(Gelastocoridae, Gerridae, Mesoveliidae, Saldidae, Veliidae)

Abstract

Abstract Species of the suborder Heteroptera constitute a major part of the obligatory marine insect fauna of the world. This paper treats the Heteroptera species known to occur in near shore or littoral marine habitats of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the ‘Panamic Province’ and adjacent regions, reaching from the Sea of Cortez, Mexico in the north to Guayaquil Bay, Ecuador in the south along the west coast of the Americas (see Ekman 1953, p. 38), but excluding the Galapagos Islands which have a distinct endemic fauna. The only truly pelagic insects, those that have permanently colonized the open ocean, belong to the heteropteran genus Halobates, and although not dealt with further here are admirably treated by Herring (1961). Of the seven families of Heteroptera with obligatory marine species, only Hermatobatidae and Omaniidae have yet to be found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The former family is known from the Caribbean and Hawaii, so may occur in the Panamic Province; the latter seems confined to the Inda-Pacific region. The families known to occur in the Panamic Province are Gelastocoridae, Gerridae, Mesoveliidae, Saldidae, and Veliidae; a checklist is given below. Each of these five families also have freshwater inhabiting species, and some of these species are euryhaline thus occasionally invading the marine habitat; one such species is Mesovelia mulsanti White which regularly turns up as single specimens in samples from mangrove estuaries and bays. The species treated here are those that have been deemed to be obligatorily marine associated; however this is as yet a quite subjective judgment due to our insufficient knowledge of their ecology and habitat preferences. Every diligent survey of a tropical marine habitat reveals new taxa and important new information; it was just such an effort by the second author that brought to light the new taxa described herein and much of the associated ecological data.