Robert W. Sites

• Ph.D.
• Managing Director at University of Missouri

A new genus with six new species of Naucoridae inhabiting waterfalls of Indochina are described from a decade of aquatic insect collections in Thailand and Vietnam. Namtokocoris Sites NEW GENUS is diagnosed by a pair of promi- nent scutellar protuberances, the prosternal midline bears an expansive, thin, plate-like carina, the forelegs of both sexe...

The genus Neomacrocoris is endemic to Africa and represented by 12 known species with scant mention in the literature. Presented here is an annotated list of the species summarizing the literature and providing available diagnostic informa- tion, illustrations, known repositories of types, and a taxonomic key. Also presented here are descriptions o...

A new genus of Naucoridae inhabiting a waterfall in Tamil Nadu state in southern India is described. Pogonocaudina Sites and Zettel NEW GENUS is diagnosed by a dense fringe of long hairs around the perimeter of the posterior abdominal segments, and by both males and females with a single segmented front tarsus with two pretarsal claws. Despite the...

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 inundated the coastlines of many Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand. The force of the surge was devastating to the extent that hundreds of thousands of humans were killed, whereas the effect on non-human biota, including insects, remains largely unreported. Along the Andaman Sea coastline of Thailand, we s...

The true bug infraorder Nepomorpha contains 11 families with classifications mostly using morphological features and not based on phylogenetic analyses. Presented here is the first molecular-based phylogeny for a family of Nepomorpha including more than half of the constituent taxa. Two nuclear (18S rRNA and 28S rRNA) and two mitochondrial (COI and...

The genus Stridulivelia is exclusive to the Americas, with a Neotropical distribution ranging from Mexico to Argentina. It comprises 16 valid species and is divided into two subgenera: Stridulivelia Hungerford and Aenictovelia J. Polhemus. The subgenus Aenictovelia, found in North America and northern South America, is characterized by the absence...

Although recent studies have been published on Ambrysinae (Naucoridae) from the Neotropical region, few efforts have been made to improve the taxonomic knowledge of this subfamily in Brazil. Two genera of Ambrysinae containing the greatest number of species in South America were recently established to accommodate species previously classified as A...

northeastern South America has been historically undersampled across most biota. Surveys conducted for aquatic insects in French Guiana during the past 14 years have resulted in the collection of 16 species of naucoridae, of which 10 are new country records. of these 16 species, 10 are in the subfamily Ambrysinae, one in ilyocorinae, and five in li...

The neotropical saucer bug genus Maculambrysus Reynoso & Sites is currently represented by five species from Tabasco, México to Pará, Brazil. Presented here is the description of a sixth species, Maculambrysus gallicei n.sp., which was collected from rootmats and leafpacks in an aguaje palm swamp in southeastern Peru. It can be distinguished from m...

The cotton stainers (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) of Guatemala

The Ambrysus signoreti Stål species complex was recently diagnosed and subdivided into three sections based on morphology of the female subgenital plate. In the present study, the species in the second section, characterized by the posterior margin of the subgenital plate with central lobe extending posteriorly further than the posterolateral corne...

The species of Limnocoris of the Guiana Shield and Amazon regions of South America are revised, including the descriptions of five new species: L. amazonensis n. sp., L. moreirai n. sp., and L. yanomami n. sp. from Brazil, L. flavescens n. sp. from Venezuela, and L. inflatus n. sp. from Suriname. Further, supplemental descriptions are provided for...

The taxonomy of the neotropical saucer bug genus Australambrysus Reynoso & Sites, 2021 is poorly understood. Although 24 species have been described, the genus is in need of revision and many new species await description. A clade of species of Australambrysus exhibits a similar appression of the propleura to the prosternum as do species of the Nor...

In the present study, new distribution records and notes on the wing polymorphism of Limnocoris pallescens (Stål, 1861), a species distributed in Colombia and Venezuela, are presented. Also, after the discovery of two female paralectotypes of L. pectoralis Montandon, 1897 deposited at the Natural History Museum in London, ongoing uncertainty about...

