A review of the giant water bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nepomorpha: Belostomatidae) of Israel

An updated and annotated check-list of Israeli giant water bugs (Belostomatidae) is provided. The recorded species belong in the subfamilies Belostomatinae and Lethocerinae. The following six species occur in the country: Appasus urinator urinator, Limnogeton fieberi, Lethocerus patruelis, Lethocerus cordofanus (new record), Hydrocyrius colombiae colombiae (new record) and Belostoma bifove­olatum (new record). Belostoma bifoveolatum was previously known only from South America, so it is recorded in the Old World for the first time. An illustrated identification key is compiled for the Israeli Belostomatidae species. A list of exotic Belostomatidae material accumulated in the collection of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History is provided.