Occurrenceof amphibiousbugs, water bugs and ground bugs in the catchmentarea of the Criqul Albo Crigul Negru and Crigul Repederivers

Attila Kecskis

Abstract

Researchcarried out so far on this subjectdemonstrates the presenceof twenty bug speciesin the catchmentarea of the three Crig rivers. Due to our current studieswe may add nineteennew speciesto the bug fauna of the region and confirm the existenceof eighteenpreviously mentionedspecies. The thirty-sevenspecies found by us are representedby 1048 collectedsamples belongingto the following taxonomiccategories/orders: Hydrocorisae:539 samplesof thi-rteenspecies Amphibiocorisae:398 samplesof thirteenspecies :111 samples of elevenspecies In this work we shall describespecies living in rivers and we shall try to give a proper explanation to the frequency or infrequency of certain species.Our most important conclusionreferring to the distribution of different speciesis that their diversity is much higher for natural reaches,the water-bugsare more numerousand representedby more speciesin stagnantwaters, and the diversity of the amphibious bugs is the highest on middle and lower reaches.The greatestvariety of ground bug speciesare to be found on upper reachesor stony river banks. Thesespecies are not threatenedby extinction,but their existenceis closelyconnected with the natural conditions of rivers. They don't appear sensitive to industrial water pollution,as demonstratedby the high numberof samplescollected in pollutedwater near the city of Petru Groza.

Keywords: bugs,Criq rivers' valleys.

275 Introduction

The representativesof thesebug groups are to be found in every type of water from the sub-alpineto the sea-zone.Some speciesmay be presentin such a high number that they are damaging to fisheries. Other speciesare consideredbio-indicators. However numerousthey are, data referring to their occurrencein Romania are very few and above all faunistic.There are no referencesto the quality of the living places;only the namesof the localitiesor countiesare mentioned.

Tab.1.: Dataconcerning the catchment area of thethree Crig Rivers (basedon Paina, 1975)

HYDROCORISAE: }IHARCOUNTY {RAD COUNTY l.Notonecta slauca Jradea tneu . Pleaminutissima )radea . Corixanunctata )radea l. Hesperocorixalinnei Jradea i. Sisarafalleni Jradea i. Sisarastriata Jradea /. Neoacinerea Jradea neu 3.Ranatra linearis )radea ).Naucoris cimicoides )ra{ea t0. Aphelocheirus aestivalis* lamagda IN4PHIBIOCORISAE: 11.Aquarius paludum Jradea 2.Geris lacustris /aduCrisului. Oradea vloneasa 13.Geris odontogaster )radea I 4. Microveliareticulata vloneasa 15.Hvdrometra stanorum /aduCrisului I6. Hydrometra gracilenta \4oneasa GEOCORISAE: lam.SALDIDAE 7. Jradea 8.Saldula arenicola VaduCrisului 19.Saldula oDacula vloneasa 10.Saldula saltatoria ludesti.Ineu

Bdndrescu'sdatain Paina (1988)

276 Data restrictedto the catchmentarea of the three Crig rivers are insignificant, so we had to use data referring to the closestplace names.Thus, the data included in Tab.l.- mostly from Paina'swork on the RomanianFauna (1975), must be dealtwith reservations. Our data have been collected the Crigul Negru and Crigul Alb rivers and on the catchmentarea of the Tacigelebrook (in the vicinity bf Avram Iancu village, Alba county) betweenthe 6s-12'hof August 1996,downstream the Crigul Repederiver and its two affluents,the Drigan and the lad rivers betweenthe20th-27'h of Julv 1995.