In the present study, new distribution records and notes on the wing polymorphism of Limnocoris pallescens (Stål, 1861), a species distributed in Colombia and Venezuela, are presented. Also, after the discovery of two female paralectotypes of L. pectoralis Montandon, 1897 deposited at the Natural History Museum in London, ongoing uncertainty about...

Species of the Asian genus Eotrechus Kirkaldy, 1902 (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Gerromorpha, Gerridae, Eotrechinae) are atypical water striders because they live on the near-vertical rock surfaces of waterfalls. The taxonomy of the genus is revised and six new species are described: E. steineri sp. nov. , E. kerberos sp. nov. , E. thai sp. nov. , E. k...

The species-rich Ambrysus signoreti Stål species complex is diagnosed and subdivided into three sections based on morphology of the female subgenital plate. The species in the first section, characterized by the posterior margin of the subgenital plate with posterolateral corners extending posteriorly further than the central lobe, are revised. The...

The island nation of Madagascar was surveyed extensively through a series of expeditions to determine the fauna of Naucoridae. Previously, 17 species in four genera had been reported from the country. All taxa previously recorded from Madagascar were re-collected, with the exception of three species, Macrocoris flavicollis Signoret, Temnocoris star...

Of the six subfamilies in the family Naucoridae, Cheirochelinae is the only subfamily for which immature stages have not been described. This work represents the first contribution of nymphal instar descriptions in the subfamily Cheirochelinae. Herein, the five instars of Gestroiella siamensis Polhemus, Polhemus, and Sites are illustrated and descr...

Eighteen species and four genera of the family Gyrinidae are recorded from Thailand. Seven species, belonging to three genera in the tribes Dineutini and Gyrinini, are here treated in detail. Dineutus sitesi Gustafson, Hájek & Miller, D. spinosus (Fabricius), D. unidentatus Aubé, Porrorhynchus marginatus Laporte and Gyrinus sericeolimbatus Régimbar...

Si le paypayo veille sur la quiétude des forêts guyanaises, les criques ont aussi leurs gardiens : les invertébrés aquatiques ! Ces bioindicateurs suscitent un intérêt croissant sur le continent sud-américain. https://www.une-saison-en-guyane.com/article/biodiversite/les-sentinelles-des-criques-une-microfaune-aquatique-a-decouvrir/

During entomological survey activities in Guatemala, specimens of Lepidocnemeplatialaticollis (Champion, 1885) (Fig. 1) were collected at metal-halide lamp and ultravioletcombination light traps at sites located in Escuintla and Santa Rosa Departments.These collections represent a new country record for Guatemala. The Escuintla andSanta Rosa Depart...

A survey of the whirligig beetles of the genus Patrus Aubé, 1838 occurring in Thailand belonging to the newly designated Patrus landaisi species group is presented. Three new species are described and illustrated: P. garuda sp. nov., P. nanensis sp. nov. and P. phetchabunensis sp. nov.; with P. apicalis (Régimbart, 1891), P. landaisi (Régimbart, 18...

The species of Limnocoris of the tropical Andes of South America are revised, including the descriptions of eight new species: L. chrysosetosus n. sp. from Ecuador; L. elongatus n. sp. and L. emboliatus n. sp. from Colombia; L. molanoi n. sp. from Colombia and Ecuador; L. luisae n. sp. from Colombia and Venezuela; L. longirostris n. sp. from Venezu...

The aquatic bug family Naucoridae currently is organized by a morphology-based taxonomy and has never been analysed from a phylogenetic perspective. Thus, we sequenced two nuclear and two mitochondrial genes in order to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among the genera in the subfamily Cryphocricinae, using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inf...

