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First Record of the Backswimmer Notonecta Meridionalis (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Notonectidae) in Romania

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First Record of the Backswimmer Notonecta Meridionalis (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Notonectidae) in Romania Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle © 28 décembre «Grigore Antipa» Vol. LV (2) pp. 217–220 2012 DOI: 10.2478/v10191-012-0013-y FIRST RECORD OF THE BACKSWIMMER NOTONECTA MERIDIONALIS (HEMIPTERA: HETEROPTERA: NOTONECTIDAE) IN ROMANIA GAVRIL MARIUS BERCHI, PETR KMENT, MILCA PETROVICI Abstract. Notonecta meridionalis Poisson, 1926 is present in almost all circum-Mediteranean countries and shouthern parts of Central Europe. First record of this species from Romania is given. Résumé. Notonecta meridionalis Poisson, 1926 est présente dans les pays circum-méditerrannéens et dans la region sudique de l’Europe Centrale. C’est la première mention de cette éspèce en Roumanie. Key words: true bugs, new record, hemelytron variability, Palaearctic Region. The backswimmers (family Notonectidae) are represented worldwide with 11 genera and nearly 400 species (Polhemus, 2009), but in Europe only 3 genera and 13 species occur (Notonecta Linnaeus, 1758 – 9 species, Anisops Spinola, 1837 – 3 species, Nychia Stål, 1860 – 1 species) (Polhemus, 1995; Aukema, 2011). Among others, Paina (1975) listed for Romania 2 species of Notonectidae, subfamily Notonectinae: Notonecta glauca glauca Linnaeus, 1758 and N. viridis Delcourt, 1909. Besides the two previous species, Kis & Davidescu (1994) recorded one female specimen of N. lutea Müller, 1776 from the Danube Delta. The list of this family was complemented recently by Anisops sardeus sardeus Herrich-Schaeffer, 1849 belonging to subfamily Anisopinae (Berchi, 2011). There are no records of N. meridionalis in Romania so far. Notonecta (Notonecta) meridionalis Poisson, 1926 (syn: Notonecta obliqua meridionalis Poisson, 1926) (syn: Notonecta glauca hybrida Poisson, 1933) Material examined. South-western Romania: Mehedinţi county: Sviniţa – Porţile de Fier Nature Park, 44°33′15″ N; 22°02′35″ E, 147 m alt., puddle formed on the course of a spring, 6.XI.2011, 4 ♂♂ 7 ♀♀, G. M. Berchi & M. Petrovici leg., G. M. Berchi & P. Kment det. & coll. in addition, 1 ♂ of N. viridis was also collected in the same pond. Distribution. Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece), Great Britain [Jersey?], Central Europe (Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary), Ukraine (Crimea), North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria), and Turkey (Polhemus, 1995; Rabitsch & Zettel, 2000; Papáček, 1988, 2003; Soós et al., 2009; Fent et al., 2011; Kment & Beran, 2011). Status and identification. Notonecta meridionalis Poisson, 1926 (Fig. 1 a) was confused with dark coloured specimens of N. glauca (see e.g. Papáček, 1988) for a long time or the constantly dark-coloured N. obliqua Thunberg, 1787 and its systematic status was doubtful (e.g. Poisson, 1957). Kanyukova (1973) regarded it a subspecies of N. glauca, and later Zimmermann (1982) argued for its full species status 218 GAVRIL MARIUS BERCHI, PETR KMENT, MILCA PETROVICI b a c Fig. 1 - Notonecta meridionalis: a, habitus; b, aspects of the variability of hemelytral colouration pattern; c, paramere (Photographs by: a - L. Pârvulescu; b - P. Kment; c - G.M. Berchi). based on sympatric occurrence with N. glauca glauca. Angus (2006) confirmed N. meridionalis as a valid species based on differences in the karyotype. The identification of N. meridionalis is however complicated by variability of its hemelytral colouration pattern (see e.g. Kanyukova, 1973, 2006; Tamanini, 1979; Fent et al., 2011), ranging from redish-brown with irregular dark pattern to brownish-black with two pale bands (one on the clavus, the other on the corium). A high variability of hemelytra was also observed in our sample of specimens (Fig. 1 b), however, co-occurrence of these forms at a single site makes the identification of N. meridionalis easier. The precise identification of the species must be confirmed by study of male and female genitalia (paramere is illustrated in fig. 1 c), though the differences between the genitalia of N. glauca, N. meridionalis, and N. obliqua are rather minor (Kanyukova, 1973, 2006; Soós et al., 2009; Fent et al., 2011). Investigated area is situated in Mehedinţi county, not far from Romanian- Serbian border (a few hundred meters from the Danube River). Over time, this area was source of interesting records for Romanian heteropterofauna (cf. Horváth, 1878, 1897; Lörincz, 1906; Benedek, 1969, 1970). This may be due to continental- temperate climate with sub-Mediterranean influences, characterized by mild winters and very hot summers; average annual temperatures being higher than in the rest of the country. These, along with elements of geology and geomorphology, gives special characters to the local fauna leading to appearance of interesting elements of biodiversity. NOTONECTA MERIDIONALIS IN ROMANIA 219 PRIMA SEMNALARE A SPECIEI NOTONECTA MERIDIONALIS (HEMIPTERA: HETEROPTERA: