A review of the giant water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae) of Israel

Tanya Novoselsky; Ping-ping Chen; Nico Nieser

Authors

Tanya Novoselsky The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: tania@tauex.tau.ac.il
Ping-ping Chen Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail: p.chen@nvwa.nl https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2434-9253
Nico Nieser Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. E-mail: nieser.nico@gmail.com

Keywords:

Biodiversity, Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Nepomorpha, Belostomatidae, aquatic insects, giant water bugs, water bugs, identification key, male genitalia, Israel, Mediterranean, Middle East, alien species, introduced species, taxonomy

Abstract

An updated and annotated check-list of Israeli giant water bugs (Belostomatidae) is provided. The recorded species belong in the subfamilies Belostomatinae and Lethocerinae. The following six species occur in the country: Appasus urinator urinator, Limnogeton fieberi, Lethocerus patruelis, Lethocerus cordofanus (new record), Hydrocyrius colombiae colombiae (new record) and Belostoma bifoveolatum (new record). Belostoma bifoveolatum was previously known only from South America, so it is recorded in the Old World for the first time. An illustrated identification key is compiled for the Israeli Belostomatidae species. A list of exotic Belostomatidae material accumulated in the collection of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History is provided.

Cite as: Novoselsky, T., Chen, P.-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

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6D25AD24-5EDE-46F8-B782-414B7331AA60