The Terrestrial Hemiptera (Insecta) of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Telangana, India
Abstract
The Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR) in Telangana, India, represents a significant biodiversity hotspot within the Eastern Ghats. However, a comprehensive account of its insect fauna, particularly the order Hemiptera, has been lacking. This study presents the first systematic documentation of terrestrial hemipterans from ATR, based on faunistic surveys conducted from 2018 to 2020. A total of 58 species belonging to 48 genera and 18 families were recorded, all representing first-time accounts from the reserve. The findings include species from both the Auchenorrhyncha and Heteroptera suborders. For each species, details on its distribution within India and globally are provided. This research establishes a crucial baseline for the hemipteran fauna of ATR, underscoring the reserve'secological significance and providing essential data for future conservation and biogeographical studies.
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Introduction
Hemiptera is fifth largest group, covering 8% of total proportions of global fauna of insect world. They are phytophagous, predators, hematophagous, omnivorous and also economically important beneficial as well as harmful and used in biological control, terrestrial, aquatic, even marine. Order Hemiptera include 4 suborders viz. Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, Colleorrhyncha and Heteroptera and comprises of about 1,02,183 species worldwide, of which about 6,479 species under 92 families have been reported from India (Distant, 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910, 1916, 1918; Chandra, 2012, 2013, Metcalf,1960). Suborder Auchenorrhyncha includes short-horned bugs, having antennae usually small and inconspicuous; when long, they appear slender and filamentous or two segmented (Chandra et al., 2012). Member of the suborder heteroptera can be recognised by having distinct head, angular region sclerotized and base of rostrum not touching anterior coxae. Wings are folded flat over the abdomen, forewing divided into a coriaceous anterior portion and a membranous posterior portion. Prabhakar (2013) studied distribution of species of the superfamily Coreoidea (Hemiptera) from different biogeographical areas including dry deciduous forest in India and reported 151 species under 59 genera. Pruthi (1936) studied on Indian Jassidae (Homoptera) and erected some new genera and species, with first records of some known species from India. About 42,347 species of Heteroptera are known allover the world (Henry, 2009, Mitra et al., 2016, Distant, 1902, 1904, 1908, Lis, 1999, Schuh, and Slater, 1995). Chandra et al. (2020) provided an account of Heteropteran bugs collected by light trap in and around Dum Dum, Kolkata; Biswas and Mitra (2010) provided a checklist of Indian Assassin Bugs; Mukhopadhyay (1988) studied Lygeidae from West Bengal and Sen (1994) documented hemipteran fauna of West Bengal. This Tiger Reserve (ATR) is one of the largest tiger reserves in India that extends about 2611.4 Sq Kmover Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda districts of Telangana Amrabad Tiger Reserve a well-known and well-preserved nature reserve in Nallamala Hills, part of the Eastern Ghats chain. This is the second-largest Tiger Reserve in terms of core area but the sixth-largest tiger reserve in terms of total area among 51 Tiger Reserves in India. The reserve was notified as a sanctuary in the year 1983 and after the bifurcation of Telugu States in 2014, it was declared as Amarabad Tiger Reserve. It lies in the three forest divisions of Amarabad, Achampet in Nagarkurnool district, and Nagarjunsagar division in Nalgonda district. Major reservoirs like the Srishailam Dam and Nagarjunsagar Dam are fed by the river Krishna and its several perennial streams that originate in the Tiger Reserve. No consolidated information is available on fauna of hemipteran from ATR. Present study is based on 58 species under 48 genera belonging to 18 families of terrestrial hemipteran from the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Telangana. All the species are recorded for the first time from the Tiger Reserve.
