Showing papers in "Pacific Insects in 1971"

Chrysomelid beetles from the papuan subregion part 7 donaciinae

Abstract: This paper describes the first species of the subfamily Donaciinae to be recorded from New Guinea, Donacia QCyphogaster') papuana. It is from the Fly River area. In the first installment of this series", to which this paper forms a supplement, no members of the subfamily Donaciinae were recorded from New Guinea or other parts of the Papuan Subregion. The Donaciinae are poorly represented in the tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere. In this paper one new species of this subfamily is put on record. It is from the Fly River area of Papua (SE New Guinea). Members of this subfamily are associated with water plants, and many of them spend part of their life-cycle within the aquatic plants, below the water level. Nothing is known of the biology of this new species, but it is safe to assume that its habits do not deviate from the normal for the group. All of the specimens are from Lake Daviumbu or from along the Fly River. Only 2 closely related species of this group occur in Australia, and this new species from Papua is cosely related to them.

Contribution to the knowledge of Aedes (Stegomyia) Hoguei Belkin 1962 (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract: The first finding of Aedes QStegomyia) hoguei Belkin 1962 outside Rennell Island is reported from Bellona Island where fourth instar larvae were collected from an open rock pool in the forest. A full description of female imagos is given, based on 18 females caught biting man in a forested area on Rennell Island. This complements the original list of characters which was based on 2 incomplete specimens. Fourth instar larvae (4) of Aedes (Stegomyia) hoguei Belkin 1962 were collected by one of us (M. M.) on Bellona Island, on 30 April 1969. This is the first record of A. hoguei outside Rennell Island, the only place from which this species had been reported in the past. Bellona Island, about 160 km S of Guadalcanal Island, in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, is 10 km long and oval shaped. A raised coral atoll, it is a block of limestone, in the form of a basin, and it has a sunken central valley, along which live its 600 Polynesian inhabitants, and a rocky vegetated rim, rising to 60-75 m above sea level. The larvae were collected on the forested rim, SE of Matahenua village. The breeding site was a small (38 cm diam., 2.5-5 cm depth) open rock pool of clear rain water, containing a few dead leaves. Preserved in MacGregor and mounted in Polyvinylic Lactophenol, the larvae present (M. M.) the characters of the species as given by Belkin (1962). Eighteen female imagos (at present deposited in the British Museum (N. H.), London, England) of what are considered to be A. hoguei were captured by one of us (M. M.) on Rennell Island, on 7 February 1970. Rennell Island, located 24 km SE of Bsllona, has geological and environmental characteristics similar to those of Bellona. However, it is considerably larger—74 km long and 13 km across—and while a 24-km lake (Tenggano) occupies most of its eastern half the remainder is a slightly elevated and densely forested basin, with a rocky rim. The population, of about 1000 Polynesians, is scattered. The place of capture of the imagos, known to the local population as Ongomelange, is a traditional stop on the 3-hr walk along the rough and stony path from Naone (a few huts among coconut palms at the seashore of the NW tip of the island) to Hongauvea, an inland village. Ongomelange is reached from Naone after 15 minutes of steady steep climbing, and it is the highest point (about 105 m a. s. 1.) along the path, on the 1. Government Entomologist, British Solomon Islands Prot. Address: P. O. Box G 9, Honiara. 2. Istituto di Parassitologia, Universita, Roma, Italy. 120 Pacific Insects Vol. 13, no. 1 rim and in full forest. A rest is therefore usual in Ongomelange, for the rare traveller. During the short stop (15 min.) the imagos attacked persistently and were easy to capture. A brief search in Ongomelange for possible breeding places—rocks, trees—yielded negative results; nor were larvae of A. hoguei found in a few similar breeding places over 1 km inland, where other species were collected. It is worth noting that no imagos of A. hoguei had been captured 1 month earlier during an overnight stay in Naone. Only females of Aedes (Stegomyiae hebrideus had been caught, attacking at sunrise. Description of the imago The description of the £ imago of A. hoguei given by Belkin (1962) is based on 2 incomplete specimens. The number of females now available (18) has enabled one of us (B. T.) to complete and amend Belkin's list of characters. The proposed new list, following Belkin, is given below. The description of the legs is entirely new, including the measurements of the forefemur, Belkin having been able only to describe the legs of the $. The main amendments refer to the measurements of the wing and abdomen, these two being smaller than those given by Belkin; the coloration of the labium; the markings on the thorax, particularly the posterior dorsocentral line and the median scutellar lobe; and the abdomen markings, especially the occasional presence of a few scattered dorsal silvery scales on tergite VI, given as IV by Belkin (a misprint, Belkin, pers, commun.).