2026/03/05 by Dhanusha Kawalkar, Pooja Patil, Hemant V. Ghate +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution #Hemiptera Insect Studies #Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy
paper · doi:10.3897/subtbiol.55.181079
openalex publication_date 2026/03/05 · openalex created_date 2026/03/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Thread-legged assassin bugs (Emesinae: Reduviidae) are cryptic, slender-bodied predators recognized for their distinctive morphology and varied hunting strategies. Despite their widespread distribution, especially in tropical regions, many species remain poorly studied, particularly those inhabiting subterranean environments. Myiophanes kempi China, 1924, a species previously known only from its type locality in the Siju Cave, Assam (now Meghalaya), had not been encountered for a century. During a systematic survey of limestone caves on the Andaman Islands, a tropical archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, two male specimens of M. kempi were collected in 2019. The specimens were preserved in ethanol, examined morphologically, and identified using established keys and the original species description. This discovery marks the first record of this bug from the Andaman Islands and confirms existence of M. kempi population after 100 years; this extends its known distribution by over 1,000 km southeast of its original locality. The present report provides a redescription of the species, including the first detailed illustrations of the male genitalia. The rediscovery raises intriguing biogeographical questions and emphasizes the ecological importance of caves in the Andaman Islands as a home for this lesser-known assassin bug. This study enhances existing knowledge of cave-dwelling Reduviidae and underscores the significance of cave ecosystems.