THE FAUNA OF AQUATIC HEMIPTERA (HETEROPTERA) IN CHARYN NATURE PARK

Abstract

The material for this research resulted from the authors’ work during 2018–2020 at the Charyn Nature Park in different floodplain reservoirs of the Charyn and Temirlik Rivers, Almaty region, Kazakhstan. Their study of the fauna and ecology of Hemiptera followed the methods of route surveys and stationary observations. The simplest way to collect is to catch aquatic Hemiptera using aquatic entomological nets and account for potential water bugs. Corixidae has 21 species, while other families have one or two species. Their density comprised Gerridae (8–10), Corixidae (16–20), Naucoridae (3–5), Notonecta (8–9), and Ranatra (3–5) specimens/m2, respectively. The mass species found included Ilyocoris cimicoides, Noton ecta glauca, Nepa cinerea, and Gerris costae. During the autumn survey, an observation revealed that the previously studied reservoirs have decreased in size, and some have even dried up. In the coastal part of the reservoirs, water scorpions (Nepa cinerea) were crawling along the bottom of the pool. Water backswimmers (Notonectidae) and toad bugs (Naucoridae) moved to deeper pond areas. Representatives of the Corixidae family were zoophytophages (21 species), with the remaining species being zoophages (12 species). Under the Charyn Nature Park conditions, most species were mono or univoltine (21 species), bivoltine (five species), and poly or multivoltine (seven species). The fauna of the Charyn State National Nature Park (SNNP) has the main characteristic of species of Hemiptera with Western Asia (40%), Trans-Palearctic (21%), Western Palearctic (18%), and Trans-Eurasian (12%) ranges. All the recognized species have a wide selection of hunting objects, feeding on aquatic invertebrates, including regulating the numbers of blood-sucking mosquito larvae (Culicidae).