The fauna of lamellicorn beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) of Azerbaijan

Abstract

A checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of Azerbaijan is given for the first time. In total 298 species and 12 subspecies of scrarab beetles are registered for Azerbaijan, from which Sinodendron cylindricum (Linnaeus, 1758), Bodilus insperatus (Petrovitz, 1967) and Amphimallon circassicum Brenske, 1894 are recorded for the country for the first time. In addition 4 species are known only by the original descriptions. The following species are distributed in border areas of Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and can be found in Azerbaijan in future or these taxa have unclear status: Dorcus peyronis Reiche, Saulcy, 1856, Trox (Granulitrox) hispidus niger Rossi, 1792, Brenskea coronata Reitter, 1891, Eulasia (s. str.) praeusta (Champenois, 1896), Eulasia (s. str.) azarbaijanica (Petrovitz, 1980), Eulasia (s. str.) aurantica (Reitter, 1890), Eulasia (s. str.) corniculata (Reitter, 1903), Pygorpleurus gordyenensis (Petrovitz, 1971), Glaphyrus varians Ménétriés, 1836, Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus, 1758, Scarabaeus babori Balthasar, 1934б Scarabaeus wilsoni C.O. Waterhouse, 1890, Onthophagus (Palaeonthophagus) excubitor Ziani et Gudenzi, 2006, Onthophagus (Palaeonthophagus) flagrans Reitter, 1892, Pararhyssemus coluber Mayet, 1887, Bodilus circumcinctus (W. Schmidt, 1840), Neagolius abchasicus (Reitter, 1892), Biralus equinus (Faldermann, 1835), Chilothorax conspurcatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Chilothorax pictus (Sturm, 1805), Chilothorax lineolatus (Illiger, 1803), Melinopterus consputus (Creutzer, 1799), Sigorus porcus (Fabricius, 1792), Pubinus tomentosus (Muller, 1776), Esymus suturinigra (Schmidt, 1916), Euorodalus paracoenosus (Balthasar et Hrubant, 1960), Phalacronotus quadrimaculatus (Linnaeus, 1761), Mendidius bispinifrons (Reitter, 1889), Mendidius multiplex (Reitter, 1897), Planolinus borealis Gyllenhal, 1827, Planolinus fasciatus Olivier, 1789, Agoliinus satyrus (Gyllenhal, 1808), Agoliinus piceus (Gyllenhal, 1808), Pseudoesymus lucidus (Klug, 1845), Polyphylla (s. str.) fullo (Linnaeus, 1758), Cryptotrogus maluzhenkoi (Zaitzev, 1928), Holochelus (Eriotrogus) erivanicus (Reitter, 1902), Holochelus (Eriotrogus) majusculus (Nonveiller, 1965), Amphimallon altaicum (Mannerheim, 1825), Amphimallon arnoldii (Medvedev, 1951), Lasiopsis canina (Zoubkov, 1829), Hoplia (s. str.) hyrcana Medvedev, 1952, Hoplia (s. str.) parvula Krynicki, 1832, Phyllopertha horticola (Linnaeus, 1758), Anisoplia (s. str.) agricola (Poda, 1761), Anisoplia (s. str.) parva Kraatz, 1883, Pentodon foveipennis Jakovlev, 1903, Pentodon bidens bidens (Pallas, 1771), Osmoderma richteri Medvedev, 1953. The original concept of polymorphic Protaetia (Netocia) hieroglyphica (Ménétriés, 1832), sensu nova species-complex, presented in the territory of Azerbaijan by 4 subspecies, was proposed. Here we distinguish the hieroglyphica-complex, comprising taxa with white spots on the elytra and prosternum, in contrast to the cupreacomplex with mainly Western monochrome (without white spots) species (cuprea Fabricius, 1775, obscura Andersch, 1797, olivacea Mulsant, 1842). This new complex includes four close subspecies (possibly forming hybrids), that differ in morphology, distribution and bionomics: Protaetia (Netocia) hieroglyphica hieroglyphica (Ménétriés, 1832), P. h. cuprina (Motschulsky, 1849), sensu nova, stat. n., P. h. alboflagellata (Olsoufieff, 1916), subsp. resurr., sensu nova, P. h. caucasica (Kolenati, 1846), sensu nova, stat. n. A detailed revision of all Caucasian taxa of cuprina speciesgroup will be published in a separate paper. A new subspecies is described for Azerbaijanian population of Glaphyrus oxypterus Pallas, 1771: Glaphyrus oxypterus kasatkini subsp. n. The new subspecies differs from the nominotypical one by the rounded apex of the male elytra (angle-shaped in the nominotypical subspecies). This character is similar to those in Glaphyrus caucasicus Kraatz, 1882. The following differences are found in the structure of the endophallus: the dorsal camera is with constriction and widened to apex in the new subspecies, but without constriction and with straight sides in the nominotypical subspecies; the agonoporium on the frontal camera forms small tooth-like protrusion in the new subspecies, but it is located on an elongate and bent down process in the nominotypical subspecies. The following new synonymy is proposed: Melolontha persica Reitter, 1902, nom. resurr. = Melolontha kraatzi Reitter, 1906 (replacement name for Melolontha tibialis Kraatz, 1882 non Mulsant, 1842), syn. n. = Melolontha tibialis var. brenskei Reitter, 1902, syn. n.; Trypocopris fausti (Reitter, 1890) = Geotrupes zaitzevi Olsoufieff, 1918, syn. n.; Protaetia (Netocia) araratica (Reitter, 1891) = Potosia schelkovnikovi Zaitzev, 1918, syn. n. The status of the genus Glyptotrox Nikolajev, 2016, stat. n. is changing to a subgenus in the genus Trox Fabricius, 1775. The following two species are erroneously recorded for the fauna of Azerbaijan: Onthophagus kolenatii Reitter, 1892 (the junior synonym of Onthophagus (Palaeonthophagus) nuchicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)) and Onthophagus basipustulatus Heyden, 1889 (data refer to Onthophagus (Palaeonthophagus) formaneki Reitter, 1897).

Keywords

• Coleoptera
• Scarabaeoidea
• fauna
• Azerbaijan
• Caucasus
• catalogue