''Dulichius inflatus'' is an ant mimic bug in the family

Alydidae Alydidae, commonly known as broad-headed bugs, is a family (biology), family of true bugs very similar to the closely related Coreidae (leaf-footed bugs and relatives). There are at least 60 genera and 300 species altogether. Distributed in the t ...

that is found mainly in southern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is said to live in the nests of ants ''

Polyrhachis ''Polyrhachis'' is a genus of formicine ants found in the Old World with over 600 species. The genus is yet to be comprehensively resolved and contains many varied species including nest-weavers (e.g. ''Polyrhachis dives''), swimming workers (e ...

lacteipennis'' which it morphologically resembles.

Description

This bug is dull black and has fine hairs on the surface. The tegmina of the wing is short and does not extend beyond the base of the abdomen. The pronotum has spines arising at the base of the wings and another at the tip of the scutellum. The tarsi are paler and the last joint on the mid and hind legs is darker. The abdomen has a velvet-like surface appearance.

Taxonomy

It was described by

William Forsell Kirby William Forsell Kirby (14 January 1844 – 20 November 1912) was an English entomologist and folklorist. He specialized in the study of the stick insects, describing nearly 70 species and 22 genera. His collection filled 120 cabinets and clai ...

under the genus ''Formicoris'' in the

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering zoology published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Linnean Society. The editor-in-chief is Maarten Christenhusz (Linnean Society) ...

in 1891. Kirby believed that the species belonged in the family

Reduviidae The Reduviidae is a large Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family of the suborder Heteroptera of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush ...

. R. C. Wroughton noted that they were frequently found under stones along with colonies of "''Polyrhachis spiniger''" (a synonym of ''P. lacteipennis'') and that the spine structure varied widely across individuals. A second description under the name of ''Dulichius wroughtoni'' was published by

Ernst Evald Bergroth Ernst Evald Bergroth (April 1, 1857 – November 22, 1925) was a Finnish physician and amateur entomologist. Life and medical career Bergroth was born on April 1, 1857, in Jakobstad, Finland and studied at the University in Helsinki. He then went ...

but he subsequently discovered that it had already been described by Kirby under a different genus. Bergroth then pointed out that Kirby had incorrectly placed it in the wrong family and noted that it was clearly a member of the already described genus ''Dulichius'' in what was then the subfamily Alydinae within the Coreidae.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5313410 Micrelytrinae Hemiptera of Asia Insects described in 1891 Taxa named by William Forsell Kirby