Materiols and Methods

Contrary to the twenty speciesmentioned so far - l0 speciesof Hydrocorisae,6 speciesof Amphibiocorisae,4species of Saldidae- we managedto determine37 species- l3 speciesof Hydrocorisae,l3 speciesof Amphibiocorisae,l1 speciesof Saldidae- during our researchon the threeCrig rivers. Our collectedmaterial contains: 539 samplesof water-bugs,398 samplesof amphibious-bugsand I I I samplesof ground bugs. Becauseof the life style of these bug-groupswe could not realize a quantitative suryey, only a qualitativeone. At every sampling place we tried to collect samples proportionally to their frequency.We collected the water- & amphibious-bugssamples with a limnologic net from the bottom and the surface of the waters and the leavesof floating plants. Ground-bug samples were simply caught by wet hands, except the Macrosaldulaspecies which couldn't be approachedso close and thereforesamples were caughtwith net. The collectedmaterial, groupedaccording to the sampling-placesand habitats,was stored in ethylalcohol strong of 70 degrees. Samples were determined with stereo-microscopeon the basisof externalmorphological marks. If needed,we took into considerationgenital characteristicsas well.

277 SamPling Pluces

Trb. 2,:The list of the species collected downstrean the crigul Alb river /R= river'S = strgnrntwrter/

Totally Ctil hfon belorc rftrr Aciulr Aciufa Almrg Incu Chi-gineu Spciu Brrd Brad Brrd Ctil pord shan

R s R R S R R R R Pleamiuunsima l ) Misonectascholtzi 4 I 39 44 I Coriupunchb I Sigranigmlineah 4 t I Nepacinues 4 7 I Rrnatralinearis I 2 at 5 J+ Aquuiuspaludum I I l5 t2 Crenislhoracicus I I t I 20 0enislacusris 4 I t 5 Microveliareticulatr ) ) Hydromeuastagnorum 8 2 u I 28 I Chaltoscirtacincta I Macrosaldulavariabilis I Saldulaucnuclla I 1 Saldulapallipes I I Saldulaoalustris I I Saldulaopacula 1 1 Saldulasaltatona 6 6 175 Totally: IE 4 5 IE 5t n 34 6 1 ( 7 l8 Nunbuofspecics 5 I I I 4 6

Crig R: river reachesabove Crig village m deeppool at a distanceof several The pool aboveBrad city S: a 10m lo"ngand 0.5-t water, coveredwith spotsof rush' metersfrom the river, loamy bottomed,wit[ muddy from the criqul Alb river' stony' The brook aboveBrad city R: at a distanceof 15 km loamy bottomedbrook' with grassybanks' below Brad city R: river reachesbelow Brad city' Aciufa R: river reachesnear Aciufa village' bankand bottom' muddy water' Aciu{a S: a pool 25 min diamete.,O-S m deep,loamy on the surfacerare marshvegetation' Almag R: river reachesnear Almaq village' Ineu R: river reachesnear Ineu city'

278 T a b. 3. : The list of the speciescoilected downstream the crigut-Negru River /R = river, S = stagnant water (e.g.: pond)/

Poiana Petru Petru Borz Borz Tinca Txrind Crig- Totallv: Groza Groza (pond) canal (nond) Species R R S R S R R S Notonecta I glauca Plea I minutissima Hesperocorixa I I linnei Sigara 6 JJ I 40 lateralis Sigara 9 6 l) nigrolineata Ranatra 2 2 linearis Naucoris I 2 3 cimicoides Aquarius 2 ) paludum Geris 2 4 6 lacustris Mesovelia t7 t7 furcata

a Hydrometra J Sfrgnorum Uhartosclta 3 J cocksi Macrosaldula I scotlca Macrosaldula 4 4 variabilis Saldula I I pilosella Saldula 1 l3 6 26 arenicola Saldula I I pallipes Saldula I I 2 palustris Saldula I opacula Saldula I melanoscela