The genus Cryphocricos Signoret, 1850 was recently determined in a molecular phylogeny to be distantly related to other taxa of the subfamily Cryphocricinae to the extent that it is now once again the sole member of the subfamily. This exclusively New World group of aquatic bugs lives in fast and usually turbulent current and respires by means of a...

Cylloepus dimorphus Shepard, Sites, and Rodrigues,new species (Elmidae) is described from Brazil with a sexually dimorphic abdominal ventrite 5. Males have a protruding lobe on each side of the apex of ventrite 5. Females lack the lobes and are not distinguishable from congeners.

The family Pleidae is represented in Thailand by four species in the genus Paraplea . Two of these species, P. frontalis and P. liturata , are widespread and relatively common in Southeast Asia. Two other species, P. lateromaculata Cook, sp. nov. and P. melanodera Cook, sp. nov. , are described and only known from Thailand. Full descriptions are pr...

Recently, an atypical saucer bug, Hygropetrocoris guyana Sites, 2015, was described based on two males from a wet rock in Guyana. Herein, we describe the female and third through fifth instars, and provide two new records of the species from French Guiana. The female has a subgenital plate that extends half the length of the abdominal midline and t...

The genus Steinovelia Polhemus & Polhemus, 1993 is distributed from southeastern Canada to northeastern Argentina and has been considered to contain five valid species: S. permista (Drake, 1951a), S. placida (Drake, 1951a), S. stagnalis (Burmeister, 1835), S. vinnula (Drake, 1951b) and S. virgata (White, 1879a). We present here a revision of the ge...

The genus Steinovelia Polhemus & Polhemus, 1993 is distributed from southeastern Canada to northeastern Argentina and has been considered to contain five valid species: S. permista (Drake, 1951a), S. placida (Drake, 1951a), S. stagnalis (Burmeister, 1835), S. vinnula (Drake, 1951b) and S. virgata (White, 1879a). We present here a revision of the ge...

The larva of Phaenandrogomphus tonkinicus (Fraser, 1926) is described for the first time based on several F-0 larvae collected in Chiang Mai and Nan provinces of Thailand. The larva of P. tonkinicus differs from that of P. asthenes Lieftinck, 1964 by having the 3rd antennomere mesal margin strongly convex, 4th antennomere vestigial and dome-like, p...

The North American species of Limnocoris are revised and total 13 species after the present study. Four new species are described and illustrated: L. chaetocarinatus n. sp. from Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia; L. major n. sp. and L. nanus n. sp. from Costa Rica and Panama; and L. zacki n. sp. from Mexico and Guatemala. Further, supplemental descr...

Si le paypayo veille sur la quiétude des forêts guyanaises, les criques ont aussi leurs gardiens : les invertébrés aquatiques ! Ces bioindicateurs suscitent un intérêt croissant sur le continent sud-américain. Leur diversité exceptionnelle et leur capacité à renseigner sur l’état de santé de nos cours d’eau ont motivé une équipe internationale d’ex...

Thailand has been extensively surveyed for aquatic insects in the last two decades. However, other than descriptions of adults, the family Psephenidae has gone unexamined. Previously, 13 genera and 26 species of adult psephenids were known from Thailand. In our survey for larval psephenids, we found all genera of Eubrianacinae previously know from...

The genus Ambrysus Stål is the most species rich genus of Naucoridae. Multiple species groups in the genus have been proposed, including the North American Ambrysus signoreti Stål complex. Four new species belonging to the A. signoreti complex are described and illustrated: three from Mexico (Ambrysus brailovskyi Reynoso & Sites n. sp., A. henryi R...

Over the last two decades, Thailand has been surveyed extensively for its fauna of aquatic insects. During this work, we collected the first specimens of the larvae of Eulichadidae and Ptilodactylidae reported from Thailand. We provide new locality data for these families and discuss their general natural history. The larva of ?Pseudocladotoma Pic...

The probable larva of Anotogaster gregoryi Fraser, 1923 is described for the first time by supposition based upon four F-0 larvae collected in the provinces of Loei and Phitsanulok, which are new province records for Anotogaster in Thailand.

