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Solenosthedium bilunatum at the Adriatic coast of Croatia 25
Entomologie heute 31 (2019)
Entomologie heute 31 (2019): 25-29
Solenosthedium bilunatum
(Heteroptera: Scutelleridae)
at the Adriatic Coast of Croatia
Solenosthedium bilunatum
(Heteroptera: Scutelleridae) an der
Adriaküste Kroatiens
JADRANKA ŠKORPUT, ANTONIJA NOVAK MORIĆ, MATEA MARTINOVIĆ,
TORSTEN VAN DER HEYDEN & JOSIP SKEJO
Summary: Nowadays, online social media provide rich insight into natural history and the distribution
of many living beings. Based on citizen records uploaded to Facebook, we confi rm the presence
of the shield bug Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) in Croatia. S. bilunatum is a remarkable
Mediterranean scutellerid within the subfamily Elvisurinae, with its distribution core in Southern
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The species was recorded in Croatia only once prior to
our study, in 2000 in Vela Luka on the Adriatic island of Korčula. We report the species from three
additional localities in Dalmatia: Kaštel Lukšić (recorded in 2018 and 2019), Split (recorded in 2019)
and Mount Srđ above Dubrovnik (recorded in 2019). The species has either been neglected or is
rare. Due to global warming, it could spread its distribution area towards north.
Key words: Elvisurinae, new records, citizen science, Facebook, distribution, Mediterranean region.
Zusammenfassung: Heutzutage liefern soziale Onlinenetzwerke einen tiefen Einblick in die Na-
turkunde und die Verbreitung vieler Lebewesen. Basierend auf im Rahmen von Bürgerwissenschaft
auf Facebook hochgeladenen Nachweisen von Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) bestätigen
wir die Präsenz der Art in Kroatien. S. bilunatum ist eine bemerkenswerte mediterrane Schildwanze
innerhalb der Unterfamilie Elvisurinae mit einer Hauptverbreitung in Südeuropa, dem Nahen Osten
und Nordafrika. Die Art wurde in Kroatien bisher erst einmal nachgewiesen, im Jahr 2000 in Vela
Luka auf der Adriainsel Korčula. Wir melden die Art von drei weiteren Orten in Dalmatien: von
Kaštel Lukšić (Nachweise 2018 und 2019), Split (Nachweis 2019) und dem Berg Srđ oberhalb von
Dubrovnik (Nachweis 2019). Die Art wurde bisher entweder vernachlässigt oder ist selten. Aufgrund
des Klimawandels könnte sie ihr Verbreitungsgebiet nordwärts ausdehnen.
Schlüsselwörter: Elvisurinae, neue Nachweise, Bürgerwissenschaft, Facebook, Verbreitung, Mit-
telmeerregion.
Sažetak: Društvene mreže danas značajno doprinose proširenju spoznaja o rasprostranjenosti
brojnih živih bića, a upravo je na Facebook-u pronađena fotografi ja stjenice Solenosthedium biluna-
tum (Lefèbvre, 1827) kojom se potvrđuje njezina prisutnost u Hrvatskoj. S. bilunatum je zanimljiva
sredozemna vrsta koja pripada porodici Scutelleridae, potporodici Elvisurinae. Nastanjuje južnu
Europu, Bliski istok i sjevernu Afriku, a u Hrvatskoj je prvi put pronađena 2000. godine u Veloj
Luci na Korčuli i to je do sada bio njezin jedini nalaz. Vrstu smo pronašli na tri dodatne lokacije
u Dalmaciji, ovaj put na kopnu – 2018. i 2019. u Kaštel Lukšiću, a 2019. u Splitu i na Srđu iznad
Dubrovnika. Ne možemo još reći je li vrsta previđena ili rijetka, ali možemo očekivati da će joj se
sa globalnim zagrijavanjem areal povećavati.
Ključne riječi: Elvisurinae, novi nalazi, građanska ili neprofesionalna znanost, Facebook, raspros-
tranjenost, Sredozemlje.
