New species of Mendidius Harold, 1868 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) from Azerbaijan

Abstract

Mendidius abdurakhmanovi Shokhin, sp. n. is described from the Absheron Peninsula of Azerbaijan. The new species is most similar to Mendidius multiplex (Reitter, 1897) and especially M. baigakumi (Koshantschikov, 1911), but differs from M. multiplex by the clypeus with two teeth on the anterior margin; from Ciscaspian M. baigakumi and endemic of the Aras River valley M. diffidens (Reitter, 1892) the new species is well distinguished by the completely darkened sutural interval of elytra. Mendidius abdurakhmanovi Shokhin, sp. n. was collected in May on sands of Ganly-Gol Lake (Baku сity) and sand beach with Tamarix on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The species is named in the memory of well-known specialist of Coleoptera of the Caucasus, Prof. Gayirbeg M. Abdurakhmanov.

Keywords

• Coleoptera
• Scarabaeidae
• Aphodiinae
• Mendidius
• Azerbaijan
• Caucasus
• new species