AQUATIC AND SEMIAQUATIC HETEROPTERA (HETEROPTERA:

NEPOMORPHA – GERROMORPHA) OF THE UPPER RUSCIORI RIVER

BASIN

Horea OLOSUTEAN
Daniela M. ILIE
mesaje.facultate@yahoo.com
iliedf@yahoo.com
„Lucian Blaga” University
School of Sciences
Dept. of Ecology an Environmental Protection
31st Oituz St.
RO 550337 Sibiu

REZUMAT: În bazinul superior al Rusciorului, autorii au identificat o mare

varietate de specii de heteroptere acvatice şi semiacvatice – 15 specii, raportat la numărul
total de specii semnalate în România – 66 de specii. Caracteristicile habitatelor analizate nu
permit înregistrarea unor valori ridicate ale biodiversităţii, care prezintă, însă, o valoare
ridicată raportat la întreg teritoriul. Singura familie de Heteroptere semiacvatice semnalată
este Familia Gerridae Leach, 1815, cu 5 specii, iar, dintre Heteropterele acvatice, Familia
Corixidae(Leach, 1815), este cel mai bine reprezentată, cu 7 specii.
Numărul de specii capturate pe fiecare staţie este relativ mic, cu 1-3 specii, rar 5
specii. Speciile sunt pentru prima dată colectate în teritoriul studiat, dintre ele Gerris
(Aquarius) paludum Fabricius, 1794 B, Limnoporus rufoscutellatus Latreille, 1807 B,
Dichaetonecta scholtzi Fieber, 1846 B şi Notonecta viridis Delcourt, 1909 B fiind
considerate, în diverse lucrări, ca fiind rare pentru fauna României.

KEYWORDS: new species, relative abundance, frequency, biodiversity

INTRODUCTION
The area in study is situated in the central-western part of Sibiu country, at about
10 kilometers from Sibiu and 4 kilometers from Ocna Sibiului; it is surrounded by Secaş
Plateau, in the west, the valley of Visa River, in the north, the low hill part of Sibiu
Depression, in the south. The eastern limit is conventional, represented by DN 106 B.
Geographically speaking, and is located in the meadow area of Cibin River, which is
continued to the east, beyond the limit of the studied territory. It is a low hill sector, with
altitudes from 415 meters, at the contact between Strâmb Creek and DN 106 B, to about
600 meters, at the origin of Rusciori River.
According to the latest classifications, aquatic Heteroptera belong to
Infrasuborder Nepomorpha Popov 1968, and the semiaquatic ones, to Infrasuborder
Gerromorpha Popov 1971 (Gaby Viskens, 2005, on www.earthlife.net).
Heteroptera are insects associated, more or less, to water surfaces, the large
majority of species surviving only for a short period of time in the absence of water, their
eggs needing a water saturated atmosphere for a normal development and hatching. The
Nepomorphs form, along other groups, the nekton (genders Corixa Geoffroy, 1762 B,
Notonecta Lineé, 1758). They inhabit a large variety of microbiotopes, from those
lacking vegetation (Subfamily Micronectinae Jaczewski, 1924), to those completely
covered (Gender Ilyocoris Stål, 1861) (Andersen, 1982; Davideanu, 1999).
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Table 1. List of aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera sampled the upper Rusciori river basin

Stations
Species Total
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S 10

Number of individuals (imago)

Infrasubordo Gerromorpha
Popov, 1971
Fam. Gerridae
Leach, 1815
Gerris (Aquarius) paludum
Fabricius, 1794 B - - - - - - - - - 1 1
Gerris thoracicus
Schummel, 1832 B - - - 1 - - - 7 - - 8
Gerris odontogaster
Zetterstedt, 1828 B - - - - 1 - - - - - 1
Gerris lacustris
Lineé, 1758 B 34 - - 39 4 - 6 - 7 33 123
Limnoporus rufoscutellatus
Latreille, 1807 B - - - - - - - - 1 - 1
Infrasubordo Nepomorpha
Popov, 1971

