Velia (Plesiovelia) serbica Tamanini, 1951

Berchi, Gavril Marius & Kment, Petr, 2015, Review of the family Veliidae in Romania (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), Zootaxa 3963 (1) : -

Velia (Plesiovelia) serbica Tamanini, 1951

( Figs. 1 E, 2E)

Material examined. ROMANIA: Caraș-Severin county: Armeniș [stream], 44°11ʹ25ʺN 22°18ʹ11ʺE, 361 m a.s.l., 3. v.2014, 2 ♂♂ (ap) 2 ♀♀ (ap); Băile Herculane [stream], 44°57ʹ57ʺN 22°29ʹ00ʺE, 289 m a.s.l., 16.vii.2013, 32 ♂♂ (ap) 35 ♀♀ (ap); Borlovenii Vechi [stream], 45°00ʹ08ʺN 22°04ʹ41ʺE, 453 m a.s.l., 6. viii.2013, 6 ♂♂ (ap) 11 ♀♀ (ap); Bozovici [stream], 45°00ʹ10ʺN 21°58ʹ25ʺE, 307 m a.s.l., 1. viii.2013, 1 ♂ (ap) 4 ♀♀ (ap); Gărâna [stream], 45°13ʹ06ʺN 22°06ʹ22ʺE, 872 m a.s.l., 24. x.2013, 4 ♂♂ (ap) 3 ♀♀ (ap); Poiana Begului [stream], 45°07ʹ34ʺN 22°02ʹ55ʺE, 1113 m a.s.l., 8. iv.2014, 2 ♂♂ (ap) 5 ♀♀ (ap); Poiana Lungă [stream], 45°00ʹ11ʺN 22°26ʹ27ʺE, 885 m a.s.l., 11. i.2014, 1 ♂ (ap) 1 ♀ (ap); Poiana Mărului [stream], 45°24ʹ48ʺN 22°32ʹ04ʺE, 699 m a.s.l., 8. viii.2012, 3 ♂♂ (ap) 4 ♀♀ (ap); Lupac [stream], 45°17ʹ28ʺN 21°50ʹ08ʺE, 308 m a.s.l., 3. iv.2014, 1 ♂ (ap); Sasca Montană [stream], 44°52ʹ05ʺN 21°44ʹ08ʺE, 268 m a.s.l., 2. ix.2014, 1 ♂ (ap); Semenic [stream], 45°11ʹ08ʺN 22°04ʹ58ʺE, 1366 m a.s.l., 26. iv.2014, 3 ♂♂ (ap) 14 ♀♀ (ap); Topleț [stream], 44°47ʹ54ʺN 22°24ʹ03ʺE, 176 m a.s.l., 16. vii.2013, 10 ♂♂ (ap) 8 ♀♀ (ap), D. Copilaș-Ciocianu leg. Hunedoara county: Negoiu [stream], 45°36ʹ54ʺN 22°35ʹ08ʺE, 635 m a.s.l., 5. vii.2013, 2 ♂♂ (ap) 4 ♀♀ (ap); Zeicani [stream], 45°30ʹ23ʺN 22°41ʹ19ʺE, 634 m a.s.l., 6. vii.2013, 2 ♂♂ (ap) 4 ♀♀ (ap). Mehedinți county: Obârșia Cloșani [stream], 45°01ʹ19ʺN 22°42ʹ26ʺE, 430 m a.s.l., 22. v.2014, 5 ♂♂ (ap) 4 ♀♀ (ap). Timiș county: Hăuzești [intermittent stream], 45°41ʹ47ʺN 22°09ʹ32ʺE, 262 m a.s.l., 4. vii.2013, 4 ♂♂ (ap) 6 ♀♀ (ap).

Comments. Initially, Tamanini (1951) described V. serbica as a subspecies of V. saulii based on a single female specimen. Later he included it in the V. affinis group and redescribed it as V. mancinii serbica based on male specimens originating from Pirin, Bulgaria ( Tamanini 1959). Finally, Tamanini (1971) argued for its species status after he found both V. mancinii and V. serbica co-occurring in Jabolnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The macropterous specimens of this species has never been recorded.

Remarks. Velia serbica occurs in small streams, in shaded places, in south-western Romania. As presented in Fig. 4 , its distribution is confined between the Mureș River in the north and Strei and Jiu Rivers in the east. We did not find it coexisting with other Vel ia species, but in the Cerna Valley we observed that in some cases on the same stream at lower altitudes V. serbica is present, whilst upstream it is replaced by V. mancinii mancinii . Most probably they may cohabit, as also mentioned by Tamanini (1971). The altitudes vary between 170 and 1370 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 5 ).

General distribution. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia ( Tamanini 1971; Josifov 1986; Andersen 1995; Josifov & Simov 2006; Šeat 2013; this paper). New species for Romania.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Males of Velia species in dorsal view. A— Velia affinis filippii, B— V. caprai caprai, C— V. mancinii mancinii, D— V. saulii, E— V. serbica. (Scale bar: 1 mm. A—Tulcea county: Luncavița, B—Bihor county: Budureasa, C, E—Caraș-Severin county: Băile Herculane, D—Hunedoara county: Vaidei). Photographs: Denis Copilaș – Ciocianu.

FIGURE 4. Distribution of Velia affinis filippii Tamanini, 1947 (rhombus), Velia caprai caprai Tamanini, 1947 (square), Velia mancinii mancinii Tamanini, 1947 (triangle), Velia saulii Tamanini, 1947 (dot) and Velia serbica Tamanini, 1951 (star) in Romania. Solid shapes represent published records while blank shapes represent records from this study.

FIGURE 5. Boxplots representing the altitudinal ranges of Veliidae in Romania.