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Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey 27
J.Het.Turk., 4(1), May 2022 (eISSN 2687-3249)
Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850) (Hemiptera:
Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) found in Libya
Immenweide 83, 22523 Hamburg, Germany.
E-mail: tmvdh@web.de ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4138-7160
Torsten van der Heyden
ABSTRACT: A record of Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850) from Libya is reported.
Information on the known distribution of the species is summarized.
To cite this article: van der Heyden, T., 2022, Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850) (Hemiptera:
Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) found in Libya, J.Het.Turk., 4(1):27-29
DOI:10.5281/zenodo.6590226
To link to this article: https://www.j-ht.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/V41-A4.pdf
Received: Apr 09, 2022; Revised: May 10, 2022; Accepted: May 10, 2022; Published online: May 30, 2022
Short Note
KEYWORDS: Spilostethus furcula, new record, distribution, Libya, Mediterranean Region.
The lygaeid Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-
Schäffer, 1850) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera:
Lygaeidae) is considered an Afrotropical
species and is distributed in Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia, Madagascar and
South Africa as well as in Iran, Israel,
Saudi Arabia and Yemen (Péricart, 1998,
2001; Aukema et al., 2013, Piednoir et
al., 2019).
Now, S. furcula can be reported for Libya:
On 06.04.2022, an adult specimen was
found by Marwan Ahmeedah Bin Yazeed
near Sidi as Sa'ih in the district of Tripoli
(Fig. 1). This record extends the distribution
area of S. furcula in the Maghreb east-
wards.
In Europe, the species has been reported
from the following countries: Spain
(Péricart, 1998, 2001), Portugal (Goula &
Mata, 2011), France (Dioli et al., 2019;
Piednoir et al., 2019), Greece (Piednoir et
al., 2019; van der Heyden, 2019), Italy
(Dioli et al., 2019; Piednoir et al., 2019)
and Malta (van der Heyden, 2021).
Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey 28
J.Het.Turk., 4(1), May 2022 (eISSN 2687-3249)
Considering the reports of the last few
years, S. furcula seems to be spreading in
the Mediterranean Region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Marwan Ahmeedah
Bin Yazeed (Tripoli, Libya) for allowing me
to use his photo of S. furcula to illustrate
this note and for additional information
about his finding.
REFERENCES
Aukema, B., Rieger, C., Rabitsch, W. (Eds.),
2013, Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the
Palaearctic Region. Volume 6. Supplement.
The Netherlands Entomological Society,
Amsterdam, 629 pp.
Dioli, P., Brizio, S., Salvetti, M., 2019, Spilostethus
furcula (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850) nuovo per
l’Italia, su coltivazione di Pomodoro
“Pollicino ibrido” (Heteroptera, Lygaeidae),
Revista gaditana de Entomología, X (1):
127-134.
Goula, M., Mata, L., 2011, Spilostethus furcula
(Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850), primera cita en
el NE ibérico, y otros heterópteros
interesantes de la región (Heteroptera,
Lygaeidae), Nouvelle Revue d’Entomologie
(N.S.), 27 (1): 71-75.
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méditerranéens. Volume 1. Généralités.
Systématique: première partie. Faune de
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Péricart, J., 2001, Family LYGAEIDAE Schilling,
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Piednoir, F., Dusoulier, F., Closset, F.,
Kriznar, L., 2019, Spilostethus furcula
(Herrich-Schäffer, 1850) : une espèce
nouvelle pour les faunes de Tunisie, de
France, d’Italie et de Grèce (Hemiptera
Heteroptera Lygaeidae), L’Entomologiste,
75 (6): 337-343.
van der Heyden, T., 2019, First record of
Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850)
(Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) in Greece, Revista
gaditana de Entomología, X (1): 139-140.
van der Heyden, T., 2021, First records of
Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850)
(Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) in Malta, Revista
gaditana de Entomología, XII (1): 127-129.
Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey 29
J.Het.Turk., 4(1), May 2022 (eISSN 2687-3249)
Figure 1. Spilostethus furcula (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850), near Sidi as Sa'ih, Tripoli district,
Libya, 06.04.2022. (Photo: Marwan Ahmeedah Bin Yazeed).