Ecologica Montenegrina 40: 164-175 (2021) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em http://dx.doi.org/10.37828/em.2021.40.14 True bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the taiga zone of the mountainous Altai of Russia: the first records and new data on rare species VIKTOR B. GOLUB1*, NIKOLAY N. VINOKUROV2, NATALIA V. GOLUB3, VIKTORIA A. SOBOLEVA1 & EVGENIY V. AKSENENKO1 1*Voronezh State University, 394001 Voronezh, Universitetskaya sq. 1, Russia. E-mails: [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected] 2Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch RAS, 677980 Yakutsk, 41 Lenin Av., Russia. E-mail: [email protected] 3Zoological Institute RAS, 199034 St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya emb.1, Russia. E-mail: [email protected] Received 22 February 2021 │ Accepted by V. Pešić: 23 March 2021 │ Published online 26 March 2021. Abstract Twelve species are recorded for the first time from the Altai Republic, Russia, based on the materials collected by authors in the vicinity of the northern part of Lake Teletskoye in the southern taiga of Western Siberia. Nabis (Dolichonabis) americolimbatus (Carayon, 1961) is recorded for the first time for the Western Siberia. Seven species, Pachycoleus pusillimus (J. Sahlberg, 1870) (and family Dipsocoridae Dohrn, 1859), Saldula orthochila (Fieber, 1859), Xylocoris cursitans (Fallén, 1807), Acalypta carinata (Panzer, 1806), Empicoris vagabundus (Linnaeus, 1758), Drymus brunneus (R.F. Sahlberg, 1848), Scolopostethus thomsoni Reuter, 1875 are recorded for the first time from the Russian Altai. Four species are recorded for the first time from the Altai Republic – Phytocoris longipennis Flor, 1861, Nysius helveticus (Herrich-Shaeffer, 1850), Kleidocerys resedae resedae (Panzer, 1797), Cymus glandicolor Hahn, 1832. For each species the general distribution, the detailed distribution in the adjacent territories of Siberia, and the data on the biotopic confinement are provided. In addition, the data on the abundance and ecology of some other rare species are provided. Key words: Insects, hemipterans, West Siberia, Altai Republic, Lake Teletskoye, new records, distribution, ecology. Introduction Currently, about 350 heteropteran species are known from the Altai Republic. Most of them are recorded from steppe and semi-desert regions of southern Altai. The bugs fauna of northern taiga of mountain Altai has been less studied then the southern regions, and counts, approximately, two times less species. The data on the taxonomic composition of bugs of the Russian Altai and of Asian part of Russia as a whole is presented in the catalog by Vinokurov et al. (2010). Faunistic data on the Heteroptera of the Altai of eastern Ecologica Montenegrina, 40, 2021, 164-175 GOLUB ET AL. Kazakhstan were provided by Asanova (1974, 1975, 1996) and Esenbekova (2013). A considerable volume of information on the species composition of bugs of the Mongolian Altai was published by Kerzhner (1974), Kiritshenko & Kerzhner (1974) and others in their studies of Heteroptera of Mongolia. Present paper provides the first records of 12 species of terrestrial Heteroptera based on the materials collected by V.B. Golub, E.V. Aksenenko, V.A. Soboleva and N.V. Golub in the northern part of the Altai Republic in the vicinity of Artybash village in 2019 (Fig.1). The general distribution of the listed species is given according to the Catalogue of Palaearctic Heteroptera (1995–2006) with additions (Catalogue of Palaearctic Heteroptera, Supplement 2013). More detailed information on the distribution of the discussed species in Western Siberia and closest regions of Eastern Siberia are cited from the Catalogue of Hemiptera of the Asian part of Russia (Vinokurov et al. 2010). Furthermore, additional information on the distribution of these species in Siberia is given based on data published later than the mentioned Catalogues (Galich & Ivanov 2012; Ivanov 2015; Vinokurov & Golub 2016; etc.). The nomenclature and order of taxa arrangement correspond to those from the both mentioned Catalogues. Material and methods The material listed in this paper was collected in July-August, 2019 in the vicinity of Artybash village and in the vicinity of field station “Teletskaya” of the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the northern part of the Lake Teletskoye. Figure 1. Taiga on the slopes of the Altai mountains at northern part of the Lake Teletskoye (Photo by V.A. Soboleva). The material collecting was carried out using the traditional methods: by entomological net, hand (manual) collecting from grassy and tree-shrub vegetation, soil, mosses, at the roots of plants, and by mosses analyzing (Golub et al. 2012). The species determination was verified using the materials of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg (ZIN). The collected and studied material is stored in the collections of the Department of Zoology and Parasitology of Voronezh State University, Voronezh