18 I. AHMAD 



Stal (1873) synonymized this species with L. (E.) apicalis Westwood but in 1937 

 Blote redescribed it from Mauritius and Seychelles, placing it in the subgenus 

 Stenocoris. Signoret's type material is in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, but 

 Prof. Max Beier informed the author that it was on loan to Dr. A. Villiers and thus 

 it was not possible to examine it. However, Dr. Villiers (personal communication) 

 has selected a lectotype and has published figures of the terminalia (<£, $). These 

 agree with the concept of annulicornis in this study. Villiers has pointed out that 

 annulicornis of Blote was not the true annulicornis Signoret but another species, 

 which he described as Leptocorixa blotei ; however the <$ of this species is clearly 

 S. phthisica (Gerstacker) (see page 70), but the $ represents the true annulicornis and 

 Villiers' figures of the seventh abdominal sternum of the $ of blotei and annulicornis 

 are almost identical. 



Stenocoris (Erbula) distinguenda (Blote) comb. n. 

 (Text-figs. 28-36) 



Leptocorixa (Erbula) distinguenda Blote, 1937 : 286 ; Villiers, 1955 : 1142 [as synonym of L. 



elegans] 



Characterized by the uniformly thin and smoothly tapering claspers, by the tri- 

 angular median projection of the $ seventh abdominal sternum and by the form of 

 c? and $ genitalia. 



o*. Body length, 12 0-12 -5 mm., width, 1-7-1 -8 mm. Head length, 1-6-1-7 mm., width, 

 1-15-1-25 mm. Antennae, segment I, 2-9-3-0 mm., II, 1-7-1-75 mm., Ill, 1-9-2-1 mm., IV, 

 4-0-4-2 mm. Rostrum, segment I, 1-1-1-3 mm., II, 1-2-1-3 mm.. Ill, 0-6-0-7 mm., 

 IV, 0-6-0-65 mm. Pronotum, length, 2-0-2-1 mm., width, 1-7-1-8 mm. Hind femora, 

 4-7—4-9 mm. ; hind tibia, 5-2-5-5 mm. Distance between ocelli, 0-4-0-43 mm., distance 

 between an ocellus and an eye, 0-6-0-65 mm. 



Body usually comparatively very short, pale, tinged with brownish black ; occipital suture 

 concave in middle with lateral arms curving outwards towards sides of head ; paraclypeae 

 short, thicker in middle, thinner and curved near apices. Antennae pale, with brownish black 

 tinge, underside of basal segment, basal half of second, articulations of second and third and 

 basal portion of apical segment pale. Rostrum short, approaching second coxae. Lateral 

 black line well represented from sides of antenniferous tubercles to anterior of propleuron. 

 Pronotal disc with brownish black punctures, posterior angles with black spots. Legs pale 

 unicolourous, sometimes with apices of femora and bases of tibiae tinged with brown. Hemiely- 

 tra with black punctures. Abdomen with dorsum except sides of connexiva yellowish red, 

 venter pale ochraceous. Posterior margin of seventh abdominal tergum truncated, slightly 

 convex in middle ; pygophore with pointed apex. 



(J genitalia : Claspers long, uniformly thin and distinctly reaching apex of pygophore, 

 straight at apex ; ventral thecal appendages as in Text-fig. 28 ; four lateral conjunctival 

 appendages as in Text-fig. 28 ; frontal appendage long, thinner in middle and bifid at apex with 

 almost equal branches, four right lateral conjunctival appendages as in Text-fig. 28 with spine- 

 like appendage thin in middle, apex blunt ; dorsal appendage convex at base, extending 

 concavely towards apex. 



$. Body length, 14-5-15-6 mm., width, 2-0-2-1 mm. Head length, 1-65-2-0 mm., width, 

 1-3-1-4 mm. Antennae, segment I, 30-3-4 mm., II, 1-8-2-0 mm., Ill, 2-03-2-2 mm., IV, 

 4-0-4-3 mm. Rostrum, segment I, 1-3-1-33 mm., II, 1-3-1-33 mm., Ill, 0-7-0-8 mm., IV, 

 0-6-0-7 mm. Pronotum, length, 2-3-2-5 mm., width, 2-0-2-1 mm. Hind femora, 5-0-5-6 mm. 