The larva of Amphigomphus somnuki Hämäläinen, 1996 is described for the first time based on an emerged male specimen from Chiang Mai Province, and several F-0 larvae collected in other provinces of Thailand. The larva of A. somnuki is the smallest and differs from A. nakamurai Karube, 2001 by the caudal appendages densely covered with minute spinif...

Se resume el conocimiento taxonómico de la fauna Mexicana de la familia Naucoridae, el cual es bastante completo debido a estudios recientes. Actualmente se encuentran registradas para el país 71 species pertenecientes a seis géneros y cuatro subfamilias. La riqueza de especies está distribuida en las subfamilias Cryphocricinae: Ambrysus Stål (53),...

The Ambrysus pudicus Stål species complex is revised, its species diagnosed, and an illustrated key is presented. The complex includes A. abortus La Rivers, A. amargosus La Rivers, A. funebris La Rivers, A. hungerfordi Usinger, A. parviceps Montandon, A. pudicus Stål, and A. relictus Polhemus & Polhemus. A new species, A. chinanteco, belonging to t...

The Ambrysus pulchellus Montandon species complex is revised and includes A. buenoi Usinger, A. californicus Montandon, A. pulchellus Montandon, and A. vanduzeei Usinger. The unifying features among species in this complex are related to the morphology of the male phallosoma and the medial lobes of abdominal tergum VIII. The species in this complex...

Few regional faunistic treatments of aquatic Heteroptera exist for Mesoamerica. Records given here are the result of three extensive, coincident projects, each generating many specimens of Naucoridae. Thus, presented here is an annotated list of Naucoridae occurring in Belize, with an illustrated taxonomic key and notes on habitat. Three species ar...

The Neotropical saucer bug species Ambrysus maldonadus La Rivers and Ambrysus montandoni La Rivers originally were placed in Ambrysus Stål despite aberrant physiognomies and features inconsistent with the genus. These two species are herein transferred from Ambrysus to Carvalhoiella De Carlo and are new combinations. Further, Ambrysus (Picrops) usi...

A new species of Dineutus Macleay, 1825 is described from the Southeastern CoastalPlain of the United Sates. Habitus and aedeagus images as well as illustrations of elytralapices, protarsus, palps, and male mesopretarsal claws are provided for Dineutus shorti n.sp. and compared to those of D. discolor Aubé, 1838. The importance of theSoutheastern C...

The Ambrysus hybridus Montandon species complex is revised and includes A. convexus Usinger, A. fuscus Usinger stat. rev., A. hybridus Montandon, A. lattini La Rivers, A. plautus Polhemus & Polhemus, A. spiculus Polhemus & Polhemus, A. thermarum La Rivers, and A. ultimus La Rivers. Ambrysus lariversi n. sp. is the ninth species in this complex and...

The Ambrysus guttatipennis Stal species complex is revised and includes A. arizonus La Rivers, A. Bispinus La Rivers, A. drakei La Rivers, A. guttatipennis Stal, A. mexicanus Montandon, and A. mormon Montandon. Six new species that belong to this complex are described from Mexico: A. ayoyolin n. Sp., A. Bowlesi n. Sp., A. Contrerasi n. Sp., A. itsi...

The genus Carvalhoiella De Carlo, 1963 includes saucer bugs (Heteroptera: Naucoridae) that live predominantly on the vertical rocks next to falls and cascades of waterfalls. Thus far, it has been recorded only in South America and includes three described species. In the present paper, based on type specimens and additional material, we present det...

The subgenus Ambrysus (Syncollus) La Rivers is mostly Neotropical and includes nine described species. Features uniting species in this subgenus are related to the position of the propleura with respect to the prosternum in males and females, as well as characteristics of tergum V and the genitalia of males. Three species of Syncollus are known fro...

