The forgotten Hebrid (Gerromorpha, Hebridae)

The description for Hebrus franzi (Wagner, 1957) (sub Neogaeus franzi) was based on material collected by H. Franz in the Apuan Alps - a mountain range in northern Tuscany (Italy). Since then it has never been recorded again, and has until now only continued to be known for the type series, leading subsequent authors - perhaps suspicious of a misidentification or a mislabeling - to consider this taxon to be of "uncertain value" and "questionable validity". It has been quoted, however, as endemic to the Apuan Alps. after more than 50 years, the collection of further specimens from the type locality, but also from a new site in Northern Italy (with very different characteristics: near a lowland river), allows us to confirm the validity of this taxon, and to expand its range. No additional data about the ecology of the species was included in the original description, but the methods used to collect the recent specimens (sieving flood or litter debris) would suggest that this species has semi-terrestrial behavioral.