MEDWIN PUBLISHERS Commied to Create Value for Researchers A New Species of the Genus Laccobius (Coleoptera; Hydrophildae) from Izeh County, Khuzestan Province, Iran J Ethol & Animal Sci Journal of Ethology & Animal Science ISSN: 2642-1232 A New Species of the Genus Laccobius (Coleoptera; Hydrophildae) from Izeh County, Khuzestan Province, Iran Heydarnejad MS* and Poor HM Associate Professor, Shahrekord University, Iran *Corresponding author: M Saeed Heydarnejad, Associate Professor, Shahrekord University, PO B 115, Shahrekord 88186, Iran, Tel: +983832324419; Email: msh@utas.edu.au Short Communication Volume 4 Issue 1 Received Date: November 04, 2022 Published Date: November 21, 2022 DOI: 10.23880/jeasc-16000126 Abstract A new species of the genus Laccobius, (L.mosslemi) sp.nov. is described from Izeh county, Khuzestan province, Iran. This species represents the first record in the family Hydrophilidae. The species belongs to the subfamily Hydrophilinae and is similar to two other species, L. simulatrix d.orchymont, 1932 and L. bipunctatus Fabricius, 1775, but it differs from them in certain adult taxonomic characteristics. Keywords: Aquatic Coleoptera; Laccobius; Iran Introduction The largest group of the superfamily Hydrophiloidea is Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles). It represents in all parts of the world consisting of more than 2900 known species [1]. While Hydrophilid species can be found in nearly all parts of Iran, they have received scant research attention [2]. Some recent systematic research activities on Iranian aquatic Hydrophilidae include Nasserzadeh and Hosseinie [3,4]; Nasserzadeh, et al. [5] and the Islamic Azad University team, led by Atamehr, et al. [6]; Vafaei, et al. [7]; Ostovan and Niakan [8,9]; Vafaei, et al. [10]; Gentili, et al. [2] The genus Laccobius Erichson 1837 is a large cosmopolitan genus with 130 Palaearctic species [11]. There are 19 Iranian reported species mainly pertaining to the subgenus Dimorpholaccobius [12] but no species are recorded from Khuzestan province. The new species will be added to this checklist. This article describes a new species of the genus Laccobius in Izeh County. The Izeh is a region in the Khuzestan province of Iran, which has mild spring and summer weather but is generally the coldest city in the Khuzestan province in winter. This is the first record of the Hydrophilidae family in this area. The species (L. mosslemi) belongs to the subfamily Hydrophilinae, and is similar to other species L. simulatrix d.orchymont, 1932 and L. bipunctatus Fabricius, 1775, however, but it differs from them in certain adult taxonomic characteristics. Materials and Methods Khuzestan province, one of Iran’s 31 provinces, is located in the southwest of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers an area of 63,238 square kilometres. During 2020-2021, samples were collected in Izeh County. The test substance was preserved in 75% alcohol. Identification of specimens was based on morphological characteristics such as external taxonomic and external male genitalia, along with the corresponding entomological references and authors Zaitsev [13], Friday [14], Jack and Balk [15], Foster and Friday [16]. All samples are housed in the Zoological Museum at Shahrekord University (ZMSU).