A new species of Dineutus Macleay, 1825 is described from the Southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States. Habitus and aedeagus images as well as illustrations of elytral apices, protarsus, palps, and male mesotarsal claws are provided for Dineutus shorti n. sp. and compared to those of D. discolor Aubé, 1838. The importance of the southeastern...

A new genus and species of Naucoridae are described from two male specimens that inhabited an algae-covered granite rock seep in Guyana. Hygropetrocoris Sites NEW GENUS is diagnosed by a nearly vertical and apparently freely movable head, bulbous eyes, hair lines and hair patches on the hemelytra, profemur with anterior excavation that can receive...

The Neotropical Ambrysus stali La Rivers species complex is reviewed and includes A. bifidus La Rivers & Nieser, A. scolius La Rivers, A. stali La Rivers, and A. tricuspis La Rivers. Ambrysus oblongulus Montandon is removed as a member of this complex. Features uniting these species are related to male genitalia and associated structures. Ambrysus...

The neotropical genera of Naucoridae include Ambrysus and Procryphocricos, both in the subfamily Cryphocricinae. Ambrysus is a hyperdiverse genus that reaches its greatest richness in Mexico. In contrast, Procryphocricos is known by only three described species in northern South America. Described here are Ambrysus cayo n.sp. from Belize and Procry...

Based on borrowed museum specimens and fresh collections from South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, many specimens of Neomacrocoris Montandon have been made available for study. Neomacrocoris liberianus n. sp. is described from Li- beria and Sierra Leone based on two museum specimens. Neomacrocoris bondelaufa Sites is synonymized with N. trans- vaale...

The genus Decarloa (Naucoridae: Laccocorinae) is monotypic and endemic to the island of Hispaniola. Other than its inclusion in a catalog of the Naucoridae, nothing concerning it has been published since the original description. Recently, adults and second through fifth instars of Decarloa darlingtoni La Rivers were collected from Armando Bermudez...

The saucer bug subspecies Pelocoris femoratus balius La Rivers was described from east-central Florida and differs from the nominate subspecies by pronounced dark spotting on the fore femora, head, and pronotum. This subspecies is much less commonly encountered than is P. f. femoratus (Palisot de Beauvois), which occurs throughout Florida. Although...

Stream assessment is a critical factor in monitoring water quality nationally. Criteria and measures may change with region according to natural variation and community dynamics. In Missouri, the Stream Condition Index (SCI) was developed to efficaciously measure stream macroinvertebrate responses to organic pollution, agriculture, acidity, logging...

Species delimitation continues to be an issue affecting a broad range of biological studies, especially when considering the additional problems posed by cryptic species. Because easily observable morphological characteristics are not available for cryptic species, they are commonly studied through use of genetic information. This study examined th...

Adults and first through fifth instars of three species of Naucoridae in the subfamily Laccocorinae were collected from localities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states in southern India. Specifically, Heleocoris indicus (Montandon) and Heleocoris vicinus (Montandon) were collected from the vegetated margins of streams that contained no congeners. Pog...

Water striders of the subfamily Eotrechinae from the Phetchabun Mountain Range can be found at the margins of rock pools and puddles, and in hygropetric habitats including waterfalls. Twenty-two species in three genera are known from Thailand. In the Phetchabun Mountain Range, 12 species representing all three genera were recorded from over a decad...

The Oriental damselfly genus Rhinagrion includes 10 known species, but the larva of only R. philippinum has been de- scribed in any detail, while the larva of R. viridatum has been well-illustrated and features summarized. The larvae of the other eight species were unknown. Here, the larva of Rhinagrion mima is described and illustrated by supposit...

Water striders of the subfamily Ptilomerinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerridae) are commonly found in lotic habitats such as streams, rivers and waterfalls. Eight species representing four genera were recorded from the Tennaserim Moun- tain Range, including a new country record of Pleciobates tuberculatus Esaki from Thailand. This paper provides il...

