Haliplus (Liaphlus) fulvus (Fabricius, 1801)

Majka, Christopher, van Vondel, Bernhard & Webster, Reginald, 2009, The Haliplidae (Coleoptera) of Atlantic Canada: new records, distribution, and faunal composition, ZooKeys 22 (22), pp. 249-266 : 259

Haliplus (Liaphlus) fulvus (Fabricius, 1801)

NEW BRUNSWICK: York Co., New Maryland, Charters Settlement, 45° 49.55΄ N, 66° 43.32΄ W, 18.V.2003, R. P. Webster, coll., mixed forest in small eutrophic pond in dense vegetation (4, RWC).

This widely distributed Holarctic species was formerly known in North America as Haliplus (Liaphlus) subguttatus Crotch, 1873 and Haliplus (Liaphlus) salinarius Wallis, 1933 , two names that were synonymized by Vondel (1991). Brigham (1996) accepted the synonymy of H. fulvus and H. salinarius , but disagreed about H. subguttatus . Since 1991, long series of both Nearctic species have been examined by BJV, but no reliable characters have been found to distinguish the two species and the shape of the aedeagus of H. subguttatus falls within the range of variation exhibited by specimens of H. fulvus . Accordingly, the synonymy of Vondel (1991) is maintained here.

This species was recorded from Nova Scotia by Wallis (1933), and then from Newfoundland by Roughley (1991) and Vondel (1991) (Fig. 1). In the Old World it is widely distributed from Iceland throughout Europe, south to North Africa, east through the Middle East, south to Iraq, and across Central Asia and Siberia as far as Lake Baikal ( Vondel 1991). Vondel (1991) summarized its biology, indicating that it is found in clear or peaty stagnant or slowly running water, in lakes, pools, canals, rivers, and ditches, and has even been recorded in brackish water. Larvae probably feed on algae such as Nitella while adults are omnivorous feeding on algae, pollen, and invertebrates such as oligochaetes.