Totallv: f, 20 t5 l5 39 I 10 2l 136 The number 3 7 2 3 2 4 5 3 20 of species

279 River Tab. 4.: Thc list of the spccicscollected donwstream the Crigul Repede lR = rlver, S = sttgnont wolerl

U The Valley of c Thc Tbe A The After I ot- $ o ally a o the Drtrg8n I Vrly Crtt- I crs- e tern r Specics u I Creek u oflhe Strait a I o c Id I at Alegd d A c c Cf€d( d s I e a R R Rr Sr R2 R s R S Sr R R s R R R s l0 ll 4 28 Notonecta glauca I 2 Notonectaviridis J 4 Pleaminutissima 2 20 Micronectapoweri ) Corixa punctata 2 I 2l 24 Sisarafalleni 2 I 4 l Sigarastnata 6'l 24 9l Sigara nigrolineata I JI 39 Sigaralateralis I ll Nepa cinerea 2 I 2 4 Ranatra linearis 6 6 Naucoris cimicoides J 2 ! Limnoporus ruf. 1 6 I I Aquarius paludum 6 30 f I t5 Gerris lacustris t2 I 8 6 I 2l Gerris odontosaster 5 4 5 z 3 Genis argentatus 4 Gerris costae J 2 4 4 23 Gerris thoracicus 2 6 l I 2 t4 Microvelia reticulata 9 9 Microvelia pymaea I 22 Velia saulii l0 lt I ll Mesovelia frucata 2 Hebrusruficeps J t7 J 2t Hydrometrastag. 2 I Chartoscirtacocksi 5 J Mrcrosaldula smtica a ) t2 Saldulaarenicola l6 Saldulapallipes 4 2 4 Saldulaopacula t 2 2 1 Saldulasaltatoria I l9 2 t2 56 67 9 l3 I n ) 4 78 5lE Totally: 4 6 2E 4 ll I l4 I 6 5 4 9 3 2 9 3l Number of species: ll 4 6 2 5 5

280 ChigineuCrig R: reachesnear the city. PoianaR: reachesabove Poiana locality. Petru GrozaR: reachesnear Petru Grozalocality. Petru Groza S: a pool immediately at the river, stony-muddy bottom, turbid-brown water,no vegetationat all. Borz R: reachesabove Borz locality. Borz S: pool next to river, slightly turbid water, sony-loamy bottom, without vegetation. finca R: reachesnear Tinca locality. Zerind R: reachesnear Zerind locality. The Crig ChannelS: the channelnear Salonta city, linking the CrigulNegruand Crigul Repederivers, its whole surfacebeing coveredwith floating plants. $aulaR: reachesnear $dula locality. BologaR: reachesnear Bologa locality.

The Valley of Drigan Rl: reachesnear Tranigu locality. S I : the cisternof the Draganriver. R2: the brook nearValea Drdganului locality. 52: pool near Valea Drdganului locality resultedfrom moisture, far from any river, with slightly turbid water, loamy bottom, a few marsh-plants. CiuceaF: reachesnear Ciucea locality. CiuceaS: pools immediatelyat the river, stony and loamy bottom, clearwater, diving water-plantsin it.

The Valley of lad Rl: reachesbelow Remefilocality. R2: reachesclose to the Iad rivers flowing into the Crigul Repederiver.

The Strait of the Crigul Repede river S l: pools in a loamy brook bed, with rare herbaceousvegetation on the surface. 52: eutrophicpools permanentlyfilled with water, with a loam-layerof about 30 cm on the bottom, with muddy water covered with spots of Fontinfalis sp., marsh plants (reed-grass)and tree trunks fallen into the water. R: reachesin the defile. Alegd R: reachesbelow Alegdcity. The cistern of Alegd S: pools on a promontory in the lake coveredwith grass,fitted with muddy water. R: the originalriver bed below the cistern,20-25cm deepwater, stony bottom, along the banksthe water surfacecovered with seaweed. FughiuR: reachesbelow Fughiu locality.

281 Tab. 5.: The list of the speciescollected on the catchment area of the Ticigele Creek

Numben of Snecies specimens l. Notonectaviridis 5 2. Notonecta glauca 27 3. Corixapunctata 37 4. Hesperocorixalinnei I 5. Sisaralateralis l0 6. Sigarastriata 1 7.Sgara nigrolineata 88 8. Nepa cinerea 4 9. Gerris odontogaster l2 [ 0. Microveria reticulata 24

I l Hydrometra stagnorum J 12. Saldulaopacula I l3. Saldurasaltatoria I Totally: 214

OradeaR: reachesbelow Oradeacity. S: pools far from the river, coveredwith reachmarsh-vegetation (reed, bulrush, sedge rush),slightly turbid water, loamy bottom, on the banksspots of flooded grass.

