Belostoma dilatatum (Dufour, 1863)

Zaitha dilatata Dufour, 1863: Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 387.

Belostoma dilatatum: Montandon, 1900: Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, 537.

Material examined. Laguna Iberá RS: 2 ♂, Fernández Lagoon, 11.xii.2014. San Ignacio RS: 2 ♂, 2–5.iii.2015.

General distribution. Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay (Moreira et al. 2011b).

Habitat. Belostoma dilatatum has been found in ditches, lakes, lagoons (in vegetated margins), and in quiet edges of streams and rivers (Ribeiro 2005, 2007; Armúa de Reyes & Kehr 2008; Armúa de Reyes 2012; Almeida et al. 2019). This species has also been taken at lights (Almeida et al. 2019).

At the INR, specimens were collected from the vegetated margins of the Fernández Lagoon (Armúa de Reyes & Estévez 1999). During the present study, B. dilatatum was collected from the margins with dense floating, emergent and submerged vegetation in lentic habitats and in standing water of lotic habitats.