Corresponding author: Albert Deler-Hernández (
Academic editor: C. Majka
The Cuban fauna of the genus
La fauna cubana de
The hydrophilid genus
In this paper we provide a review of the Cuban fauna of
This study is mainly based on the material collected during the field survey of Cuban aquatic beetles conducted between 2008 to 2012 by A. Deler-Hernández, Y. S. Megna and F. Cala-Riquelme. The survey was mainly focused on eastern Cuba, but several areas of western Cuba were also sampled. In total, the samples from 170 localities have been collected, of which only 40 sites yielded
Habitus photographs were taken using Canon D-550 digital camera with attached Canon MP-E65mm f/2.8 1–5× macro lens, and subsequently adapted in Adobe Photoshop CS2. Photographs of genitalia were taken using Nikon Coolpix P6000 digital camera attached to Olympus BX41 compound microscope and subsequently combined with Helicon Focus software. Line drawings were traced from the photographs taken using a Canon PowerShot A620 camera attached to a Zeiss Stemi 2000-C stereomicroscope or with the same equipment as for taking the habitus photographs. Dissections of male genitalia and mounting techniques follow those used by
Examined material is deposited in the following collections:
Departamento de Zoología, Centro Oriental de Ecosistemas y Biodiversidad, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (A. Deler-Hernández);
Colección Zoológica, Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, La Habana, Cuba (I. Fernández);
Museo de Historia Natural “Charles Ramsden”, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (C. T. Ramsden historical collection) (M. Soto);
Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium (P. Limbourg);
Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, USA (A. Short);
National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic (M. Fikáček);
Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Frances (Bedel collection) (A. Mantilleri).
(asterisk indicates the species newly recorded for Cuba)
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Adults are mostly medium-sized, elongate, and strongly convex. Coloration of the body is brown to yellowish-brown, with or without dark spots on the pronotum and elytra. The head is strongly flexed down, eyes are protuberant, and antennae have 7 antennomeres. The elytral apex is entire or produced into one or two spines. The mesoventral process is usually laminar. The male protarsi are widened and have four tarsomeres; those of females have five tarsomeres. The middle and hind tibiae and tarsi bear a fringe of long natatory setae. Abdominal ventrite 5 has a rectangular (or less frequently semicircular) emargination posteriorly.
Among Cuban hydrophilid genera,
Cuba.
Holotype: female (MNHN): “aculeatus / Ch. Cuba // this must be / Chevr. unique type of aculeatus / PJS [= P. J. Spangler] 1966”.
Small, widely elongate species, body length 3.6-4.6 mm. Head dark, metallic; pronotum pale, with median unpaired narrow black longitudinal spot mesally, pronotal punctation not darkened; elytra pale with irregular small dark spots in posterior half of elytral intervals. Elytral apices each without subapical tooth. Mesoventral process highly laminar, square-shaped, with large anterior and posterior teeth. Abdominal ventrite 1 with median keel throughout its length. Emargination of abdominal ventrite 5 rectangular with a median teeth. Median lobe of the aedeagus with short basal projection and rounded apex in lateral view.
Habitus as in
Head with moderately large and rounded punctures. Pronotum with punctures of the same size as on head. Scutellum with a few deeply impressed punctures slightly smaller than those on the pronotum. Elytral striae well-impressed. Interstriae with small and shallow punctures, irregular long setae on posterior half of elytra; spine-like setae absent. Elytral apices entire and rounded, of same shape in males and females. Mesoventral process highly raised, square-shaped, with hood-like anterior tooth, posterior tooth moderately large (
Male genitalia (
Currently only known from Cuba.
We collected
USA: Virginia, Chincoteague Island.
Habitus as in
Eastern USA (from New York to Florida, westwards reaching to Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma), Bahamas (
USA: “middle and southern States, e.g. New Orleans”.
Habitus as in
USA (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin), Mexico (
Cuban specimens of
Guadeloupe, Grande Terre and Trois-Rivières.
Habitus as in
The synonymy of
Cuban specimens were collected mainly in standing waters as well as in isolated pools along streams and rivers in the lowlands. The localities are usually exposed to sun and have turbid water, muddy bottom, submerged vegetation and are rich in organic matter.
Widely distributed Caribbean species, so far recorded from the Bahamas, Haiti Guadeloupe, Virgin Islands Puerto Rico and Cuba (
México: Tres Marías Island.
Habitus as in
USA (California), Mexico, Bahamas (
The Cuban specimen was collected in the highly exposed brackish permanent lagoon with muddy bottom.
“North America”.
Habitus as in
Canada (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec), USA (from New York and Pennsylvania to Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, westward at least to Arizona, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) (
Cuba.
Not examined.
Comparison of the aedeagus of
Large elongate species, body length 6.2–6.7 mm. Head testaceous with darker central part of clypeus and frons; pronotum pale, with a pair of vaguely defined narrow black longitudinal spots mesally, pronotal punctation darkened; elytra pale with dark elytral striae, interval punctation and variable number of larger dark spots on elytral intervals. Elytral apices each with a large subapical tooth, sutural angle sexually dimorphic, rounded in males, sharply pointed in females. Mesoventral process highly laminar, subtriangular in shape, anterior tooth weakly developed. Abdominal ventrite 1 with median keel developed only between metacoxae. Emargination of abdominal ventrite 5 deeply and narrowly excised in males, shallowly semicircular in females. Aedeagus large, with joint parameres pointed apically, with subbasal tuft of setae on dorsal surface, ventral membranous lobes minute, median lobe slender and long.