26 J. ŠKORPUT, A. NOVAK MORIĆ, M. MARTINOVIĆ, T. VAN DER HEYDEN & J. SKEJO
1. Introduction
Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) is
a relatively large shield bug, 12 to 16 mm in
length, variable in coloration, but still easily
recognizable by its iridescent reddish and
dark coloration with two large pale colored
“moons” on the scutellum, which may be
missing in some specimens (MATOCQ &
PLUOT-SIGWALT 2002; GOGALA 2008). It is the
only European representative of the subfam-
ily Elvisurinae, which is of afrotropical and
oriental origin, as well as of the genus Sole-
nosthedium Spinola, 1837 (GÖLLNER-SCHEIDING
2006). S. bilunatum is a Mediterranean species
distributed in Southern Europe, the Middle
East and North Africa. In Europe, it has been
reported from Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy
(mainland, Sicily, Sardinia), Malta, Portugal,
Spain and the French island of Corsica
(JOSIFOV 1986; MATOCQ & PLUOT-SIGWALT
2002; GÖLLNER-SCHEIDING 2006; GOGALA
2008). The species is polyphagous and feeds
on various plants belonging to different fam-
ilies, such as lentisk, terebinth (Pistacia spp.),
American pepper (Schinus molle L.) (Anacar-
diaceae), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.)
(Ericaceae) and quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.)
(Rosaceae) (MATOCQ & PLUOT-SIGWALT 2002;
GOGALA 2008).
2. New records of
Solenostedium
bilunatum
from the Dalmatian coast
GOGALA’s (2008) record of S. bilunatum from
Vela Luka on the island of Korčula was the
fi rst confi rmed record of the species in the
Balkan peninsula, but the author claims that
the feeding plant was not observed nearby.
Lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus L.), terebinth (Pistacia
terebinthus L.) and strawberry tree (A. unedo)
are however widespread in Dalmatia, includ-
ing Korčula (NIKOLIĆ 2015). Thus, there is a
lot of opportunities for the species to feed on.
We add three localities (see Tab. 1 and Fig. 1)
to the knowledge of the distribution of this
peculiar species in the Balkans: Kaštel Lukšić,
Split and Mount Srđ above Dubrovnik. Three
specimens were observed in Kaštel Lukšić
(one on 5th December 2018 (Fig 1.2A), an-
other one on 16th May 2019, and the third one
on 31st October 2019 (Fig. 1.2B)). In Kaštel
Lukšić there is a quince tree (C. oblonga) in the
garden in which the specimens were found;
the host plant, we suppose. A single specimen
was observed in Split on 9th August 2019
(Fig. 1.3). In Dubrovnik, a single specimen
was observed on 22nd November 2019 (Fig.
1.4) on the southern exposition of Mount
Srđ, this one on a strawberry tree (A. unedo).
The specimen from Dubrovnik was collected
Tab . 1: List of four known localities of Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) in Croatia, together
with coordinates, elevation, date of observation, and name of observer.
Tab . 1 : Aufl istung der vier bekannten Fundstellen von Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) in Kroatien
mit Koordinaten, Höhe über dem Meeresspiegel, Datum der Beobachtung und Name des Beobachters.
Solenosthedium bilunatum at the Adriatic coast of Croatia 27
Entomologie heute 31 (2019)
Fig. 1: Distribution of Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) in Croatia. Photos correspond
to numerated localities. 1 First published record of the species from Korčula Island, Vela Luka
(GOGALA 2008); 2 Kaštel Lukšić records (2A from 2018, 2B from 2019, photos: A. Novak Morić);
3 Split record (photo: J. Škorput); 4 Dubrovnik, Mount Srđ record (photo: M. Martinović), specimen
sitting on a strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo L., the host plant.
Abb. 1: Verbreitung von Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefèbvre, 1827) in Kroatien.
28 J. ŠKORPUT, A. NOVAK MORIĆ, M. MARTINOVIĆ, T. VAN DER HEYDEN & J. SKEJO
and is deposited in the Dubrovnik Natural
History Museum (PMD). The specimens
from Korčula (GOGALA 2008), Kaštel Lukšić
and Mount Srđ are more reddish than the
specimen from Split, which has a metallic
green coloration.
