Ambrysus amargosus
| Ambrysus amargosus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ambrysus amargosus |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ambrysus amargosus | ||||||||||||
| La Rivers , 1953 |
Ambrysus amargosus is an endangered species of swimming bug that is endemic to Ash Meadows , Nye County , Nevada .
features
The species becomes 6 to 6.5 mm long and 4 to 4.5 mm wide. The body is egg-shaped. The dorsum is brightly colored. The underside is yellowish. The small genital process of the male and the shape of the slightly asymmetrical subgenital plate (that is, the ventral egg apparatus located at the point where the genital apparatus is turned) of the female are diagnostic. Ambrysus amargosus is unable to fly. The hind wings are noticeably shortened and only reach the middle of the fourth tergum .
Occurrence
The range of Ambrysus amargosus is limited to a small area in Point-of-Rocks Springs in Ash Meadows, where the species occurs in a few flow channels that are no more than 0.3 m wide and 10 m long. These rivulets are remnants of the former habitat after the flowing spring water was channeled and dammed. In 1985 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service designated 4 acres of critical habitat for this species.
Habitat and way of life
Ambrysus amargosus prefers the gravel bottom of the fast flowing parts of the hot spring, where the water is only a few inches deep. Specimens were found not far below the source. The way of life of Ambrysus amargosus is little studied. Closely related species are known to feed on insect larvae and to lay their eggs underwater on the gravel floor.
literature
- Ira La Rivers: New Gelastocorid and Naucorid Records and Miscellaneous Notes, with a Description of the New Species, Ambrysus amargosus (Hemiptera: Naucoridae) In: Wasmann Journal of Biology Vol. 11, No. 1, 1953, pp. 83-96
- Arnold S. Menke: The Semiaquatic and Aquatic Hemiptera of California. Bulletin of the California Insect Survey Vol. 21, University of California Press, 1979, p. 135
- Dan A. Polhemus: Conservation of Aquatic Insects: Worldwide Crisis or Localized Threats? In: Integrative and Comparative Biology 33 (6), 1993
Web links
- Entry at Natureserve
- NEVADA FWO: Ash Meadows Naucorid Responds To Restoration (with a photo of the species)
Individual evidence
- ↑ USFWS. Determination of threatened status with critical habitat for 6 plants and 1 insect in Ash Meadows, Nevada and California; and endangered status with critical habitat for 1 plant in Ash Meadows. Federal Register May 20, 1985.
- ↑ a b USFWS. Recovery Plan for the Endangered and Threatened Species of Ash Meadows, Nevada. September 1990.