and the ZIN. Ecologica Montenegrina, 40, 2021, 164-175 165 TRUE BUGS FROM THE TAIGA ZONE OF THE ALTAI REPUBLIC Results List of the Heteroptera recorded from the Altai Republic for the first time Family Dipsocoridae Dohrn, 1859 Pachycoleus pusillimus (J. Sahlberg, 1870) Fig. 2 Material. Altai Republic, the vicinity of Artybash village: a swampy area on the margin of the forest, below the waterfall on the Oyrok (Third) River, 51º47'30.7" N, 87º19'8.2" E, 492 m a. s. l., on wet mosses, 30.07.2019 (V. Golub), 1 male. Distribution. European–West Siberian species. Northern and Central Europe and the mountains of Southern Europe. In European part of Russia it was recorded only from Karelia, Voronezh and Belgorod Provinces (Prokin, 2008); in Asian part it was recorded only from Tyumen Province (Ivanov 2015). This family was recorded for the first time from the Altai Republic and Altai as a whole. Ecology. The species occurs in swampy habitats. In Western Europe, it almost always collected on Sphagnum mosses (Heiss & Péricart 2007). In the European part of Russia (Voronezh Province) (Golub 2004), and in Western Siberia (Tyumen Province) (Ivanov 2015) the species was also collected on wet or dried mosses, non Sphagnum. In the vicinity of Artybash village a single specimen was collected on mosses in a small swampy meadow at the edge of the forest, however, Sphagnum was not found at the collection point. Note. Until 2015, the species was known only from Europe. The previous finding of the species in Siberia (Ivanov 2015) and our record from the Altai Mountains are the evidences of its wide range of the boreal type. Figure 2. Habitat of Pachycoleus pusillimus (J. Sahlberg, 1870) and Saldula orthochila (Fieber, 1859) in the environs of village Artybash, Altai Republic (Photo by V.A. Soboleva). Family Saldidae Amyot et Serville, 1843 Subfamily Saldinae Amyot et Serville, 1843 Tribe Saldoidini J.T. Polhemus, 1954 166 GOLUB ET AL. Saldula orthochila (Fieber, 1859) Fig. 2 Material. Altai Republic, the vicinity of Artybash village, meadow on the right bank of the Oyrok (Third) River, 500 m below the waterfall, 51º47'30.7" N, 87º19'8.2" E, 492 m a. s. l., 30.07.2019 (Aksenenko), 1 male, 1 female. Distribution. The range is very wide: in the Palaearctic – Eurasian, eastward to the Yenisei River; Middle Asia; northwestern China. India (Kashmir). In Western Siberia it was previously recorded from the Tyumen Province. First record from the Altai Republic and Altai as a whole. The nearest localities in Eastern Siberia are the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Province. Ecology. In the vicinity of Artybash the species was collected in a humid habitat, on the river bank overgrown with grassy vegetation. Family Nabidae A. Costa, 1853 Subfamily Nabinae A. Costa, 1853 Tribe Nabini A. Costa, 1853 Nabis (Dolichonabis) americolimbatus (Carayon, 1961) Figs 3–5 Material. Altai Republic, the vicinity of Artybash village, 51º47'06–8.6" N, 87º19'45" E, 500–510 m a. s. l., margin of the forest on the southern slope, 26, 29.07, 03.08.2019 (V. Golub, V. Soboleva), 6 males; 2 km NNE of field station “Teletskaya”, 51º48'06" N, 87º18'18" E, 530 m a. s. l., glades in the taiga, on the grasses, 27.07, 01.08.2019 (V. Golub, V. Soboleva), 4 males. Distribution. Holarctic boreal species. In Palearctic it is known mainly from the eastern part (Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia, Mongolia, northeastern China and Japan); additionally, it was indicated from the Central part of the European Russia (Kerzhner 1996). The species is recorded from Western Siberia for the first time. The nearest localities in Eastern Siberia are the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Province (Kerzhner 1981; Vinokurov et al. 2010). Figure 3. One of habitats of Nabis (Dolichonabis) americolimbatus (Carayon) on the taiga edge near of Artybash village (Photo by E.V. Aksenenko). Ecologica Montenegrina, 40, 2021, 164-175 167 TRUE BUGS FROM THE TAIGA ZONE OF THE ALTAI REPUBLIC Ecology. The species inhabits swamps and damp meadows, dwells in the grass, occasionally – on bushes and trees (Kerzhner 1981). In the vicinity of Artybash village it was collected in damp biotopes, in areas of taiga with damp soil, and in drier but shaded biotopes Notes. 1. The presence of lamellar carina at the base of paramere (Fig. 5) and the absence of lamellar carinae on the basal hook of aedeagus are the characteristics of this species that ensures its reliable identification. 2. All the males of subgenus Nabis (Dolichonabis) studied from the vicinity of Artybash village belongs only to this species. 3. An expected presence of N. (D.) limbatus Dahlbom, 1851in this locality was not confirmed. Family Anthocoridae Fieber, 1836 Subfamily Anthocorinae Fieber, 1836 Tribe Xylocorini Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850 Xylocoris cursitans (Fallén, 1807) Fig. 6 Material. Altai Republic, southern outskirts of the Artybash villalge, 51º47'43" N, 87º19'32" E, 530 m a.