ISSN 1211-8788 Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno) 95(2): 11–18, 2010 New faunistic records of Hebridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East PETR KMENT1 & ELENA V. K ANYUKOVA2 1 Department of Entomology, National Museum, Kunratice 1, CZ-148 00 Praha 4, Czech Republic; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Zoological Museum, Far Eastern National University, Okeanskii pr. 37, 690000, Vladivostok, Russia; e-mail: [email protected] KMENT P. & KANYUKOVA E. V. 2010: New faunistic records of Hebridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East. Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno) 95(2): 11–18. – The following new or confirmed records of West and Central Palaearctic Hebridae are given: Hebrus kiritshenkoi Kanyukova, 1997 from Afghanistan, Hebrus montanus Kolenati, 1857 from Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco, Hebrus pilipes Kanyukova, 1997 from Afghanistan, and Hebrus oxianus Kanyukova, 1997 from Afghanistan and Iran. The records from Afghanistan are the first representatives of the family Hebridae from this country. Keywords. Heteroptera, Hebridae, Hebrus, faunistics, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Palaearctic Region Introduction The velvet water bugs or sphagnum bugs, family Hebridae, make up one of the basal groups of the infraorder Gerromorpha (DAMGAARD 2008). These small bugs (1.3–3.7 mm) are predatory on small arthropods. Primarily terrestrial, the bugs inhabit moist microhabitats on the banks of bodies of water (humid litter, moss), and marginal aquatic habitats (sphagnum bogs, sedge marshes), while some tropical representatives live on the surface of water covered with floating plants, sometimes entering the water; the Oriental genus Nieserius Zettel, 1999 is obligatorily subaquatic. Hebrids of temperate zones overwinter in the adult stage (ANDERSEN 1995, ANDERSEN & WEIR 2004, CHEN et al. 2005). The family Hebridae includes two subfamilies, Hebrinae (7 genera, c. 180 species described) and Hyrcaninae (2 genera, 13 species), distributed worldwide from temperate to tropical zones (ANDERSEN & WEIR 2004, CHEN et al. 2005). The Palaearctic fauna includes four genera (Hebrinae: Hebrus Curtis, 1833, Merragata White, 1877, Timasius Distant, 1909; Hyrcaninae: Hyrcanus Distant, 1911), but only the genus Hebrus is known in most of the western and central Palaearctic (ANDERSEN 1995). For a long time, the Palaearctic Hebridae attracted little attention. ANDERSEN (1995) listed only 26 species- group taxa, several of them known only from original descriptions. Later, BAENA (1996) synonymized H. pusillus canariensis Poisson, 1954 and H. dupuisi Wagner, 1954, with H. pusillus pusillus (Fallén, 1807). KANYUKOVA (1997) revised the Hebridae fauna of the former Soviet Union, describing five new species: Hebrus hissarensis Kanyukova, 1997 11 P. K MENT & E. V. KANYUKOVA (Tajikistan), H. kiritshenkoi Kanyukova, 1997 (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), H. oxianus Kanyukova, 1997 (central Asia), H. pilipes Kanyukova, 1997 (from Ukraine to central Asia), and H. pilosellus Kanyukova, 1997 (Far East of Russia). Additional faunistic records and corrections of previously published data from the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East were provided by NIESER (1995), LINNAVUORI & MODARRES (1998), JOSIFOV (1999), LINNAVUORI & HOSSEINI (2000), CHAVANON et al. (2004), GADALLA & SALEH AHMAD (2005), KMENT & JINDRA (2005), PAGOLA-CARTE & RIBES (2007), and FENT et al. (in press). In this paper, some more faunistic records are given, based mainly on revision of the collection of the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic, including the first records of the family Hebridae from Afghanistan. Material and methods The material examined in this paper is deposited in the following collections: HNHM . Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary MMBC . Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic NMPC . National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic ZJPC . Zdenìk Jindra Collection, Prague, Czech Republic Additional information about the localities and collecting circumstances of the material gathered by the expeditions on the parts of the National Museum, Prague and J. Klapperich may be found in the following papers: Turkey (1947) (HOBERLANDT & TÁBORSKÝ 1949), Iran (1970, 1973) (HOBERLANDT 1974, 1981), and Afghanistan (1952–1953) (KLAPPERICH 1954). Results Hebrus (Hebrus) kiritshenkoi Kanyukova, 1997 (Fig. 1) Material examined. AFGHANISTAN: BADAKHSHAN: Kischm [= Keshem], 1000 m a.s.l., 11.xii.1952, 2 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). KANDAHAR: ‘Scham-Schir-Ror’ b.