Fam. Corixidae
(Leach, 1815)
Corixa punctata
(Illinger, 1807) - 1 - - - - - - - - 1
Sigara (Pseudovermicorixa)
nigrolineata (Fieber, 1848) 7 - - - - - - 5 - - 12
Sigara striata
(Lineé, 1758) B - - 1 - - 5 - - - - 6
Sigara (Subsigara) iactans
(Jansson, 1983) - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
Sigara (Vermicorixa) lateralis
(Leach, 1817) 1 - - - - 3 - 22 - - 26
Sigara (Retrocorixa)
semistriata (Fiber, 1848) - - - - - - - 1 - - 1
Dichaetonecta scholtzi Fieber,
1846 B - - - - - - - 3 - - 3
Fam. Notonectidae
(Leach, 1815)
Notonecta glauca
Lineé, 1758 B 7 2 - - - - - - - - 9
Notonecta viridis
Delcourt, 1909 B 11 - - - - - - - - - 11
Fam. Naucoridae
Fallen, 1814 B
Ilyocoris cimicoides
(Lineé, 1758) B - 5 - - - - - - - - 5
Total number of
Individuals 60 8 1 40 5 9 6 38 8 34 209
Table 2. Relative abundance and frequency of aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera sampled the
upper Rusciori river basin

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 Stations
Species F%
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S 10

A%
Infrasubordo Gerromorpha
Popov, 1971
Fam. Gerridae
Leach, 1815
Gerris (Aquarius) paludum
Fabricius, 1794 B
- - - - - - - - - 2,94 10
Gerris thoracicus
Schummel, 1832 B
- - - 2,50 - - - 18,42 - - 20
Gerris odontogaster
Zetterstedt, 1828 B
- - - - 20,00 - - - - - 10
Gerris lacustris
Lineé, 1758 B
56,67 - - 97,50 80,00 - 100 - 87,50 97,06 60
Limnoporus rufoscutellatus
Latreille, 1807 B
- - - - - - - - 12,50 - 10
Infrasubordo Nepomorpha
Popov, 1971

Fam. Corixidae
(Leach, 1815)
Corixa punctata
(Illinger, 1807)
- 12,50 - - - - - - - - 10
Sigara (Pseudovermicorixa)
nigrolineata (Fieber, 1848)
11,67 - - - - - - 13,16 - - 20
Sigara striata
(Lineé, 1758) B
- - 100 - - 55,56 - - - - 20
Sigara (Subsigara) iactans
(Jansson, 1983)
- - - - - 11,11 - - - - 10
Sigara (Vermicorixa) lateralis
(Leach, 1817)
1,66 - - - - 33,33 - 57,89 - - 30
Sigara (Retrocorixa)
semistriata (Fiber, 1848)
- - - - - - - 2,64 - - 10
Dichaetonecta scholtzi Fieber,
1846 B
- - - - - - - 7,89 - - 10
Fam. Notonectidae
(Leach, 1815)
Notonecta glauca
Lineé, 1758 B
18,33 25,00 - - - - - - - - 20
Notonecta viridis
Delcourt, 1909 B
11,67 - - - - - - - - - 10
Fam. Naucoridae
Fallen, 1814 B
Ilyocoris cimicoides
(Lineé, 1758) B
- 62,50 - - - - - - - - 10
Researches regarding aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera in this particular area are
absent (Paina, 1975), so all the species are to be considered newly discovered for this
territory. The results could be compared with the ones about this category from Sibiu or
from Ocna Sibiului.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

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 The study was made from august to october 2005, and the goal was to take
quantitative samples. There were chosen 10 sampling points, belonging to lentic biotopes
(the points named S 2, S 3, S 6 – ponds, S 5, S 7, S 8 – puddles and swamps), or to limnic
biotopes (the points named S 1, S 4, S 9, S 10 – different parts of creeks and rivers of the
area).
The identification of the species was made by the morphological features of the
insects, studying them at the stereobinocular, or, in some cases, by genitalia, using data
from other specialists (Jansson, 1986; Davideanu, 1999).
For each species were calculated: the relative abundance, related to each sampling
point, and to the entire area; frequency, related to the entire territory; biodiversity indexes
(Margalef and Menhinik), related to each sampling point, and to the entire area.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

