On the presence of Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in Germany

Abstract

The presence of Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857 in Germany is discussed. The first record of a nymph of the species in Germany is reported.

Full text

Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey 222
J.Het.Turk., 5(2), Nov 2023 (eISSN 2687-3249)
On the presence of Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857
(Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in Germany
Immenweide 83, D-22523 Hamburg, Germany.
E-mail: tmvdh@web.de ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4138-7160
Torsten van der Heyden
To cite this article: van der Heyden, T., 2023, On the presence of Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857 (Hemiptera:
Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in Germany, J.Het.Turk., 5(2): 222-223
DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10207204
To link to this article: https://www.j-ht.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/V52-A3.pdf
Received: Oct 9, 2023; Revised: Nov 11, 2023; Accepted: Nov 13, 2023; Published online: Nov 30, 2023
Short Note
ABSTRACT: The presence of Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857 in Germany is discussed. The first
record of a nymph of the species in Germany is reported.
KEY WORDS: Zelus renardii, alien species, first records, distribution, Germany.
The first record of the Nearctic assassin
bug species Zelus renardii Kolenati, 1857
(Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae:
Har pa c t o r i n a e: Har pa c t o r in i ) for
Germany was reported by van der
Heyden (2021), based on a single adult
specimen which was found in October
2020 in the city of Teningen, located in
Baden -Württem ber g in southw est
Germany.

Journal of the Heteroptera of Turkey 223
J.Het.Turk., 5(2), Nov 2023 (eISSN 2687-3249)
Very likely, the specimen had been
imported with grapes from Italy which
were bought in a supermarket (van der
Heyden, 2021).
Now, another record of Z. renardii from
Germany can be reported: On 08.10.2023,
Laura Bounin photographed a nymph of
the species (Fig. 1) in the city of Karlsruhe,
also located in Baden-Württemberg.
Interestingly, the nymph was found on a
balcony outside a building on a pepper
plant (Capsicum sp.). The plant was not
bought, but has been growing there from
seed since May 2023. No imported
plants, fruits or vegetables were bought
and stored nearby (Laura Bounin, pers.
comm.). Thus, it is very likely that the
nymph was not introduced with goods
from Southern Europe, but hatched from
egg in the wild.
Recently, the first record of Z. renardii
from Austria, an adult specimen found in
April 2023 on a broccoli bought from a
nearby organic farm, was reported from
the city of Graz (van der Heyden &
Staudinger, 2023).
The specimens from Graz and from
Karlsruhe were found more or less at the
same latitude: 47.126269 and 49.005428,
respectively.
Obviously, Z. renardii is currently
expanding its European distribution
northwards from the Mediterranean
Region, crossing the Alps.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Laura Bounin for
allowing me to use her photo of Z.
renardii to illustrate this note and for
additional information about her finding.
REFERENCES
van der Heyden, T., 2021, Erstfund von Zelus
renardii KOLENATI, 1856 in Deutschland
(Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Heteropteron,
61: 31-32.
van der Heyden, T., Staudinger, V.A.E., 2023,
First record of Zelus renardii Kolenati,
1857 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae)
for Austria, Heteroptera Poloniae – Acta
Faunistica, 17: 61-62.
Figure 1. Nymph of Zelus renardii Kolenati,
1857, Karlsruhe, Germany, 08.10.2023. (Photo:
Laura Bounin).