[ei] Kandahar [? = Shamshīr Ghar cave at Kandahar], 950 m a.s.l., 14.i.1953, 2 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). KABUL: Qal’éh Lakou (Kaboul) [= Qal’eh Laku] (Loc. No. 254), 7.vii.1957, 1 ♂ (Fig. 1) 3 ♀♀, K. Lindberg lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC); Sarobi [= Sarowbi or Surobi], 900 m a.s.l., am Kabulfluß [= on Kabul river], 12.vi.1952, 1 ♂, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC); Tangi Saidan [dam], 1750 m a.s.l., 27.v.1952, 1 ♂, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). KONDOZ: Khanabad, 625 m a.s.l., Bangifluß [= Bangi river], 3.ix.1952, 1 ♂ 1 ♀, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). NURISTAN: Bashgultal [=Landaisin river aka Bashgul river], 1100 m a.s.l., 17.iv.1953, 3 ♂♂; 1300 m a.s.l., 24.v.1953, 1 ♀, J. Klapperich lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). Distribution. Hebrus kiritshenkoi was originally described from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (KANYUKOVA 1997, 2006). Based on the NMPC collection, we provide its first record for Afghanistan. Habitat. KIRITSHENKO (1964) reported collecting this species (misidentified as H. pusillus and H. montanus) on bare pebbly banks by the River Kafirnigan in Tajikistan (see KANYUKOVA 1997, 2006). 12 Acta Mus. Moraviae, Sci. Biol. (Brno), 95(2), 2010 Hebridae from the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East Hebrus (Hebrus) montanus Kolenati, 1857 (Figs 3–4) Material examined. AZERBAIJAN: Lenkoran, no date, 1 spec., Leder & Reitter lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). FRANCE: LANDES: Étang d’Aureilhan [lake], 20.vi.1946, 2 ♂♂, J. Péneau lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). GREECE: FTHIOTIS: Hypati [= Ipáti], iv.1936, 2 ♀♀, Maøan & Táborský lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). ILIA: Olympia, 8.viii.1958, 1 ♂ 3 ♀♀, Eckerlein lgt., L. Hoberlandt 1965 det., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). IRAN: FARS: Aliabad, 75 km NW Jahrom (29°30′N 52°35′E; Loc. No. 53), 10.vii.1970, 3 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC); Shiraz, west part of the town (29°36′N 52°32′E; Loc. No. 43), 4.vii.1970, 2 ♂♂ 3 ♀♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC); Sivand, 7 km N of Persep[olis] (30°05′N 52°56′E; Loc. No. 54), 10.vii.1970, 5 ♂♂ (Fig. 4) 2 ♀♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). GILAN: Racht [= Rasht], 7.v.1965, 2 ♀♀, 15.v.1968, 3 ♂♂ 1 ♀, Safavi lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). HORMOZGAN: Isin (27°19′N 56°17′E; Loc. No. 198), 11.–15.iv.1973, 1 ♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). KHORASAN: Dasht env., Wildlife Park (37°17′N 56°07′E; Loc. No. 77), 650 m a.s.l., 27.–30.vii.1970, 49 ♂♂ (Fig. 3) 67 ♀♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). TEHRAN: ‘Laskarak Tal, 1800 m a.s.l., Elbursgeb.’ [= Lashgarak valley, Elburz Mts.], 25.viii.1961, 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀, J. Klapperich lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC); ‘Wallenbachtal [= ?], 1700 m, Elburzgeb.’, [= Elburz Mts.], 13.–20.x.1961, 1 ♀, J. Klapperich lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). JORDAN: Wadi Mujib b. Dibban [= Wadi al Mujib at Dhiban], 150 m u.s.l., 15.i.1958, 1 ♂, J. Klapperich lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (HNHM). LEBANON: Antilyas nahr, 9.ii.1952, 1 ♀, K. Christiansen lgt. (Coll. Am. Univ. Beirut), E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC); Jabel Aruba [= Jabal Aarouba Mts.], 1900 m a.s.l., 18.–20.viii.1952, 1 ♀, K. Christiansen lgt. (Am. Univ. Beirut), E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). MOROCCO: Asni env., 2.–5.x.1994, 1 ♂, P. Prùdek lgt., E. V. Kanyukova det. (NMPC). Distribution. ANDERSEN (1995) listed H. montanus from Albania, Bulgaria, France, Macedonia, ?Romania, Russia (South European Territory), Egypt, Morocco, Armenia, the Asian part of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Syria, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In her revision, KANYUKOVA (1997, 2006) confirmed its occurrence in the South European Territory of Russia (Krasnodarsk and Stavropol Regions, Daghestan), Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, while the previous records from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan belong to other species. KMENT & JINDRA (2005) provided further records from Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and the Asian part of Turkey. Moreover, LINNAVUORI & HOSSEINI (2000) and FENT et al. (in press) added more localities from Iran and Asian Turkey. Previous records from France, Albania, Macedonia, Romania, Egypt, Syria (ANDERSEN 1995) and Israel (NIESER 1995) still require revision. Here we provide first records of H. montanus for Greece, Jordan and Lebanon, and confirmed records for France and Morocco. Habitat. KANYUKOVA (1997, 2006) provided no information on the habitat of H. montanus. In Iran it was collected in the following habitats: the bottom of a salty brook with mud, on banks with salty sediments and growth of Schoenoplectus and Typha (Shiraz); in a wadi with Vitex agnus-castus, Alhagi and Nerium kotschyi growth, its banks partly muddy and partly sandy (Aliabad); in a wadi in semi-desert (Sivand); on the banks of a river running through forest overgrown with Acer (Dasht env.); and in pools of water in the bottom of a canyon (Isin) (HOBERLANDT 1974, 1981). In Turkey it was collected at hot springs surrounded by mud (Armutlu), on river banks (Abacilar), in a half-dried-out stream (Alacakilise), in a boggy area with swamp vegetation by a river (Gyaur dağları), on shaded rock in the spray zone of a waterfall (Eğner env.), and on the banks of a small river with gravel and vegetation (Ayvaçik) (see HOBERLANDT 1952, FENT et al. in press, HOBERLANDT & TÁBORSKÝ 1948). Acta Mus. Moraviae, Sci. Biol. (Brno), 95(2), 2010 13 P. K MENT & E.