Heteroptera (Insecta, Hemiptera) fauna of Eritrea

The suborder Heteroptera, commonly known as “true bugs,” represents the largest group within hemi-metabolous insects, comprising over 45,000 species. Eritrea, characterised by a Hot Semi-Arid to Hot Desert Climate, is notable for its four regional centres of vegetation endemism and approximately 430 woody plant species. This study aims to review and update the list of Heteroptera fauna recorded in Eritrea, based on existing historical literature. A total of 136 published works, spanning from 1870 to 2025, were reviewed. In total, 384 species across 236 genera and 40 families have been documented. The family Pentatomidae is the most diverse, with 72 species, followed by Miridae with 59 species. The authors who reported the highest numbers of species records from Eritrea were Mancini, Linnavuori and Schouteden, with 183, 118 and 58 species records, respectively. The specimens were sampled from over 50 localities of the country in which Asmara is the most extensively sampled locality with 115 specimens. The localities are distributed in seven ecoregions of the country, the Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands being the most species-rish with 194 species, followed by Ethiopian montane forest with 147 species. Given the changes in climate, agricultural practices and deforestation over the past six decades, the current status of Heteroptera species in Eritrea remains largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap, efforts should be made to promote citizen science, train and deploy native professionals, collaborate with international experts, enrich local and regional natural history museum collections and strengthen research institutions in the country.