As a result to a study made in fall 2005, were sampled 209 adults, belonging to 15
species, which are part to 4 families, with 6 genders and 2 subgenders (Table 1). Amongst
those, 10 species (66,67%) belong to aquatic Heteroptera (Infrasuborder Nepomorpha),
the remaining 5 (33,33%) belonging to the semiaquatic ones (Infrasuborder
Gerromorpha).
The families
Corixidae with 7 species,
47% and Gerridae, with 5
species, are the best
Gerridae
represented in the target
area (Fig. 1), also as the
Corixidae
13% number of individuals
Notonectidae sampled, with 50 imago
Naucoridae (Corixidae) and 134
7%
imago (Gerridae).
33% The species’
Fig. 1. Diagram of species distribution per families numerical distribution in
the sampling points is as
follows: 5 species in S 1
and S 8, 3 species in S 2 and S 6, 2 species in S 4, S 5, S 9 and S 10, one species in S 3
and S 7. The number of individuals varies between a single one, sampled in S 3, to 60,
sampled in S 1.
The relative abundance of aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera varies in large
intervals for each species. A large amplitude is shown in case of Sigara (Vermicorixa)
lateralis (Leach, 1817), from 1,66% in S 1, to 57,89% in S 8. The values of this index is
high for Gerris lacustris Lineé, 1758 B, for all the sampling points: 56,67% in S 1,
80,00% in S 5, 87,5% in S 9, 97,06% in S 10, 97,5% in S 4, and 100% in S 7, the species
being the dominant one in all those sampling points. Also high values are associated with
Sigara striata (Lineé, 1758) B, 55,56% in S 6, and 100% in S 3. At the other end are S.
(Vermicorixa) lateralis, with 1,66% in S 1, Gerris thoracicus Schummel, 1832 B, with
2,5% in S 4, Sigara (Retrocorixa) semistriata (Fieber, 1848), with 2,64% in S 8, G.
(Aquarius) paludum, with 2,94% in S 10, or D. scholtzi, with 7,89% in S 8. For the entire
territory, G. lacustris is the dominant species, with 58,85%, followed by S. (Vermicorixa)
lateralis, with 12,44%; all the other species have relative abundance values under 6%.
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 Analyzing the frequency of the species presence for the 10 sampling points (Table
2), it is shown that two species, one of each infrasuborder, have the highest values: G.
lacustris, found in 60% of the sampling points, and S. (Vermicorixa) lateralis, present in
30% of the sampling points. The other species have frequency values of 10 or 20%.
The values of Margalef and Menhinik indexes vary, generally speaking, between
0 and +∞, showing higher biodiversity at higher values; for our territory, the values of
those indexes are low, meaning that the biodiversity values are also low (Fig. 2).
The Margalef index has values between 0 in S 3 and S 7 (with only one species
sampled), and 4,1918 in S 2. For the entire area, the value is 6,0341. The Menhinik index
varies between 0,3162 in S 4, and 2,8284 in S 2, the value for the entire area being
1,0528.

Fig. 2. Compared values of Margalef and Menhinik indexes

CONCLUSIONS
If we compare with the number of aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera species
sampled in Romania (66 species), in the upper Rusciori River basin we have a large
number of species (15). However, the quality of the habitats does not permit high values
of biodiversity, which is high only for the entire area. The only semiaquatic Heteroptera
family sampled is Gerridae, with 5 species; from the aquatic Heteroptera, the Corixidae
family is well represented, with 7 species.
The number of species sampled for each sampling point is low (1 to 3, rarely 5
species). All species are first time sampled in the area, among them, G. (Aquarius)
paludum, L. rufoscutellatus, D. scholtzi and N. viridis are to be found, at different
authors, as rare for Romanian fauna.

REFERENCES
1. ANDERSEN, N.M., 1982, „The Semiaquatic Bugs (Hemiptera, Gerromorpha)
Phylogeny, Adaptations, Biogeography and Classification”, Scandinavian Science Press
Ltd., DENMARK.

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2. DAVIDEANU, ANA, 1999, „Contribuţii la studiul heteropterelor acvatice din
România”, Ph. D. thesis, unpublished
3. JANSSON, A., 1986, „The Corixidae (Heteroptera) of Europe and some adjacent
regions”, Acta entomologica fennica 47, Editura Societăţii Entomologice a Finlandei,
HELSINKI
4. PAINA, M. I., 1975, „Lista heteropterelor acvatice şi semiacvatice (O. Heteroptera)
din R. S. România”, Nymphaea, Culeg. Şt. Nat., ORADEA
5. SÂRBU, I., BENEDEK, A., 2004, „Ecologie practică”, Editura Universităţii „Lucian
Blaga”, SIBIU
6. ***, www.earthlife.net

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