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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">86</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="index">urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:47AADF58-3955-566F-B500-C73B1BA74A8D</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="aggregator">urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:824C9FE1-48A7-44B2-91F1-8FA3E3AF52FA</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title xml:lang="en">Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa”</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title xml:lang="en">TRAVAUX</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">1223-2254</issn>
      <issn pub-type="epub">2247-0735</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pensoft Publishers</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3897/travaux.66.e94457</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">94457</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Research Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="biological_taxon">
          <subject>Belostomatidae</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="scientific_subject">
          <subject>Bugs (Hemiptera - Homoptera and Heteroptera)</subject>
          <subject>Freshwater Biota &amp; Ecosystems</subject>
          <subject>Insects</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geological_era">
          <subject>Cenozoic</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geographical_area">
          <subject>Cyprus</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>On the importance of citizen-science: first records of the Giant water bug <italic>Lethocerus patruelis</italic> (Hemiptera, Belostomatidae) in Cyprus</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group content-type="authors">
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Hadjiconstantis</surname>
            <given-names>Michael</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:type="simple">mikehadji@outlook.com</email>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1460-8554</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Tziortzis</surname>
            <given-names>Iakovos</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9315-7773</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="no">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Kunt</surname>
            <given-names>Kadir Boğaç</given-names>
          </name>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3137-5510</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A3">3</xref>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="A1">
        <label>1</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus</addr-line>
        <institution>Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity of Cyprus</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Nicosia</addr-line>
        <country>Cyprus</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A2">
        <label>2</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Water Development Department - Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Nicosia, Cyprus</addr-line>
        <institution>Water Development Department - Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Nicosia</addr-line>
        <country>Cyprus</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A3">
        <label>3</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute, Keryneia, Cyprus</addr-line>
        <institution>Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Keryneia</addr-line>
        <country>Cyprus</country>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <fn fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Corresponding author: Michael Hadjiconstantis (<email xlink:type="simple">mikehadji@outlook.com</email>).</p>
        </fn>
        <fn fn-type="edited-by">
          <p>Academic editor: Ionuț-Ștefan Iorgu</p>
        </fn>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date pub-type="collection">
        <year>2023</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>31</day>
        <month>12</month>
        <year>2023</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>66</volume>
      <issue>2</issue>
      <fpage>291</fpage>
      <lpage>299</lpage>
      <uri content-type="arpha" xlink:href="http://openbiodiv.net/1BC4B5BE-9B9E-51D2-BBED-284466B1A6BC">1BC4B5BE-9B9E-51D2-BBED-284466B1A6BC</uri>
      <uri content-type="zenodo_dep_id" xlink:href="https://zenodo.org/record/10450629">10450629</uri>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>04</day>
          <month>09</month>
          <year>2022</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>15</day>
          <month>05</month>
          <year>2023</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Michael Hadjiconstantis, Iakovos Tziortzis, Kadir Boğaç Kunt</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
          <license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <label>Abstract</label>
        <p>Citizen science has gradually become an important source of data for science. In the present work, we further corroborate this notion by confirming the presence of the Giant water bug, <italic>Lethocerus patruelis</italic> on the island of Cyprus, based on citizen findings. Our records rely almost entirely on information initially provided through social networks by biodiversity-enthusiast users. We investigate the likely origin of <italic>L. patruelis</italic> in Cyprus and discuss the possibility of an established population of the species on the island. We also outline some initial thoughts on the environmental impact of a possible future establishment on the islands’ water bodies.</p>
      </abstract>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
