Eur. J. Entomol. 102 (2): 299-302, 2005 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2005.043

Geographical distribution of three oceanic Halobates spp. and an account of the behaviour of H. sericeus (Heteroptera: Gerridae)

Tetsuo HARADA
Laboratory of Environmental Physiology, Faculty of Education, Kochi University, Kochi 780-8520, Japan;

Halobates spp. are the only insects inhabiting the open sea. One sea skater species, Halobates sericeus, was collected at 18 locations in the East China Sea area (27°10ŽN- 33°24ŽN, 124°57ŽE-129°30ŽE), and H. micans and/or H. germanus at only 8 locations in the area south of 29°47ŽN, where water temperatures were more than 25°C. At three locations, where the water temperature was less than 23°C, neither H. micans nor H. germanus were caught. The effect of photoperiod on the aggregation and mating behaviour of the sea skater, H. sericeus, was studied under laboratory conditions during a one-month cruise. Adults and 5th instar larvae of H. sericeus, collected between 29°02ŽN and 30°29ŽN, were kept under long (14.5L : 9.5D) or short-day (10.5L : 13.5D) conditions at 23 ± 2°C for 20 days. Aggregation and mating behaviour of these sea skaters were recorded over a period of 150 min during the daytime. To analyze the data, the observation period of 150 min was divided into 50 intervals of 3 min. Aggregation was observed more under short than long-days. Duration of a group was much longer under the short (mean ± SD : 43.0 ± 108.1 sec) than long-days (7.6 ± 3.1 sec).

Keywords: Gerridae, distribution, photoperiodism, aggregation, reproduction, Halobates

Received: December 17, 2003; Revised: September 27, 2004; Accepted: September 27, 2004; Published: May 3, 2005  Show citation

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HARADA, T. (2005). Geographical distribution of three oceanic Halobates spp. and an account of the behaviour of H. sericeus (Heteroptera: Gerridae). EJE, 102(2), 299-302. doi: 10.14411/eje.2005.043
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