Madagascar's Water Bugs: A Closer Look at Naucoridae

Madagascar, a unique island nation, has been explored deeply to understand its water bug population. Before these studies, scientists knew about 17 species in four groups. During recent expeditions, almost all these water bugs were found again, except for three: Macrocoris flavicollis, Temnocoris starmuhlneri, and Tsingala nossibeanus. Macrocoris flavicollis is no longer considered a part of Madagascar's water bugs. In the Laccocorini group, a new bug type, Gonioathrix, was discovered. The bugs Temnocoris and Tsingala were also studied more closely. Three new Temnocoris species were found: T. leach, T. montandon, and T. poisson. Four new Tsingala species were also discovered: T. angulata, T. latiforma, T. spatulata, and T. triloba. Scientists chose specific examples, called lectotypes, for Afronaucoris madagascariensis, Tsingala humeralis, and T. naucoroides. In the Macrocorinae group, a new Macrocoris bug, M. namorona, from Ranomafana National Park was found. All these new discoveries bring the total count of water bug species in Madagascar to 25, spread across five groups. Scientists also noted where these bugs live and provided a guide to identify them.