Water striders, the genus Cylindrostethus Mayr (Insecta: Heteroptera: Gerridae) from India with a new record

Abstract

The genus Cylindrostethus Mayr, 1865 from India is studied. Prior to this study C. productus (Spinola, 1837) and C. scrutator (Kirkaldy, 1899) of Cylindrostethus were known from India. The record of C. scrutator (Kirkaldy, 1899) from India is doubtful. Study of gerrid specimens from Andaman Islands revealed one more additional species, C. costalis costalis Schmidt, 1915 new to Indian fauna. So, presently two species of this genus are known from India namely C. costalis costalis and C. productus, both belonging to the C. costalis species group (Polhemus 1994). A detailed study has been made of the male and female genitalia of Cylindrostethus known from India.

Keywords

• cylindrostethinae
• first record
• india
• water striders
• taxonomy.