Entomofauna in Egyptian saltwater habitats

Abstract

The entomofaunas of salty Egyptian environments are reviewed in the present paper according to the available data. Most saltwater habitats were poor with insect fauna. Class Insecta was represented in seven lakes and completely disappeared in two hypersaline lakes, Bitter and Temsah. Chironomid larvae were the most abundant insects in the seven lakes followed by the mosquito larvae, especially in Suez Canal and Wadi El-Rayan. Other aquatic insects include Odonata, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Trichoptera, and Collembola were represented as extremely low or completely absent. The richness of insect diversity was observed in Burullus and Wadi El-Rayan Lakes as well as the Red Sea coast (swamps and mangroves). It has also been observed that the physical and chemical characteristics of these habitats were changed due to the environmental and climatic changes. Consequently, led to changes in the insect species and other communities. Generally, the data and the studies of insect fauna in Egyptian saltwater are very poor. Also, the taxonomic identification to the level of genus and species is almost non-existent. This paper recommended more studies of insect fauna in these environments with more precise classification.