B. A. Korotyaev

A review of the weevil subgenus Metaphyllobius Smirnov (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae) from Eastern Europe and Siberia

A review of the subgenus Metaphyllobius Smirnov of the weevil genus Phyllobius Germ. is given. The name Ph. maculatus Tournier, 1880 is restored from synonymy with Ph. pomaceus fessus Boheman, 1843. A new synonymy is established: Ph. maculatus Tournier, 1880 (= jacobsoni Smirnov, 1913, syn. n.). Ph. fessus Boheman, 1843 is downgraded to a subspecies of Ph. pomaceus Gyllenhal, 1834—Ph. pomaceus fessus Boheman, 1843, stat. n. Data on the distribution and hosts of, and a key to European and Siberian species of the subgenus Metaphyllobius are given.

On invasion of an east asian seed beetle, Megabruchidius tonkineus (Pic) (Coleoptera, Bruchidae), developing in Gleditsia seeds, in the northwest Caucasus

An East Asian bruchid, Megabruchidius tonkineus (Pic, 1914), which recently settled on Gleditsia triacanthos in Hungary, was recorded for the first time in Krasnodar in 2005 and was found in two examined localities in and near Krasnodar in November 2010. The species is likely to have become established in the Northwest Caucasus.

New data on the changes in the abundance and distribution of several species of beetles (Coleoptera) in European Russia and the Caucasus

Changes in the abundance and distribution of selected species of beetles in European Russia and in the Caucasus are reported. Most of these species have been recorded from the Northwestern Caucasus in the last 10–15 years. The abundance and distribution during the last two years have changed most sharply in the introduced species, the Harlequin lady beetle Harmonia axyridis and two East Asian bruchids, Megabruchidius dorsalis and M. tonkineus. In 2016, the latter has been found in Georgia for the first time, and Harmonia axyridis was found in St. Petersburg. Abundance of the weevil Alcidodes karelinii with the range situated mostly east of the Caucasus and Volga River remains in Northwestern Caucasus at about the previous level. The flea-weevil species, a leaf miner on Ulmus pumila, misidentified previously as Orchestes mutabilis, is described in this paper as Orchestes steppensis sp. n. based on the material from Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Northern China; no its further distribution westward in 2015–2016 has been found. This species, rapidly widening its range in North America in the recent decade, is misidentified there as Orchestes alni. A key for differentiation of Orchestes alni, O. mutabilis and O. steppensis sp. n. is provided with photographs of adults of all three species. Magdalis armigera has increased abundance in Northwestern Caucasus in 2016 and was for the first time found in Northwestern Russia (Pskov Province) in 2015. Regular faunistic surveys during several decades provide a possibility of recording considerable changes in the abundance of some common species of Coleoptera, often associated with changes in their distribution.

On high abundance of the Harlequin lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pall.) (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae), in the plains of the Northwestern Caucasus, Russia

The Harlequin lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), is recorded in great numbers in the city of Krasnodar and in the plain part of Krasnodar and Stavropol territories in mid-October 2013. The beetles flew onto walls and windows of the apartment buildings in Krasnodar and were found concentrating in a car and on fruit trees in an orchard in western Stavropol Territory.

On the distribution dynamics of some beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae, Bruchidae, Curculionidae) in the plains of the Northwestern Caucasus, Russia

At the beginning of the XXI century, several species of the coleopterous families Coccinellidae, Bruchidae and Curculionidae were recorded as new to the Northwestern Caucasus (Krasnodar and Stavropol territories and the Republic of Adygea). Some of them apparently have been unintentionally introduced from the distant (the East Asian bruchid Megabruchidius tonkineus Pic, 1914) or neighboring (the Western Mediterranean weevil Otiorhynchus aurifer Boheman, 1843) regions, while two species of weevils, Sternuchopsis karelini Boheman, 1844 and Orchestes mutabilis Boheman, 1843, may have expanded westward their central or eastern Palaearctic ranges. The weevil, Otiorhynchus ovalipennis Boheman, 1843 has expanded its distribution from the Black Sea coast in Krasnodar Territory northward to the vicinity of Krasnodar in Adygea. The Harlequin lady beetle Harmonia axyridis (Pall.) was for the first time found in the plain part of Anapa and Kavkazskii districts in 2012 and 2013.

Geographical distribution of the weevil subfamily Ceutorhynchinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

A brief general characteristic and review of distribution of the subfamily Ceutorhynchinae over zoogeographical realms are given, with an emphasis on the distribution within the Holarctic and Palaearctic. The potential of exploiting landscapes of all natural zones of the Holarctic by a low-rank taxon is exemplified by the Holarctic Ceutorhynchus cochleariae (Gyll.) species-group comprising ca. 20 species evenly distributed between the Palaearctic and Nearctic. Although neighboring with the powerful centers of tropical biota, the Holarctic fauna of the subfamily Ceutorhynchinae is formed mostly of endemic and subendemic genera which are especially abundant in the Palaearctic. This region possesses the most diversified generic and species composition of the fauna consisting of predominantly endemic and subendemic genera (in the Mediterranean and Saharo-Gobian regions, also of the highly diversified tribe Oxyonychini) up to its southern border. The existence of characteristic transitional faunas in the zones of contact of the Holarctic fauna with the faunas of the tropical regions in East Asia and Mexico is shown. These transitional faunas include a considerable number of endemic taxa of the genus and species groups. A conspicuous feature of the Palaearctic ceutorhynchine fauna is the rather numerous complex of the upland and high-latitude species.

