Messena sinuata Atkinson 1889

Messena sinuata Atkinson, 1889 (Figures 1–5, 7) Messena sinuata Atkinson 1889, p. 339 –340. S. India, Trivandrum [BMNH] Diagnosis Sexually dimorphic. Males (Figure 1) have a wingspan of 31.00– 35.36 mm. Head, pro- and mesothorax, legs grey with dark irregular markings; abdomen bright brick red dorsally. Venter with bluish-white transverse bands and lateral margins. Forewing mottled light grey with dark irregular markings. A diffused brick-red longitudinal band along middle of forewing, narrowed proximally, not reaching reticulate apical area. Hindwing with a preapical oblique white band. Females (Figure 2) are distinctly larger, with a wingspan of 41.72–41.76 mm. The forewing is darker with diffused longitudinal brick-red band near costal margin, not reaching half of costa and up to two-thirds of length along middle. Hindwing has three large dark spots preapically. Distribution Messena sinuata is endemic to south India and is known from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Map 1). Host plants Cycas circinalis L. (Cycadaceae), Pongamia pinnata (L.) Merr. (= Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi), Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr.) (both Fabaceae), Terminalia catappa L., Terminalia paniculata Roth (Combretaceae), Tectona grandis L. f. (Lamiaceae), and Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae) are newly recorded as host plants of M. sinuata. All known host plants of M. sinuata are trees and gymnosperms, belonging to different families, and hence it may be concluded that the bug is polyphagous on trees across families. The species is well adapted to live on the bark, causing no considerable damage. Comments Original description of Messena albifasciata (Distant 1914) and its illustration (Distant 1916) based on a single specimen from the Nilgiri Hills, agrees well with the male of M. sinuata and they are synonyms, most probably. Considering the contributions of H.S. Ferguson to the study of biota of the erstwhile Travancore, we propose the common name ‘Ferguson squathopper’ for M. sinuata.