Maxim Nabozhenko

First mesozoic representative of the subfamily tenebrioninae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from the lower cretaceous of Yixian (China, Liaoning)

A new genus and a new species of the tenebrionine tribe Alphitobiini, Alphitopsis initialis gen. et sp. nov. is described from Yixian (Liaoning Province, China). The new genus is the oldest member of the subfamily Tenebrioninae and it is most similar to Metaclisa Jacquelin du Val, 1861, but differs from all the genera of the tribe Alphitobiini in the structure of elytral epipleura and antennae.

A New Species and New Records of the Genus Nalassus Mulsant, 1854 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini) from Turkey

Abstract. A new species Nalassus bozdagus sp. nov. is described from the Aegean Region of Turkey (Bozdag ridge). The new species differs from all known Nalassus in the following characters: the hair spot on first and second abdominal sternites of male is absent, temple grooves are absent, exosceleton very strongly sclerotized. New records of Nalassus Mulsant, 1854 from Turkey are provided. Two species new for the fauna of Turkey: Nalassus (Helopondrus) gloriosus (Faldermann, 1837) and N. (Helopocerodes) faldermanni (Faldermann, 1837).

A Revision of the Genus Catomus Allard, 1876 and the Allied Genera (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from the Caucasus, Middle Asia, and China

The genus Catomus Allard and the allied genera of the fauna of Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, the Caucasus, and China are revised. The subgenus Stenomacidius Seidlitz, 1896 is synonymized with the genus Cylindronotus Faldermann, 1837. A new genus, Eustenomacidius gen. n., with the type species Helops luridus Ménétriés, 1848 is described. The following new combinations are proposed: Cylindronotus (s. str.) acutangulus (Seidlitz, 1896), Odocnemis anatolicus (Kaszab, 1961), Eustenomacidius hirtipennis (Seidlitz, 1896), Eustenomacidius turcmenicus (Medvedev, 1964), Eustenomacidius mongolicus (Kaszab, 1968), and Eustenomacidius wagnae (Ren, 1999). The following new subgenera are described: Montanocatomus, Sinocatomus (genus Catomus), and Caucasohelops (genus Eustenomacidius). The name Catomodontus Koch, 1935 is considered invalid. A new genus Xanthohelops closely related to Eustenomacidius is described from the Kara Kum Desert (Turkmenistan). The following new species and subspecies are described: Catomus (s. str.) noctivagus, C. (s. str.) indubitatus, C. (Montanocatomus) fabiani, C. (Sinocatomus) solitarius, Eustenomacidius (Caucasohelops) svetlanae with a new subspecies E. (Caucasohelops) svetlanae araxi subsp. n., Xanthohelops karakumicus Nabozhenko et Medvedev, spp. n. The following new synonyms are established: Cylindronotus Faldermann, 1837 = Stenomacidius Seidlitz, 1896; Eustenomacidius luridus (Ménétriés, 1848) = Stenomax laevicollis Kraatz, 1882, = Stenomax lucidicollis Kraatz, 1882, = Catomus (Stenomacidius) provocator Reitter, 1922; Catomus (Montanocatomus) reinigi (Schuster, 1931) = Catomus (Stenomacidius) alaensis G. Medvedev, 1970; Catomus fragilis (Ménétriés, 1848) = Catomus subniger Reitter, 1901; Catomus karakalensis G. Medvedev, 1964 = Catomus dolini G. Medvedev, 2004. Lectotypes are designated for the following species: Cylindronotus acutangulus (Seidlitz, 1896); Eustenomacidius hirtipennis (Seidlitz, 1896); Catomus fragilis (Ménétriés, 1848); Catomus reinigi (Schuster, 1931); Catomus provocator Reitter, 1922; Catomus subniger Reitter, 1901; Catomus niger (Kraatz, 1882) and Catomus antoniae Reitter, 1890. Morphological adaptations of species to particular environmental conditions, relationships of the new taxa and their positions in the tribe Helopini are considered. Keys to genera of the tribe Helopini of the Caucasus, Middle Asia, and Kazakhstan, and to subgenera and species of Catomus and Eustenomacidius of the Caucasus, Middle Asia, Kazakhstan, and China are given.

The taxocene of lichen-feeding darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae: Helopini) in a forest-steppe ecotone

The taxocene of lichen-feeding darkling beetles from the tribe Helopini is studied in the steppes of the south of Rostov Province. The species of lichens grazed on by the representatives of this tribe are identified for the first time and dependence of circadian activity and spatial distribution of adults on temperature and air humidity is shown. Global warming and human activities may have caused degradation of steppe lichen communities that formed the dietary base for the lichen-feeding darkling beetles in natural ecosystems. As a result, 3 out of 4 beetle species completely left steppe biotopes for tree shelterbelts. This caused a change in the trophic relationships (transition from epigeic to epiphytic lichens) and in the spatial distribution of darkling beetles, promoted the establishment of competitive interactions, and increased the duration of circadian and seasonal activity due to the lengthening of the periods with optimum temperature and air humidity for each species.

