Megadrymus terraereginae

fig. 1: Megadrymus terraereginae (male)

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Hemiptera
Familia: Rhyparochromidae

this Australian endemic is adventive in New Zealand
it was validated new to New Zealand by Biosecurity New Zealand (2006: 30), based on specimens collected by me in Auckland City (mainly Albert Park)
I have consistently collected it over a number of years in litter under Ficus macrophylla (and possibly also F. rubiginosa) in urban parks, where it presumably feeds on the fallen figs
I do not know how widespread it has become, but I have recently found it in Takapuna, on the other side of the Waitemata Harbour from Auckland City
I have deposited long series of specimens into collections (mainly AMNZ and NZAC)
given that there is no doubt over its identity (i.e., having been validated by Biosecurity New Zealand), and also no doubt over its continued establishment in Auckland (i.e., long series in public collections collected by me over several years since 2006), it beggars belief that the species is still not listed by Larivière in either her New Zealand Hemiptera Website (last updated 25 November 2010) or in her New Zealand Hemiptera checklist in the Macfarlane et al. (2010) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity

Biosecurity New Zealand 2006: Biosecurity magazine, (68) ISSN: 1174-4618 PDF
Larivière, Marie-Claude (ed.) 2005 (and updates): Checklist of New Zealand Hemiptera (excluding Sternorrhyncha). The New Zealand Hemiptera Website, NZHW 04. ISSN: 1179-3236
Macfarlane, R.P. et al. 2010: [Chapter] NINE Phylum ARTHROPODA SUBPHYLUM HEXAPODA Protura, springtails, Diplura, and insects. Pp. 233-467 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.): New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume 2. Kingdom Animalia. Chaetognatha, Ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN 978-1-87725793-3

Stephen Thorpe 01:24, 24 January 2011 (CET)