New Species, New Records, and Updated Key to the Paravelia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from Brazil.

Abstract

Simple SummaryTrue bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of the infraorder Gerromorpha are known as semiaquatic bugs due to their ability to walk on the surface of water. Veliidae is the most diverse family of semiaquatic bugs, including six subfamilies, 61 genera, and more than 960 described species. The genus Paravelia Breddin, 1898 (Veliidae: Veliinae), or broad-shouldered water-striders, occurs in a wide variety of lentic and lotic freshwater habitats, and is represented in Brazil by 38 species. Although the diversity of Paravelia in the country is relatively well known, eight states remain with no records of the genus. Aiming to fill these gaps, several expeditions were carried out between 2018 and 2021. As a result, a new species is described from Pernambuco State, three species are recorded for the first time in Ceará, Pernambuco and Piauí states, and an updated key to the Brazilian species of the genus is provided.The broad-shouldered water-strider genus Paravelia Breddin, 1898 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae: Veliinae) is currently represented in Brazil by 38 species. Although the diversity of the genus in the country is relatively well known, eight states remain with no records of any species: Acre, Alagoas, Ceará (CE), Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco (PE), Piauí (PI), and Tocantins. Aiming to fill these gaps, several expeditions were carried out at conservation areas of the Caatinga biome between 2018 and 2021: Aiuaba Ecological Station (CE), Catimbau National Park (PE), and Serra das Confusões National Park (PI). Paravelia luisi sp. nov., a new species from PE, is described and illustrated. In addition, new records of P. bilobata Rodrigues, Moreira, Nieser, Chen & Melo, 2014, P. digitata Rodrigues & Moreira, 2016, and P. nieseri Moreira & Barbosa, 2012, and an updated key to the Brazilian species of Paravelia are provided. This study increases the number of species of Paravelia known in Brazil to 39 and provides the first records of the genus from three states: PE, with two species, and CE and PI, with one species each.