To the knowledge of the herbivorous scolytid genus Thamnurgus Eichhoff (Coleoptera, Scolytidae)

Based on the male genitalia structure, 3 subgenera are distinguished in the genus Thamnurgus: Thamnurgus s. str. (type species Thamnurgus euphorbiae Küster; the subgenus includes also Th. characiae and Th. varipes), Parathamnurgus subgen. n. (type species Thamnurgus caucasicus Reitter; includes also Th. armeniacus, Th. kaltenbachii, Th. brylinskyi, and Th. pegani) and Macrothamnurgus subgen. n. (type species Thamnurgus delphinii Rosenhauer; includes also Th. petzi and Th. rossicus). Thamnurgus s. str. comprises species with the aedeagus lacking supporting apical structures and with unbranched apophyses. In the two other subgenera the aedeagal apophyses are branched and the apical supporting structures are differently arranged. Species of Thamnurgus s. str. are associated exclusively with Euphorbiaceae, species of Macrothamnurgus, with Ranunculaceae, and those of Parathamnurgus, with plants of several families. A key to Palaearctic Thamnurgus species based on the external and genital characters is proposed. The host plants and distribution of some species are clarified. In the aedeagus structure, the Palaearctic Thamnurgus species clearly differ from the African Thamnurgus and also from the members of Taphronurgus, Cynanchophagus, Triotemnus, and Xylocleptes. Data on the male genital structure support generic distinctness of Thamnurgus, Taphronurgus and Xylocleptes. Lectotypes of Th. armeniacus Reitter, 1897, Th. brylinskyi Reitter, 1889, Th. characiae Rosenhauer, 1878, Th. declivis Reitter, 1897, Th. delphinii (Rosenhauer, 1856), Th. pegani Eggers, 1933, and Th. petzi Reitter, 1901 are designated. Thamnurgus jemeniae Schedl, 1975 is transferred to Xylocleptes, and Th. orientalis Schedl, 1978, to Pseudothamnurgus. Based on the endophallus characters, Thamnurgus ugandensis Nunberg, 1961 and Th. lobeliae Eggers, 1939 are considered to belong to a genus distinct from the Palaearctic Thamnurgus.

Beetles of the superfamily Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) in a complex semi-desert in relation to climate changes in the North Caspian region

In desert and steppe habitats of the complex North Caspian semi-desert, more than twofold differences in the number of hortobiont Curculionoidea species (33 and 75 species, respectively) were observed between the “dry” (1972–1974) and “humid” (2003–2005) climatic phases. The abundance of most species changed. Polyphagous steppe weevils of the subfamily Entiminae (Otiorhynchus velutinus, Euidosomus acuminatus, Omias verruca, and O. rotundatus) with spring activity of adults were the most stable, representing the main dominants of the spring communities both in the 1970s and 2000s. Nearly all of the weevils that changed their abundance since the 1970s were specialized herbivores with summer adult activity. In the more humid 2000s, the abundance of some desert-steppe weevils dominating the desert communities (Phacephorus nebulosus, Metadonus anceps and especially Ptochus porcellus) dropped drastically. Most of the species whose abundance increased most strongly (Phyllobius brevis, Trachyphloeus amplithorax, Archaeophloeus inermis, Stenopterapion tenue, Sitona inops, S. longulus, Tychius spp.) are associated with Medicago romanica, the plant that considerably raised its density in the microdepressions during the “humid” phase. The data show an evident reduction of the most xerophilic (desertsteppe) components of the weevil community and an increase in the fraction of mesophilic species. These changes seem to follow a cyclic pattern.

On the 100th anniversary of Margarita Ervandovna Ter-Minassian

May 16, 2010 was the 100th anniversary of Margarita Ervandovna Ter-Minassian birth (1910–1993). She was an outstanding entomologist and a remarkable person who made important contributions to the development of the insect taxonomy in the Soviet Union in the second half of the XX century. It would be impossible to imagine the Laboratory of Insect Systematics of the Zoological Institute (ZIN) of that period without Margarita Ervandovna, whose personal and scientific authority helped to develop and sustain the high spirit of creativity and responsibility in the laboratory. She studied entomology with F.K. Lukjanovitsh and A.N. Reichardt at the Zoological Institute. Sociable and outgoing person, she worked with many outstanding entomologists and considered it her duty to cherish their memory and pass their traditions over to the next generations of scientists. A brief biographical sketch of M.E. Ter-Minassian and the full list of her publications were given in the obituary (Medvedev and Korotyaev, 1995). Today, 15 years after Margarita Ervandovna passed away, all of her peers and many of her younger colleagues are gone. I would like to share with those who remember her and those who were not fortunate to have known her personally some of my memories of the years I have spent side by side with Margarita Ervandovna at the Zoological Institute.

A new species of the Weevil genus Lepyrus germar (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from Magadan Province

Lepyrus bermani sp. n. is described from Magadan Province. Data on the geographical distribution and hosts of the new species and its congeners in Northeast Asia are reported.