As global temperature increases, south-
ern species move their ranges northward
(PAVLOVIĆ 2019). S. bilunatum is defi nitely
a Southern Mediterranean species and the
population in Croatia represents the north-
ernmost border of its distribution area. It is
unknown if S. bilunatum has been present,
but overlooked, in Croatia for a longer time
period or if it is a recent immigrant. Some
tropical bugs are known to have established
populations and became invasive in Europe
and Croatia (ŠAPINA & ŠERIĆ JELASKA 2018).
Global warming defi nitely is one of the ma-
jor forces that will shape species distribution
in decades to come, and maybe S. bilunatum
could be a charismatic bug model in assess-
ing those changes in the Adriatic area.
3. Guidelines for future studies
Taken into account that, beside the island
of Korčula (GOGALA 2008), the species was
reported from uncertain localities in Greece
(JOSIFOV 1986), the new records reported in
this paper contribute greatly to the knowledge
of the species in the Balkans. The species may
also be present in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(at least in the Adriatic part of the country,
including Neum Pass), in the coastal part of
Montenegro as well as in Albania.
It would be interesting to check (by molecu-
lar methods) if specimens found in Vela
Luka, Kaštel Lukšić, Split and on Mount
Srđ belong to a recently founded population
or if the species was really overlooked in
Croatia in the past.
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to ANTON GJELDUM and JE-
LENA ŠEAT for confi rming the identifi cation
of S. bilunatum in the ‘Koji je ovo pauk/
kukac?’ Facebook group. Thanks to the
reviewer for his comments.
Literature
GÖLLNER-SCHEIDING, U. (2006): Family Scu-
telleridae Leach, 1815 – shield bugs. Pp.
190-227 in: AUKEMA, B., & RIEGER, C.
(eds): Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the
Palaearctic Region. Volume 5. Pentatomo-
morpha II. The Netherlands Entomological
Society, Amsterdam.
GOGALA, A. (2008): First record of Solenosthedium
bilunatum (Lefebvre) (Heteroptera: Scutelleri-
dae) for Croatia. Entomologia Croatica 12
(1): 81-82.
JOSIFOV, M. (1986): Verzeichnis der von der Bal-
kanhalbinsel bekannten Heteropterenarten
(Insecta, Heteroptera). Faunistische Abhand-
lungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde
Dresden 14 (6): 61-93.
MATOCQ, A., & PLUOT-SIGWALT, D. (2002):
Notes sur Solenosthedium bilunatum (Lefebvre,
1827) (Heteroptera, Scutelleridae). Bulletin
mensuel de la Société linnéenne de Lyon 71
(7): 277-284.
NIKOLIĆ, T. (2015): Flora Croatica Database
(http://hirc.botanic.hr/fcd). Prirodoslov-
no-matematički fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagre-
bu (Accessed 18.XI.2019).
PAVLOVIĆ, M. (2019): Egyptian locust (Anacridium
aegyptium) (Acrididae: Cyrtacanthacridinae) in
the Pannonian part of Croatia. Articulata 39:
6 pp. (in press, pagination missing)
ŠAPINA, I., & ŠERIĆ JELASKA, L. (2018): First report
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BSc. Jadranka Škorput
University of Zagreb
Faculty of Science
Rooseveltov trg 6
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
E-mail: jadranka.skorput.96@gmail.com
Antonija Novak Morić
Dr. Franje Tuđmana 824
Solenosthedium bilunatum at the Adriatic coast of Croatia 29
Entomologie heute 31 (2019)
HR-21215 Kaštel Lukšić
Croatia
E-mail: kali76@net.hr
MSc. Matea Martinović
Dubrovnik Natural History Museum
Androvićeva 1
HR-20000 Dubrovnik
Croatia
E-mail: matea.martinovic@pmd.hr
Torsten van der Heyden
Immenweide 83
D-22523 Hamburg
Germany
E-mail: tmvdh@web.de
MSc. Josip Skejo
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science,
Department of Biology
Rooseveltov trg 6
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
E-mail: skejo.josip@gmail.com
and
Institute of Molecular Evolution
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Universitätstraße 1
D-40225 Düsseldorf
Germany
