls macer Loew. a species distributed throughout northeastern North America (as far nonh
as Quebec, west to Nebraska. and south as far as Tennessee and Nonh Carolina). Recorded hosts are

I Current address: Dalton College, Dalton. Georgia 30720.

Accepted fur publication 8 April i 991.