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Issue: Vol. 3 No. 3: 31 Jul. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-07-31
DOI: 10.11646/jihs.3.3.1
Page range: 228-237
Abstract views: 220
PDF downloaded: 156

A New Species of the Genus Anthocoris (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) Found in Leaf-Rolling Galls on Ficus benghalensis L. in Southern India

Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Yayoigaoka 6-chome, Sanda-shi, Hyogo 669-1546, Japan; Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, Yayoigaoka 6-chome, Sanda-shi, Hyogo 669-1546, Japan
ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, H. A. Farm P. O, Bellary Road, Bangalore 560 024, Karnataka, India
Hemiptera Heteroptera Anthocoridae Anthocoris new species Ficus leaf rolling galls India

Abstract

A new species of flower bug, Anthocoris rajai new species, is described from Karnataka State, southern India. The new species is associated with leaf margin roll galls on Ficus benghalensis Linnaeus (Moraceae) made by its assumed prey Gynaikothrips sp. (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) or psyllids (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Psyllidae). The new species is distinct from other congeners by the yellowish-brown to darker reddish-brown dorsum with whitish or subhyaline markings on clavus, endocorium, and membrane; the long labium just reaching the middle of the mesosternum; and the abdominal sternum without a pair of membranous areas. Relationships within the genus Anthocoris Fallén and their association with gall-forming insects are discussed. A key to Indian species of the genus is also provided.

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