Lethocerus cordofanus Mayr, 1853

Novoselsky, Tanya, Chen, Ping-Ping & Nieser, Nico, 2018, A review of the giant water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae) of Israel, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 48 (1), pp. 119-141 : 130-131

Lethocerus cordofanus Mayr, 1853

( Figs 1, 2, 14, 18, 24, 30, 34, 35, 38, 39, 42–44, 53)

Belostoma fakir Gistel, 1848: 191 .

Lethocerus cordofanus Mayr, 1853: 18 ; Perez Goodwyn 2006: 55.

Belostoma niloticum Stål, 1854: 240 .

Belostoma bispinulosum Dufour, 1863: 381 .

Belostoma lutescens Dufour, 1863: 384 .

Lethocerus niloticus Cummings, 1933: 199 .

Material examined: Egypt: 1♂ Sinai, Bardawil [31°08'N 33°07'E], x.1976 . Israel: Central Coastal Plain: 2♀ Tel Aviv, 1.i.1980, A.Shlagman. Central Negev: 1♂ Sde Boqer [30°52'N 34°47'E], 7.ii.1979, Y. Kha’ani. Hula and Korazim Block: 1♀ HaHula Nature Reserve [33°04'N 35°36'E], 10.viii.1945, H. Bytinski-Salz .

Distribution: The species is present all over central tropical Africa south of the Sahara desert from the Gulf of Guinea to Somalia. The southernmost locality where it has been recorded is Pretoria ( South Africa). In the north, the species reaches the Mediterranean through the Nile River basin ( Perez Goodwyn 2006). Israel (new record, Fig. 53).

Phenology in Israel: Adults were collected in January, February and August.

Biology: Eggs are laid on emergent vegetation ( Lauck & Menke 1961). Tawfik (1969) studied its life history in detail.

Comments. The name Belostoma fakir Gistel, 1848 has been out of use for more than 150 years. Perez Goodwyn (2006) argues that the description by Gistel can also refer to Hydrocyrius colombiae Spinola, 1850 , and, as there is no type material of Belostoma fakir , it is treated as a species inquirenda. Thus, the first description and valid name referring with certainty to this species is Lethocerus cordofanus .