The catchmentArea of the Tdcigele Brook in the vicinity of Avram Iancu village (Tab.5.). Poolsquickly drying up,l-2 m in diameter,10-20 cm deep,muddy water, loamy bottom, no vegetationat all, sometimesbuffaloes are bathing in them.

Resultsund Discussion

According to earlier data,as Table l. and 6. show, the following speciesaren't mentionedas present in the watersof the catchmentarea of the threeCriq rivers:Notonecta viridis, Sigara nigrolineata,Gerris costae,G. thoracicus,G. argentatus,Velia saulii, Mesoveliafurcata, Chartoscirta coxi, Macrosaldulavariabilis, Saldula pilosella, Saldula palustris,Saldula melanoscela.

282 Tab. 6. : The summarized list of speciescollected at the three Crig Rivers

Specics CrigulAlb Criqul Cripul Ticigele Neqrrr Reoede Hvdrocorisae: Nntnneeta viridi Notonecta ulauca 28 Plea minrrtissima

[\rlicrnnecte cnhnl Micr 20 Corixa nrrnctata Hesne I innei Sipara fossarum Sipara fhlleni 24 si 40 39 t0 Sioere ctriate Sioara niornli 4 t5 9l 88 Siu Nena 7 Ranatralinearis 4 Nrrrcnric nimienirlcc 6 fofqllw /ffwdrnc 6l 63 235 r73 Tnfql nrrmlrer nf 6 7 t2 f

A mnhilrinnnrisoo.

fnc e Aouarius Daludum 34 (: 4 Gerric lafereli

Gerris thnraei fierris lacrrslri 20 6 R5 Gerris odontouaster 2l G M icrovel 4 Microvelia Dvsmaea 9 Velie cerrlii

Mecnvel ia fi

HebrusruficeDs z

Hvdrnmel 28 J 8 88 2-1n ls Total number of sDecies: 5 4 l3 3

Species Crigul Alb Criqul Cripul TIcSgele Some$ Total Negru Renede Seldidae: Chartoscirta cincta Chartoscirtacocksi I Macrosaldulascotica I I Macrosaldulavariabilis 4

Q.alrfirla nilncella

Qel.lrrlq rrenie.rlr 26 49 94 S.ln l6 t8 36 Saldula Dalustris SaldulaoDacula 4 I z Saldrrle caltefnrir 6 6 20 Saldula melanoscela I Tnfql /Sqldidqc\. 24 40 83 194 Nrrmlrar nf cnccics. 7 I 6 (r Thtnl - I75 t -36 st8 2r4 4(t1 t s39 Thlol numhpr of enor.ioy t8 2T 3l t3 2S 41

