Mesovelia vittigera Horváth, 1895

Cianferoni, Fabio & Dia, Aref, 2025, Annotated catalogue and checklist of Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha, and Leptopodomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Lebanon, with new records, Zootaxa 5725 (1), pp. 1-54 : 11

Mesovelia vittigera Horváth, 1895

Mesovelia furcata Mulsant & Rey : Giglio-Tos (1894: 10), “ Beirut ”. Misidentification (verified).

Mesovelia vittigera Horváth : Horváth (1915: 551), “ Beyrouth (Giglio-Tos)”, quotation and correction of Giglio-Tos (1894); Kment & Carapezza (2022: 488), “ Lebanon ( Horváth 1915 a)”, quotation of Horváth (1915); Damgaard et al. (2023b: 7), “ Lebanon […] ( Kment & Carapezza, 2022)”, quotation of Kment & Carapezza (2022).

Material examined. Published records: “ Beirut ”, [ 11.VII.1893], [ E. Festa leg.], [ E. Giglio-Tos det.] as Mesovelia furcata Muls. & Rey, F. Cianferoni revid., 3 ♀♀ apt., MRSN .

General distribution. This is a widespread species occurring in the Palaeotropical realm and subtropics; it is widely distributed in Africa, southern Europe, Oriental and Australasian Regions, including islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans (see Berchi et al. 2016, Kment & Carapezza 2022).

Remarks. This record was a misidentification of M. vittigera Horváth, 1895 , at the time of Giglio-Tos not described yet. The same record was subsequently treated as M. vittigera by Horváth (1915) but probably without checking the original material. Here, we can confirm the only known record of M. vittigera for Lebanon, after the direct examination of Festa’s material.

The presence of M. furcata in Syria and Israel was reported as doubtful by Andersen (1995 b), quoted by Damgaard et al. 2012) and Berchi et al. (2016) as in need of confirmation, and repeated (without reference citation) by Damgaard et al. (2023b). The origin of the record from Syria is probably to be traced back to Puton (1879, 1886) who listed M. furcata for Syria, when M. vittigera had not yet been described (see Horváth 1929b). The source of the record for Israel is less clear, but it is likely that the record originates from territories in Ottoman Syria (F. Cianferoni, pers. obs.). However, all these records very likely misidentifications of M. vittigera , already known for Israel (see Kment & Carapezza 2022 for a summary of references) and possibly for the present-day Syria ( Puton, 1879, 1886). Therefore, M. furcata can be excluded from the faunas of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel pending future research.