Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 66(2): 291-299, doi: 10.3897/travaux.66.e94457
On the importance of citizen-science: first records of the Giant water bug Lethocerus patruelis (Hemiptera, Belostomatidae) in Cyprus
Michael Hadjiconstantis‡, Iakovos Tziortzis§, Kadir Boğaç Kunt|‡ Association for the Protection of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus§ Water Development Department - Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Nicosia, Cyprus| Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute, Keryneia, Cyprus
Corresponding author: Michael Hadjiconstantis ( mikehadji@outlook.com ) Academic editor: Ionuț-Ștefan Iorgu © Michael Hadjiconstantis, Iakovos Tziortzis, Kadir Boğaç Kunt. 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. Citation:
Hadjiconstantis M, Tziortzis I, Kunt KB (2023) On the importance of citizen-science: first records of the Giant water bug Lethocerus patruelis (Hemiptera, Belostomatidae) in Cyprus. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 66(2): 291-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.66.e94457 |  |
Abstract
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, Lethocerus patruelis 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 L. patruelis 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.
Keywords
Mediterranean, distribution, migration, social networks