283 Most of thesecan be consideredrare, as demonstratedby our research,but three of them turned out to be quite common in the studied area: Sigara nigrolineata, Gerris thoracicus,Mesovelia furcata. We did not find two speciesmentioned in earlierworks: the Aphelocheirusaestivalis, found in the CrigulNegru river, nearTdmagda locality, datapublished by Painain 1988, basedon the collection of Bdndrescu;and the Hydrometragracilenta mentioned as present nearMoneasa in l9l6 (Paina,1988). However, we cannotstate that these two specieshave completelydisappeared, as being rare they are hardly noticeable.The defectiveresearch in this field in Romaniaalso diminishes the possibilityof a surestatement. As Tab.6. shows,the following water-bugspecies, here presented in decreasingorder of their frequency,can be consideredrare: Hesperocorixalinnei, Notonectaviridis, Sigara striata,Ranatra linearis, Naucoris cimicoides, Plea minutissima. The only very infrequentspecies is the Notonectaviridis. The otherrare species may be in agreat number if the conditions are suitable:in pools and lakes coveredwith rich vegetation,but they appearonly accidentallyin rivers. The Ranatra linearis speciesis characterizedby a small number of the samples. Thereforeit may appearrare, but it is to be found in different places:deep river reachesrich in vegetationand stagnantwaters covered with plantsas well. As Tab. 2,3, 4, 5 show, water-bugsgenerally appear in greaternumber and are representedby more speciesin stagnantwaters than in rivers. The water-bugsspecies characteristicof the riversare: Nepa cinerea,Ranatra linearis and Micronectapoweri. From amongthe amphibiousbugs the speciesHebrus ruficeps, Gerris argentatus, G. costai, Limnoporus rufoscutellatus,Mivrovelia pygmaeawere representedby very few samples.The presenceof thesespecies mostly characteristicstagnant waters, thus in the studiedarea they can be consideredinfrequent. The othercollected amphibious-bug species, save the infrequentHebrus ruficeps, can be found in rivers as well. This fact demonstratesthat amphibious bugs accommodate themselvesbetter to rivers than water-bugspecies do. Moreover, some amphibiousbug speciesgive preferenceto rivers, like the Velia saulii,Aquarius palludum, Hydrometra stagnorum, Gerris lacustrisspecies, which are to be found in the baysof mountain-brooks.They usuallyavoid strongcurrents and linger in little bays,close to the banksand the plantshanging down in the water. Most speciesof ground-bugs(Saldidae) must be consideredinfrequent, especially the speciesChartoscirta cincta, Saldulapilosella, S. melanoscela,S. palustris,Chartoscirta cocksi, Macrosaldulavariabilis, M. scotica.The Saldulapilosella and the S. palustris species, being attached to salty waters, appear along and on the Crig rivers only occasionally. Most rare groundbug specieslive in the stony banksof quick rivers in the mountains, afact also proven by our other research. Frequentspecies, including Saldula arenicola, S. pallipes,S. saltatoriaand S. opacula usuallyinhabit all typesof banks(sandy, loamy, stony). These frequent species which live

284 on stony banksmay presenta challengeto rare speciesliving in ,Ih Tab.7.. summrizdlhof sparu the same place, thus diminishing the rare nrntond species chance to andmllected rillmwadap survive. . . Examining the quality of the rivers (Tab. 6.) in connection Fmllytmorw with the variety of species,we concludethat far more water and l.Notonol riridis R amphibiory bug speciesinhabit the crigul Repederiver than the 2,Notonrtglara c other two rivers. However, concerning the number of the ground i, Plammutrsirna f bug species,the CrigulNegru andCrigulAlb river lead. 4.Micrunta sp,(sclrol[ipweri) il 5.Cuixapumlta - ^In our opinion, the explanationof this phenomenonlies in 6,Hesprocuilalinnmi rC the.fact that-along the crigul Repederiver we found a greater ?Sigrafallenr rC variety of habitatsand we took samplesfrom more places. t.Sigmhrcralis t" 9,Sigarasrna rC I l0.Sipnnrgofinmta ll Nepacurnn I C Conclusion and Proposols I 12,XanaFalimans rC rC Er? At the sampling sites below Brad, the crigul Alb river and near Petru Groza locality the crigul Negru river the water was R I polluted with mining-industryand urban outlet water. At the 170emsco$ai R place first mentionedwe found only one bug species,but at the I I It Oemsthoracrcus IL placethe greatestnumber of bug spec-iesalong the _second crigul l 19Oemslmuhs L Negru river was collected. This fact allows us to concluaethat ihe 20.0emsodonlogashr rC variety of water, amphibious and ground-bug species is 21,Ocms argenbnt R influencedby pollution only to a slight degree.we raiher think 22.Micmre|raretrculata L th-atthe variety of speciesis especiallydetermined by the variety 23.Micmrelia pygrrraea R of living places. 24Veliararilii K The leastnumber of specieswas found in cisterns:we did not 25.Meaveln fucata c succeedin collectingeven one speciesof water- or amphibious 26.Hebrus rufictps R bugs there. From among the ground-bugswe found onry three 27.Hydmmetn stagronrm I specieson the banksof the cisterns(see Tab. 4.). 2t.Hydmmetn gr*ilenta Ex.? FrlnSdilltc According to our observations, the diversity of the 29.Chartoscrrta onta water-bugspecies is greateron upperand middle reachesthan on 30Chartomrnacocksr the lower river reaches, but their greatestdiversity is to be found il Mrmsddulasconca is the stagnantwaters. 32li|rmsalduh vuiabilis The diversityof the amphibious-bugspecies on the middle I 3l.Saldulapilocclh river reachesis quite similar to that found in il. saUutaannrcota stagnantwaters I coveredwith.plants and banksscalloped with bays.ihe diversity 35Salduhpallips of the ground-bugsis the greateston the upper river reaches. i 36.Saldula palusrn il satouluopacula our opinionis thatspecies found by us arenot threatenedby I rC extinction, but in order to preservethe actual diversity of thl j 3S,Saldulaultatona rC speciesthe naturalstate of the riversmust be maintained. 39.Salduh rndanosela R Factors that may cause the disappearanceof several bug speciesand thus the decreaseof the diversity are the draining of the flood-areas.the