Habitus as in
Head and pronotum with punctures moderately fine and rounded. Elytral striae narrow well impressed. Interstriae fine and flat, bearing spine-like setae on posterior half of elytra. Scutellum with few impressed punctures. Elytral apices bidentate, each bearing a projection on sutural angle and subapically; shape sexually dimorphic, with sutural angle rounded in males (
Male genitalia (
Described from Cuba,
We were not able to examine the unique type of
By confirming the separate species status of
The Cuban specimens examined in the present work were collected in highly exposed freshwater pools with turbid water, muddy bottom and without cover vegetation.
Based on the specimens examined for this study, we may confirm the occurrence of
Cuba.
Holotype: female (MNHN): “Berosus / trifidus / Chv. Cuba / … [illegible] // von / G. Hemiosus / Sharp [= of the genus Hemiosus Sharp] // this must be / Chev. unique / type of trilobus / 1966 / PJS [= P. J. Spangler]”.
Small widely elongate species, body length 3.2–3.7 mm. Head dark, metallic; pronotum pale laterally, with large trilobite central dark spot, pronotal punctation not darkened laterally; elytra pale with dark intervals 8-10 and large transverse dark spots on posterior half of elyttral intervals 1-7. Elytral apices without subapical tooth, bumpy along suture subapically. Mesoventral process highly laminar, rectangular with large anterior and posterior teeth. Abdominal ventrite 1 with median keel throughout its length. Emargination of abdominal ventrite 5 rectangular with a median tooth. Median lobe of the aedeagus with long basal projection and beak-like apex in lateral view.
Habitus as in
Head with moderately large and rounded punctures. Pronotum with punctures slightly larger than on head. Scutellum with few impressed punctures. Elytral striae distinctly impressed; intervals flat and wide, irregular long setae on elytra; spine-like setae absent. Elytral apices entire and rounded in both sexes; highly bumpy along suture, depressed laterally on sides. Mesoventral process raised, rectangular in shape, with hood-like anterior tooth, posterior tooth large (
Male genitalia (
Dominican Republic and Cuba. The species was until now considered as Cuban endemic (e.g.,
In our survey, the specimens of
“America meridionalis”.
Known distribution of
Localities of Cuban
Habitus as in
USA (Texas), Mexico, Lesser Antilles (Hansen, 1999) and Cuba.
Cuban specimens were collected in permanent and temporary pools as well as from running waters with clear or turbid water, having or lacking aquatic vegetation.
1 | First abdominal ventrite carinate along its entire length or large part of it. Small to medium sized species (3.0-4.6 mm). Pronotum testaceous, with unpaired median black spot ( |
2 |
– | First abdominal ventrite carinate only basally. Medium sized to large species (4.1-7.2 mm). Pronotum pale or testaceous with a pair of median black spots ( |
4 |
2 | Head black. Pronotum and elytra with dark spots. Dorsal surface coarsely punctate. Mesoventral process subquadrate. First abdominal ventrite with median carina throughout the length. Median lobe of the aedeagus without subapical dorsal series of setae | 3 |
– | Head testaceous; pronotum and elytra without dark spots ( |
|
3 | Dark pronotal spot large and trilobate, narrow anteriorly and very wide posteriorly ( |
|
– | Dark pronotal spot narrow, situated mesally, not widened posteriad ( |
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4 | Head metallic black to black. First abdominal ventrite without lateral depressions, emargination of abdominal ventrite 5 rectangular, without distinct sexual dismorphism. Parameres separated from each other. Elytral apex with or without subapical spine | 5 |
– | Head testaceous (except mesally in some cases, |
|
5 | Pronotal disc without spots ( |
6 |
– | Pronotal disc with a pair of narrow elongate metallic central black spots. Apical emargination of abdominal ventrite 5 with two medial teeth. Median lobe shorter that parameres | 7 |
6 | Elytral striae distinctly darkened, elytral disc without numerous darker spots ( |
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– | Elytral series not darkened, each elytron with several darker spots on the disc ( |
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7 | Body size less than 6.0 mm. Elytral apices entire (without subapical spines) in both sexes. Phallobase longer than a half of total length of the aedeagus | 8 |
– | Body size more than 6.3 mm. Elytral apices sexually dimorphic, with subapical spine in males ( |
|
8 | Pronotum without mesh-like microsculpture on interstices. Mesoventral process with very small tooth ( |
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– | Pronotum with strong mesh-like microsculpture on interstices. Mesoventral process with larger tooth ( |
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We thank Yoandri S. Megna (Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba) for his help during the field collecting and sharing of some specimens for this study, Andrew Short (Kansas University, Lawrence, U.S.A.) for his help with identification of the specimens, providing the literature, valuable discussions and numerous corrections of this manuscript, and Bruno Clarkson Mattos (Universidade do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) for numerous corrections of the text and comments on the morphology of male genitalia. We are deeply grateful to the authorities and personnel of the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) and the Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y la Fauna (ENPFF) for providing access to protected areas under their control. The work of M. Fikáček was partly supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DKRVO 2012 and DKRVO 2013/12, National Museum, 00023272), the visit of the first author to Prague was supported by the institutional resources of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic. Open access to this paper was supported by the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Open Access Support Project (EOASP).