Microvelia pulchella Westwood, 1834

Mazzucconi, Silvia Ana, Reyes, Cristina Armúa De & Estévez, Ana Lía, 2022, Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera) from Iberá Natural Reserve (Corrientes Province, Argentina), Zootaxa 5104 (4), pp. 451-505 : 463

Microvelia pulchella Westwood, 1834

Microvelia pulchella Westwood, 1834 : Annls. Soc. Ent. Fr., Plate 6, Fig. 5 .

Material examined. Laguna Iberá RS: 4 ♂, 4 ♀, Iberá Lagoon, Fraga pier, 28°31’50.00’’S, 57°11’13.68’’W, 3.xii.2012 . Yahaveré RS: 1 ♀, Concepción de Yaguareté Corá, house for researchers, swimming pool, 28°23’25.7”S, 57°53’15.9”W, 8.xi.2015 .

General distribution. Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina ( Moreira et al. 2011b; Pacheco-Chaves et al. 2014; Motta et al. 2018).

Habitat. Microvelia pulchella lives in a wide range of aquatic habitats. It is usually associated with dense vegetation in unshaded areas of lentic habitats (ponds, lakes, puddles in drains, pools by waterfalls, lagoons, roadside ditches, sloughs, fens, swamps, marshes and dams) ( Nieser & Alkins-Koo 1991; Taylor & McPherson 1999; Pelli et al. 2006; Franco et al. 2021; Rodrigues et al. 2021b) and of lotic habitats (streams and rivers) in standing or slowmoving water ( Melo & Nieser 2004; Pereira & Melo 2007; Moreno-R et al. 2018; Franco et al. 2021; Rodrigues et al. 2021b). It has also been found on brackish water in the Lesser Antilles ( Cobben 1960) and in a swimming pool ( Melo & Nieser 2004). This species can live in pools in caves in complete darkness in Cuba ( Nieser 1973).

At the INR, specimens were collected from the margins of the Iberá Lagoon in shallow waters with emergent and floating vegetation (Estévez et al. 2003). During the present study, this species was collected together with M. hinei from margins with dense floating, emergent and submerged vegetation in Iberá Lagoon. One specimen was collected together with M. mimula in a swimming pool in Concepción de Yaguareté Corá.

Figures

FIGURES 2–7. Sampling sites from the Iberá Natural Reserve: 2, Galarza Lagoon; 3, Luna Lagoon; 4, Iberá Lagoon; 5, Medina Lagoon; 6, Itatí Lagoon; 7, Paraná Lagoon.