285 reduction of their surface,the building up of concretetreated banks, the strengtheningof the river-bedsand the appearanceof quarries. Fortunately,the *ater pollution must be of a very high degree- causedby strong poisonsor.rude oil - to considerablyeffect the stateof studiedbug species.

References

- Benedek,p. (1969): HeteropteraVII, FaunaHungariae XVII Homoptera,Budapest Benedek,p. (1969): Faunfnkra rij partipolosk6k(Heteroptera, Saldidae), (Saldids new to Hungarian fauna) -Folia EntomologicaHung.' l, XXII:253 -255 Jordan,K.H.c. (1952): Wasserlaufer-DieNeue Brehm-Bi.icherei,Heft 52 - Macan, T.T. (1956): A revised Key to the Britishh Water Bugs (-Heteroptera). FreshwaterBiological Association I 6 paina, I. (1975): Lista heteroptereloracvatice qi semiacvatice(O. Heteroptera)din R.S.R. (List of - aquaticand semiaquaticHeteroptera from S.R.R.) NymphaeaIII,:99-l l5 paina, I. (1976): Cheia de determinarea fam. De Heteroptereacvatice (Ins.Het.Aq.) (Key to the - Water Bugs families (Ins.Het.Aq.)of the fauna from the S.R.R.) NymphaeaVII:413-420 paina,I. (1986):Observafii asupra speciei Hydrometra stagnorum L. 1758.(Ins.Het.) din Rezervalia 1758. Naturald de la Vadul Criguiui (Observationsabout the speciesHydrometra stagnorumL' (Ins.Het) from Natural Reservationfrom vadul crigului)-crisia XVI (Quelques paina, I. (1988): Cdteva colectlri ale specietAphelocheirus aestivalisFabr. (Ins.Het.) colleciagesde I'especeAphelocheirus aestivalis Fabr. (Ins.Het'))-CrisiaXVIII p6ricart, J- (1990): H6mipteres Saldidae et Leptopodidae D'Europe Occidentale et du Maghreb-Faunede France6l Poisson,R. (1957):Hdt6ropteres aquatiques-Faune de France6l Naturaladin Sibiu Schneider,E. (1973):Cataiogul heteropierelor din colecfiileMuzeului de Istorie in (Verzeichnis der Heteropterenaus den Sammlungendes NaturwissenschaftlichenMuseums Sibiu)- studii gi com.Muz. Bruckenthalqt. Nat. 18:139-145,164 for the Sienkiewicz, L (1962): Heteropterenoi pentru fauna R.P.R. (New speciesof Heteroptera Romanianfauna) - Stud.gi cerc.De biol. Ser.Biol. Anim., XIV:79-80 So6s,A. (1963):Heteroptera VIII. - FaunaHungariae XVII. Heteroptera-Homoptera (Hemiptera-Heteroptera Stickel,W. ( 1960):Illusirierte Bestimmungstabellen der WanzenIL Europa Europae),III.209-263

Attila Kecshls Univ ersitY B ab eS-B olYai Department oJ'EcologY Str.Clinicilor 5-7 3400 Cluj, Romania

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