Nephus cf. roonwali Kapur, 1967

Nephus cf. roonwali Kapur, 1967

( Figs 7a–j)

Nephus roonwali Kapur, 1967: 163 .

Material examined. Pakistan, Punjab, Attock, Hasanabdal , 33°49’5” N, 72°40’58” E, 603 m, 1♂, 1♀, 2.ix.2016, leg. Z. Iqbal ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps ; Rawalpindi, Taxila ( Bani ), 33°44’59” N, 72°48’8” E, 490 m, 1♀, 28.x.2016, leg. Z. Iqbal ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps ; Bai , 33°50’22” N, 72°39’42” E, 415 m, 1♂, 2♀♀, 6.iii.2017, leg. Z. Iqbal, ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps ; Wah village , 33°48’01” N, 72°42’52” E, 466 m, 9♂♂, 13♀♀, 28.iv.2017, leg. Z. Iqbal ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps ; Murree, Osia , 33°59’24” N, 73°28’35” E, 1516 m, 3♂♂, 2♀♀, 15.iv.2017, leg. Z. Iqbal ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps ; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nowshera, Khairabad , 33°54’29” N, 72°14’1” E, 275 m, 20♂♂, 28♀♀, 26.ii.2017, leg. Z. Iqbal, ( PMAS – AAUR) GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. This species can easily be distinguished from other Nephus species by pronotum bicolored with median part black and lateral areas brown, elytra yellowish brown with only basal and sutural lines black ( Fig. 7a), and apex of penis with bifid tip ( Fig. 7g).

Description. TL: 1.70–2.27 mm; TW: 1.04–1.41 mm; TH: 0.62–0.77 mm; EL/TW: 1.07–1.08; TL/TW: 1.61– 1.64; HW/PW: 0.62–0.68; PL/PW: 0.42–0.57.

Body elongate oval, weakly convex, dorsum with dense white pubescence ( Fig. 7a); head, mouthparts, and antennae yellow ( Fig. 7b); pronotum with median area black and lateral margins brown; elytra yellow with triangular black basal mark, and with basal and sutural lines black ( Fig. 7a); antennae composed of 10 antennomeres ( Fig. 7e); prosternal process without carinae ( Fig. 7c); abdominal ventrite 1 with postcoxal line incomplete, expending toward lateral margin and slightly curved ( Fig. 7e).

Male genitalia ( Figs 7f–i): penis stout, penis capsule with long inner arm and short dilated outer one ( Fig. 7f); apex of penis bifid, covered with membranous structure ( Fig. 7g); tegmen with constricted base, widened at basal 1/3 then gradually converging to pointed apex in lateral view ( Fig. 7h); penis guide parallel sided at base in inner view, then narrowing toward blunt apex ( Fig. 7i); parameres slender and subequal to penis guide with sparse short setae on apical margins ( Fig. 7h).

Female genitalia ( Fig. 7j). Coxites triangular and elongate, with styli; sperm duct membranous with uniform diameter, adjacent to the apical part of bursa, infundibulum absent; spermatheca vermiform with two distinct large tubular cornus, without clearly defined nodulus or ramus.

Prey. This species has been reported as a predator of Melanaphis donacis Passerini ( Hemiptera : Aphididae ) (First record for this prey).

Associated plants. It is collected from the Poales : Poaceae : Arundo donax Linnaeus.

Distribution. Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Nowshera. Punjab: Attock, Rawalpindi, and Murree (current study); India: Kolkata ( Kapur 1967). A new species record for Pakistan.

Remarks. The examined specimens belong to a complex of very similar species (including N. levaillanti , N. patagiatus , N. tagiapatus ) that has a convoluted history. Numerous authors have interpreted these species differently, and as for today, it is impossible to make any definite identification of Nephus from that species-group from the area of Pakistan. Nephus levaillanti ( Mulsant, 1850) has been described from Sicily ( Italy) and probably has a broad range of distribution. Specimens examined by Sasaji from Japan and identified as N. patagiatus ( Lewis, 1896) are identical to those drawn by Canepari based on Sicilian specimens identified as N. levaillanti ( Canepari, 2001) . Based on these descriptions, Kovář (2007) synonymized both species. Similar in terms of external coloration and structure of male and female genitalia is N. tagiapatus originally described by Kamiya (1965) from the Ishigaki Island (Ryukyus), near Taiwan ( China), and subsequently reported from various regions in Asia including India and Chinese mainland ( Poorani 2002; Ren et al. 2009). However, the examined specimens differ from both species in male and female genitalia. It is difficult to determine whether this variation is merely a local population difference or represents a distinct species. Kapur (1967) described a Nephus species from Calcutta (Kolkata) in India — Nephus roonwali —which was later synonymized with N. tagiapatus by Sasaji (1968b). However, Sasaji did not examine the types, and his decision was based solely on drawings published by Kapur (1967), which do not show all the details. Consequently, the specimens examined in this study are initially identified as N. roonwali Kapur , however, only a detailed revision of all types of the species mentioned above can solve this issue.