Abstract
The finding in 2017 of a female of Lethocerus patruelis, a species rarely collected in the Aegean Islands, is documented from Rhodes (Greece), more than 160 years after its first record in the same island. The general distribution of the giant water bug and its occurrence in the area are briefly discussed.
Keywords: Belostomatidae, giant water bug, Lethocerus patruelis, Aegean Sea, Rhodes, Greece
References
Anonymous. 2018. Neaselida. Available from: https://neaselida.gr/ellada/rodopi-sarkoforo-entomo-gigas-entopistike-ke-stin-xilagani-photo/ (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019) [in Greek]
Anonymous. 2019a. News.gr. Available from: https://www.news.gr/ellada/article/1821868/lithokeros-tsimpise-10chrono-agoraki-stin-lakkopetra-acha%ce%90as.html (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019) [in Greek]
Anonymous. 2019b. iNaturalist Research-grade Observations, iNaturalist.org.
https://doi.org/10.15468/ab3s5x
Aydın G. B. & Çamur-Elipek B. 2019. Benthic macroinvertebrate diversity of rice fields in the Meriç-Ergene River Basin, Thrace, Turkey. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 71 (1): 87–94.
Basu S., Chandra K., Subramanian K. A. & Saha G. K. 2018. Water bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions of West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10 (12): 12619–12714.
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3060.10.12.12619-12714
Black K. 2019. What’s That Bug?. Available from: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/05/20/giant-water-bug-from-greece/#comment-1292818 (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019).
Bok B. 2013. Amphibians and reptiles of Europe. Available at: https://www.herpsafari.nl/trip-reports-eu/2013-4-greece-milos-and-mainland/ (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019)
Cianferoni F. & Nardi G. 2013. Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1855) in Italy: a recent introduction or a natural westward spread? (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae). Zootaxa 3664 (1): 78–84.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3664.1.6
Corsini-Foka M., Kondylatos G. & Santorinios E. 2014. The role of the Aquarium of Rhodes (eastern Mediterranean Sea) on raising public awareness to marine invasions, with a note on the husbandry and trade of marine aliens. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 55 (2): 173–182.
Csabai Z. S., Soós N., Berchi G. M., Cianferoni F., Boda P. & Móra A. 2017. Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha) fauna of Greek holiday islands (Rhodes, Crete and Corfu) with first records of three species from Europe and Greece. Zootaxa 4231 (1): 51–69.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4231.1.3
Dulčić J., Kokan B. & Kment P. 2015. Additional records of Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1855) (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) for Croatia. Entomologia Croatica 19 (1-2): 7–9.
Dursun A. & Fent M. 2018. Contributions to Nepomorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera) fauna in wetland areas of Amasya, Turkey. Acta Biologica Turcica 31 (4): 193–202.
Fent M., Kment P., Çamur-Elipek B. & Kirgiz T. 2011. Annotated catalogue of Enicocephalomorpha, Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, and Leptopodomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Turkey, with new records. Zootaxa 2856: 1–84.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2856.1.1
Figueroa J. M. T., López-Rodríguez M. J., Fenolio S., Sánchez-Castillo P. & Fochetti R. 2013. Freshwater biodiversity in the rivers of Mediterranean Basin. Hydrobiologia 719: 137–186.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1281-zCORSINI-FOKA Et AL. 14 • J. Insect Biodiversity 013 (1) © 2019 Magnolia Press
George. 2019. What’s That Bug?. Available from: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/05/20/giant-water-bug-from-greece/#comment-2315829 (Accessed 17Nov. 2019)
Grozeva S., Kuznetsova V. G., Simov N., Langourov M. & Dalakchieva S. 2013. Sex chromosome pre-reduction in male meiosis of Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1854) (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae) with some notes on the distribution of the species. ZooKeys 319: 119–135.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.319.4384
Hoberlandt L. 1952. Results of the zoological scientific expedition of the National Museum in Praha to Turkey. 2. Hemiptera-Heteroptera I. The aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera of Turkey. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 26 (352): 1–74.
Lo Parrino E. 2019. Is Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1855) range expanding westward? a new record for Italy might suggest this trend (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae). Aquatic Insects 5 pp., published online.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01650424.2019.1646918
Masseti M. 2002. A glimpse of paleontology, pp. 35–40. In: Island of Deer. Natural history of the fallow deer of Rhodes and the vertebrates of the Dodecanese (Greece) (M. Masseti, editor). City of Rhodes, Environment Organization, 224 pp. (Greek, English).
Nesemann H. & Sharma G. 2013. Observations on the life history of giant water bugs Lethocerus Mayr, 1853 (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae) in the Gangetic plains of India and Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(10): 4474–4482.
https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3497.4474-82
Novoselsky T., Chen P. & Nieser N. 2018. A review of the giant water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae) of Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 48 (1): 119–141.
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.2529002
Pancucci-Papadopoulou M. A., Raitsos D. E. & Corsini-Foka M. 2012. Biological invasions and climatic warming: implications for southeastern Aegean ecosystem functioning. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 92: 777–789.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315411000981
Perez Goodwyn P. J. 2006. Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie A (Biologie) 695: 1–72.
Polhemus J. T. 1995. Family Belostomatidae Leach, 1815 – giant water bugs, electric light bugs, toe biters, pp. 19–23. In: Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region. Vol. 1. Enicocephalomorpha, Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha and Leptopodomorpha (B. Aukema and Ch. Rieger, editors). Amsterdam, The Netherlands Entomological Society, 249 pp.
Rankenburg I. 2019. What’s That Bug?. Available from: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/05/20/giant-water-bug-from-greece/#comment-2325331 (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019)
Stål C. 1855. Nya Hemiptera. Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar 11 (8): 231–255.
Stoianova D. & Simov N. 2016. New records of Aquatic True Bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera:Nepomorpha) from Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 68 (4): 497–502.
Sutton P. G. 2015. Recent developments regarding the entomological fauna of Corfu (Kérkira). Antenna 39 (1): 1–14.
Turner R. 2019. What’s That Bug?. Available from: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/05/20/giant-water-bug-from-greece/#comment-2324728 (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019)
van den Belt A. 2019. What’s That Bug?. Available from: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/05/20/giant-water-bug-from-greece/#comment-2323330 (Accessed 17Nov. 2019)
Věra S. 2019. iNaturalist Research-grade Observations, iNaturalist.org. Available from: https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/2265827569 (Accessed on 18-11-2019).
https://doi.org/10.15468/ab3s5x.
Yıldırım E., Yazıcı G. & Moulet P. 2013. Contribution to the knowledge of the Gerridae, Coreoidea, Piesmatidae, Saldidae, Corixoidea, Nepoidea and Notonectidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) fauna of Turkey. Linzer biologische Beiträge 45(1): 995–1010.
Yota K. 2019. iNaturalist Research-grade Observations, iNaturalist.org. Available from: https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1898823972. (Accessed 18 Nov. 2019)
https://doi.org/10.15468/ab3s5x.
Zogaris S. 2013. Athens Nature Journal. Available from: http://zogaris.blogspot.com/2017/03/anyone-seen-giant-water-bug-in-greece.html (Accessed 17 Nov. 2019)