Three new species of Eotrechus Kirkaldy were collected from vertical rock surfaces of waterfalls in northern and central Thailand. Eotrechus siamensis sp. n. was collected at Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep National Parks in Chiang Mai Prov- ince, northern Thailand. Eotrechus elongatus sp. n. and Eotrechus romglao sp. n. were collected from waterfalls...

The Neotropical fauna of saucer bugs (Naucoridae) currently includes four monotypic genera. Recent extensive collecting in Venezuela has produced three new species in two of these genera. In addition, undetermined Guyanan specimens of one of the new species were found in the United States National Museum of Natural History. Thus, described here are...

The East African country of Tanzania was surveyed extensively for its fauna of saucer bugs (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Naucoridae) in July and August 2010 and August 2013. Previously, two subfamilies, three genera and six species were known from the country. All taxa previously recorded from Tanzania were re-collected, with the exception of two speci...

The distribution of Merope tuber in the Interior Highlands of the United States is pre-sented showing this rarely collected species has a wider distribution than previously thought. Conser -vation organizations that list M. tuber as a species of concern, might wish to reconsider this classifi-cation until more thorough distributional surveys are co...

The genus Cataractocoris includes large waterfall-inhabiting insects that occur from Mexico to El Salvador and has re- ceived very little attention in the literature. Based on extensive field work during the past three years, we have collected saucer bugs (Heteroptera: Naucoridae) from many localities in central and southern Mexico. We here present...

The stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) fauna of Missouri was last treated more than 70 years ago. Since then, many more specimens have become available for study, substantial papers on regional faunas have been published, and many revisions and other taxonomic changes have taken place. As a consequence, 40% of the names from the previous Missouri...

The naucorid Ambrysus montandoni La Rivers is known from males collected from southern Venezuela. Presented here are a redescription of the male, original description of the female, illustrations of both sexes and genitalia, and the first records of the species from Brazil. Subgeneric associations in Ambrysus are discussed.

A new species of Aphelocheirus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Aphelocheiridae) inhabiting riffles of a stream in Kerala state in southern India is described. Aphelocheirus kaygieyess n. sp. is diagnosed by widely separated hemelytra and the pattern of dark maculation on the vertex. This species is compared to other Indian species of Aphelocheirus. Seven...

PT: J; NR: 40; TC: 0; J9: ZOOTAXA; PG: 11; GA: 755LI; UT: ISI:000289932300002

Benthic macroinvertebrates in lotic habitats are influenced by a wide range of physical and chemical environmental factors that change over a temporal continuum. Within a year, different species can occupy the same space at different points in time. Thus, the community structure itself is in flux from season to season. This study analyzed the struc...

The genus Heleocoris in Indochina has languished for more than a century with no substantial history of taxonomic, bio- logical, or ecological research since the original descriptions of the species, despite its abundance and ubiquity in streams throughout the region. This is largely because of the inability to assign specific identities to these i...

A review of Acanthocephala of America north of Mexico is presented with an updated key to species. A. confraterna is considered a junior synonym of A. terminalis, thus reducing the number of known species in this region from five to four. New state and country records are presented.

Ozark streams provide habitat for a diverse array of stonefly (Plecoptera) taxa. These insects are generally regarded as environmentally sensitive and are used in various metrics to assess water quality. Although several habitat variables have been used to predict the presence of particular stonefly species, how these species use physical resources...

Spring systems in Missouri provide critical initial discharge from subterranean aquifers to streams and harbor a unique biota. However, little research has been conducted on the crenobiology or ecology in these systems. In this study, aquatic insect, amphipod, and isopod communities were examined in 12 rheocrene (flowing) spring systems in Missouri...

Naucorids are predacious aquatic insects and the principal arthropod predators of biting fly larvae. As such, they exert natural control of mosquito larvae and are important beneficial insects with respect to malaria in Tanzania. However, naucorids have recently been documented to harbor the mycobacterium responsible for Buruli ulcer in Africa, alt...