NOTONECTIDAE) ÎN ROMÂNIA REZUMAT Notonecta meridionalis Poisson, 1926 este prezentă în ţările circum-mediteraneene şi în regiunea sudică a Europei Centrale. Aceasta este prima semnalare a speciei în România. LITERATURE CITED ANGUS, R. B., 2006 - Chromosomal confirmation of the species rank ofNotonecta meridionalis Poisson, 1926 (Heteroptera: Notonectidae). Russian Entomological Journal, 15: 137-140. AUKEMA, B., 2011 - http://faunaeur.org/ - Fauna Europaea, Version 2.4, accessed on 06.12.2011. BENEDEK, P., 1969 - Species of the genera Velia Latreille, 1804 (Heteroptera, Veliidae) in the Carpathian Basin. Folia Entomologica Hungarica, 22: 256-259. BENEDEK, P., 1970 - The semiaquatic Heteroptera in the Carpathian basin with notes on the distribution and the phenology of the species. Faunistische Abhandlungen, 3: 27-49. BERCHI, G. M., 2011 - First record of Anisops sardeus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Notonectidae) in Romania. North-Western Journal of Zoology, 7 (2): 339-341. FENT, M., P. KMENT, B. ÇAMUR-ELIPEK, T. KIRGIZ, 2011 - Annotated catalogue of Enicocephalomorpha, Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, and Leptopodomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Turkey, with new records. Zootaxa, 2856: 1-84. HORVÁTH, G., 1878 - Magyarország vizenjáró poloskái. Természetrajzi Füzetek, 2 (2-3): 130-136. (in Hungarian) HORVÁTH, G., 1897 - Ordo Hemiptera: 72 pp. In: J. Paszlavszky (ed.), A Magyar birodalom állatvilága. A Magyar Birodalomból eddig ismert állatok rendszeres lajstroma. Fauna Regni Hungariae. Animalium Hungariae hucusque cognitorum enumeratio systematica. A K. M. Természettudományi Társulat, Budapest. KANYUKOVA, E. V., 1973 - Gladyshi (Heteroptera, Notonectidae) fauny SSSR. Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 52: 352-366. (in Russian) KANYUKOVA, E. V., 2006 - Vodnye poluzhestkokrylye nasekomye (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha) fauny Rossii i sopredelnykh stran. Dal’nauka, Vladivostok, 296 pp. (in Russian) KIS, B., A. DAVIDESCU, 1994 - Heteroptere acvatice și semiacvatice din Rezervația Biosferei Delta Dunării. Analele Științifice ale Institutului - Delta Dunării: 149-154. (in Romanian) KMENT, P., L. BERAN, 2011 - Check-list of water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) in Croatia with two new records and three rediscoveries. Natura Croatica, 20 (1): 159-178. LÖRINCZ, A., 1906 - Adalék Magyarország Hemiptera-faunájához II. Rovartani Lapok, 13 (9): 189- 192. (in Hungarian) PAINA, I., 1975 - Lista heteropterelor acvatice şi semiacvatice (O. Heteroptera) din R. S. România. Nymphaea, 3: 99-115. (in Romanian) PAPÁČEK, M., 1988 - Melanotická forma znakoplavky Notonecta glauca L. (Heteroptera, Notonectidae) z jižních Čech. Sborník Jihočeského Muzea v Ćeských Budějovicích, Přírodní Vědy, 28: 45-50. (in Czech) PAPÁČEK, M., 2003 - Two rare water bug species (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) new for the insect fauna of the Novohradské Mountains. Pp. 145-148. In: M. Papáček (ed.), Biodiverzita a přírodní podmínky Novohradských hor II. University of South Bohemia & Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice. POISSON, R., 1957 - Hétéroptères aquatiques. Faune de France, 61: 1-263. Paris. POLHEMUS, J. T., 1995 - Family Notonectidae Latreille, 1802 – backswimmers. Pp. 63-73. In: B. Aukema & Ch. Rieger (eds), Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region. Vol. 1. Enicocephalomorpha, Dipsocoromorpha, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha and Leptopodomorpha. The Netherlands Entomological Society, Amsterdam. POLHEMUS, J. T., 2009 - Hemiptera (True Bugs). Pp. 323-334. In: G. E. Likens (ed.), Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. Vol. 1. Elsevier, Oxford. RABITSCH, W., H. ZETTEL, 2000 - Zur Wasserwanzenfauna (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha) des nördlichen Österreich. Linzer Biologische Beiträge, 32: 1257-1268. SOÓS, N., P. BODA, Z. CSABAI, 2009 - First confirmed occurrences of Notonecta maculata and N. meridionalis (Heteroptera: Notonectidae) in Hungary with notes, maps, and a key to the Notonecta species of Hungary. Folia Entomologica Hungarica, 60: 67-78. 220 GAVRIL MARIUS BERCHI, PETR KMENT, MILCA PETROVICI TAMANINI, L., 1979 - Guide per il riconoscimento delle specie animali delle acque interne italiane. 6. Eterotteri acquatici (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha). Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Verona, 106 pp. ZIMMERMANN, G., 1982 - Beiträge zur Wasserwanzen-Fauna Griechenlands I (Heteroptera, Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha, Saldidae). Marburger Entomologische Publikationen, 1: 183-216. Received: July 5, 2012 Gavril Marius Berchi, Milca Petrovici Accepted: November 29, 2012 West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Chemistry, Biology & Geography, Department of Biology-Chemistry, 16A Pestalozzi Street, RO-300115, Timișoara, România e-mails: [email protected]; [email protected] Petr Kment Department of Entomology, National Museum, Kunratice 1, CZ-148 00 Praha 4, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected].
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