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New data on the distribution of 40 species of Dytiscidae are provided. Most of these records are from the Balkan Peninsula (Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania), northern Africa (Algeria and Libya), the Caucasus Region (Armenia, Azerbaijan and the South European Territory of Russia), Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and the Himalaya Region (Bhutan, northern India and Nepal). Two species, Hygrotus rufus (Clark, 1863) and Copelatus bacchusi Wewalka, 1981, known previously only from the Palearctic, are reported for the first time from the Oriental Region. Eight species are reported for the first time from Bhutan. Seven of these species, including three species new for the Palearctic Region, were provided by the insect dealer Jingke Li, but the provenance of the specimens is regarded as questionable. The necessity of publishing new records before accepting them for catalogues, e.g., the Catalogue of Palearctic Dytiscidae, is emphasised. Finally, previously published records of four incorrectly identified species/subspecies are corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diving beetle genus Microdytes J. Balfour-Browne, 1946 in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is reviewed, and five new species are described: Microdytes eliasi Wewalka & Okada, sp. nov. (Thailand, Cambodia), M. jeenthongi Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand), M. maximiliani Wewalka & Okada, sp. nov. (Laos, China), M. sekaensis Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand, Laos), M. ubonensis Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand, Laos). Two species are the first country records: M. balkei Wewalka, 1997 (Laos, Cambodia) and M. wewalkai Bian & Ji, 2009 (Laos). For 12 and 8 species, the first provincial records from Thailand and Laos, respectively, are given. A checklist, a key to the 25 known Microdytes species from these countries, and habitus images and illustrations of diagnostic characters are provided. Distribution maps of the recorded species are presented, and species distribution patterns are also briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]