Steinovelia virgata (White, 1879)

Mazzucconi, Silvia Ana, Reyes, Cristina Armúa De & Estévez, Ana Lía, 2022, Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera) from Iberá Natural Reserve (Corrientes Province, Argentina), Zootaxa 5104 (4), pp. 451-505 : 465

Steinovelia virgata (White, 1879)

Velia virgata White, 1879b : J. Limn. Soc. London, 486.

Paravelia virgata: Polhemus, 1976 : J. Kansas Ent. Soc., 513.

Steinovelia virgata: Polhemus & Polhemus, 1993 : J. New York Entomol. Soc., 397.

Material examined. Laguna Iberá RS: 1 ♀, Iberá Lagoon, sample 2, 2.xii.2012; 1 ♀, Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, light trap, 2.xii.2012 . Yahaveré RS: 4 ♂, 1 ♀, Concepción de Yaguareté Corá, house for researchers, swimming pool, 28°23’25.7”S, 57°53’15.9”W, 8.xi.2015 ; 2 ♂, Concepción de Yaguareté Corá, house for researchers, light trap, 28°23’25.7”S, 57°53’15.9”W, 6–7.xi.2015 .

General distribution. Trinidad & Tobago, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina (Aristizábal-García 2017; Floriano et al. 2017; Moreira et al. 2020).

Habitat. Very little information exists regarding the biology of S. virgata . It has been collected from roadside ditches ( Nieser & Alkins-Koo 1991), at the margins of unshaded marshlands with dense vegetation ( Torres et al. 2007), and in a lake and a tributary of a river ( Moreira et al. 2020). This species has also been taken at lights ( White 1879b; Torres et al. 2007; Moreira et al. 2020).

At the INR, specimens were collected from the margins of the Iberá Lagoon in shallow waters with emergent and floating vegetation (Estévez et al. 2003). During the present study, this species was collected in the Iberá Lagoon from habitats similar to those mentioned above. Three specimens were also taken at lights in Colonia Carlos Pellegrini and Concepción de Yaguareté Corá, and five specimens were collected in a swimming pool in Concepción de Yaguareté Corá.