First record of Iphthiminus italicus (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) in Bulgaria
Author
Sivilov, Ognyan
text
ZooNotes
2012
2012-10-17
35
1
4
journal article
299558
10.5281/zenodo.12659298
0b6103ae-cb4f-47f2-bfe8-554a6eb0c46e
1313-9916
12659298
Iphthiminus italicus croaticus
(
Truqui, 1857
)
New data:
Bulgaria
,
Kresna Gorge
,
N41°47'41.95"
E23°09'28.73"
,
265 m
,
16.07.2012
,
1 ♀
, at night on the ground, leg.
O. Sivilov.
Body length:
26 mm
. The specimen displays characters typical for
ssp.
croaticus
(
Fig. 1
). It is distinguished by the following features: pronotum with relatively large and dense punctures, rear angles nearly spiniform; elytra finely wrinkled (like shagreen), with rows of dense punctures.
Fig. 1
.
Iphthiminus italicus croaticus
, SW
Bulgaria: Kresna Gorge. Photo: the author.
According to W. Schawaller (pers. comm.)
ssp.
croaticus
and
ssp.
bellardi
should be synonymised with the nominate form. In his opinion the species is somewhat variable and the separation into subspecies has no scientific reasons.
The beetle was collected in the southern part of Kresna Gorge located in southwestern
Bulgaria
(
Fig. 2
). The gorge is very dry, hot and covered by xerotermic forest dominated by
Quercus pubescens
Willd.
and some typical Mediterranean species as
Phyllirea latifolia
L.,
Juniperus excelsa
M. B.,
Pistacia terebinthus
L. etc. The habitat where the beetle was collected is a small gully, more humid than surroundings, with steep rocky slopes. Main plant species are
Tilia
,
Carpinus orientalis
Mill.
and
Lunaria
(Fig. 3).
Fig. 2
. Locality of
I. italicus croaticus
in
Fig. 3
. Habitat of
I. italicus croaticus
in Kresna Bulgaria. Gorge.
2