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Elica latipennis (Walker, 1857)
| Family Name: | Nogodinidae |
| Taxonomic Group: | Invertebrates (Bug) |
| Common Name: | Nogodinid Plant-bug |
Name
Ecology, Habitat & Location
| Ecological Notes | Forest dweller, collected from the field layer. Otherwise, very little known about its biology. |
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| Habitats | Forest |
| Distribution | Known only from Singapore. |
| Nature Reserves | Bukit Timah Nature Reserve |
Conservation
| Trends & Threats | Habitat loss. |
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| Scientific Interest & Potential Value | The reason for including this species is strictly historical. It represents a unique genus, orginally described from a single specimen collected in Singapore by Alfred Russell Wallace and never since recorded from anywhere else. Over the last few decades a few more individuals have been seen from Bukit Timah. Wallace's collections were worked up by various European specialists and for some of the more obscure groups comprise the first major scientific contribution to knowledge of the Southeast Asian insect fauna, but the old descriptions were inadequate for proper comparison with more recent work. An example is the account of Wallace's Homoptera from Singapore and Malacca, published by Walker in volume 1 of the Proceeding of the Linnaen Society (1857). Many of the species described from Singapore have remained enigmatic and are not adequately treated in later versions, while others proved to be the commonest and most widespread species throughout the region. Surprisingly perhaps, most of the "enigmas" including Elica are still to be found on Bukit Timah and prove to be perfectly good taxonomic entities. Now that new specimens are becoming available it will be possible to incorporate them properly with the treatment of the regional fauna. |
| Conservation Notes | Continued conservation of intact forests. |
Status
| Singapore Red Data Book Status | Data Deficient (DD) [2008] |
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Photos
References
| References | Davison, G.W.H., Ng, P.K.L. & Ho, H.C (Eds.). 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book (2nd Edition). Singapore: Nature Society (Singapore). 285pp |
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