Pentatomidae fauna of India

Cimex pictus Fabricius, 1775

Cimex hilaris Burmeister, 1835 

Cimex hebraicus Germar, 1838

Cimex jucundus Klug, 1845

Strachia picta Stal,

Bagrada criciferarum, Kirkaldy, 1909

Bagrada picta var. connectens Horváth, 1936

Bagrada picta var. modesta Horváth, 1936

Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae

• Apex of head nearly rounded and reflexed upwards
• Mandibular plates meeting in front of clypeus
• Pronotum with anterolateral margins straight, not reflexed, smooth
• External scent efferent system with peritreme reduced
• Legs with femora unarmed, tibiae dorsally with distinct, broad, longitudinal groove, tibiae not dilated
• Basal abdominal sternites smooth, without spine or tubercle

Genital capsule quadrangular; ventral rim deeply excavated concave, with median conical projection; two stout finger-like projection submedially inner to median conical projection; caudal lobes indistinct with apex angulate; dorsal rim widely and deeply excavated concave between caudal lobes. Paramere crown finger-like gradually tapering towards apex; phallus with phallotheca short, pear-like, less sclerotized.

Valvifers VIII developed into large, longitudinal, triangular plates; valvifers IX reduced into short quadrate and transverse plate; laterotergite IX short and triangular not reaching apex of abdomen; laterotergite VIII transverse, short, elongate and triangular with smooth caudal margin. Spermatheca with spermathecal dilation; apical receptacle elongate and conical.

Female lay about 100-200 eggs singly or in small clusters of 2–13 eggs on aerial plant parts.  Newly deposited eggs are dirty white with reticulated surface, later change to orange-red. Incubation period of 2–6 days, nymphal duration 17-33 days and adult longevity 8 to 26 days (Palumbo et al., 2016).

74 plants in 23 families, most importantly crops of Brassicaceae family (Palumbo et al., 2016).

Andhra Pradesh (Salini and Viraktamath, 2015); Bihar (Distant, 1902); Gujarat: (Fletcher, 1920); Himachal Pradesh (Fletcher, 1920);  Jharkhand (Fletcher, 1920); Karnataka (Usman and Puttarudriah, 1955); Maharashtra (Atkinson, 1887); Punjab: (Distant, 1879b); Manipur (Distant, 1902); Rajasthan (Salini and Viraktamath, 2015); Tamil Nadu (Fletcher, 1920); Uttar Pradesh: (Fletcher, 1920); Uttarakhand (Atkinson, 1887); West Bengal (Atkinson, 1887); throughout India (Chatterjee, 1934); Bengal (Distant, 1902).

Ahmad, I. & Kamaluddin, S. (1981). A revision of the sub-genus Bagrada StDl, 1862 (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae) from Pakistan with reference to zoogeorapy [sic] and phylogeny. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 40, 377-397.

Atkinson, E.T. (1887) Notes on Indian Rhynchota, Heteroptera No. 2. Journal of The Asiatic Society of Bengal, 56, 145–205.

Chatterjee, N.C. (1934) Entomological investigations on the spike disease of sandal (24). Pentatomidae (Hemipt.). Indian Forest Records, 20, 1–31.

Fletcher, T.B. (1920) Report of the Proceedings of the third Entomological Meeting held at Pusa on the 3rd to 15th February 1919. Vol. I. Superintendent Government Printing, Culcutta, xii + 417 pp.

Usman, S. & Puttarudriah, M. (1955) A list of the insects of Mysore including mites. Entomology Series Bulletin. 16, i–vi +1–194. [Department of Agriculture, Government of Mysore state]