Nomenclatural Notes on the Species Recorded and Described Under The Name “Helops gracilis” (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Abstract. The nomenclatural status of three darkling beetle species previously described under the name Helops gracilis, by Fisher von Waldheim in 1823, Küster in 1850 and Bland in 1864, is clarified. The status of a fourth species, a misidentification of Helops gracilis Küster by Allard (1876, 1877) and Seidlitz (1896), is also discussed. The following new nomenclatural acts are included: Helops gracilis Fisher von Waldheim in 1823 is recognized as Odocnemis (Heloponotus) gracilis (Fisher von Waldheim, 1823) comb. nov. (from Helops); Catomus kuesteri (Weise, 1878) comb. nov. (from Helops) is the valid name for Helops gracilis Küster, 1850; Helops blancli Bousquet and Bouchard, nom. nov. is proposed for Helops gracilis Bland, 1864. Odocnemis perplexus (Ménétriés, 1848) is considered a new synonym of Odocnemis gracilis (Fisher de Waldheim, 1823) and Catomus dichrous Reitter, 1902 as a new synonym of Catomus kuesteri (Weise, 1878). Lectotypes are designated for Helops gracilis Fischer von Waldheim, 1823, H. gracilis Bland, 1864 and H. seidlitzi Gebien, 1911.

Review of the Genus Pseudoprobaticus Nabozhenko, 2001 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Abstract. A new species Pseudoprobaticus roznerorum sp. nov. from Southern Western Turkey is described. The redescription of Pseudoprobaticus granipennis (Allard, 1876) and key to species of the genus Pseudoprobaticus Nabozhenko, 2001 are given.

Contributions to the knowledge of North American tenebrionids of the subtribe Cylindrinotina (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini)

Three North American species of Helops are reassigned to the genus Nalassus: N. aereus (Germar, 1824), comb. n., N. californicus (Mannerheim, 1843), comb. n., N. convexulus (LeConte, 1861), comb. n. Current distributions as well as paleo distributions are discussed. A lectotype is designated for Helops californicus.

To the Knowledge of the Genus Blaps Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) From Iran and Transcaucasia

Abstract. A new species Blaps kasatkini sp. nov. is described from Western Iran (Kermanshah Province). The species belongs to the 6th group of the 2nd section sensu Seidlitz and most similar to Transcaucasian species Blaps araxicola Seidlitz, 1893 and Blaps pudica Ballion, 1888 from which it differs by the structure of temples, sculpture of prosternum, presence of hair brush between male abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 (the difference only from B. pudica), glabrous abdominal ventrites (the difference only from B. araxicola), structure of ovipositor, female genital tubes and presence of elytral mucron in female. New material of the little known species in the 6th group of the 2nd section sensu Seidlitz Blaps pudica, B. araxicola and Iranian species B. glazunovi Semenov Tian-Shansky et Bogatchev, 1936 is given. Blaps pudica is recorded for Armenia for the first time. Lectotype of B. glazunovi is designated.

A new genus and species of darkling beetles of the tribe Helopini (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from Turkey

A new genus and species Microdocnemis xerophilicus gen. et sp. n. of the tenebrionid-beetle tribe Helopini is described from southwestern Turkey. The new genus belongs to the cylindrinotoid group of genera and is closely related to the genus Odocnemis Allard, 1876 in the structure of the male genitalia and female genital tubes and in the denticulation of the inner margin of the fore tibia. Microdocnemis differs from Odocnemis in the following characters: body very weakly flattened dorsally and ventrally; apical part of elytra, body ventrally, and epipleura with hairs; anal sternite with double bordering; apical margins of tibiae with short thick spines. The only species of the new genus inhabits xerophytic stony biotopes and has been found under stones; the species of the genus Odocnemis live on tree trunks covered with lichens.

The oldest opatrine terrestrial darkling beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Tenebrioninae) from the Paleocene of Menat (France)

The oldest terrestrial darkling beetle of the opatrine lineage, Palaeosclerum pohli gen. et. sp. nov. (subfamily Tenebrioninae) is described from the Middle Paleocene of Menat (France). The complex of characters, combining the peculiar shape of body (robust, adapted to a fossorial lifestyle), structure of fossorial protibia, 5-segmented antennal club demonstrates a considerable similarity of the new genus to the extant representatives of the ‘sclerina’ generic group of the subtribe Opatrina. Palaeosclerum gen. nov. is compared with recent genera Sclerum Dejean, 1834, Platynosum Mulsant and Rey, 1859 and Eurycaulus Fairmaire, 1868.KurzfassungDer älteste terrestrische Schwarzkäfer (der Abstammungslinie Opatrini), Palaeosclerum pohli gen. et sp. nov. (Unterfamilie Tenebrioninae), wird aus dem mittleren Paläozän von Menat in Frankreich beschrieben. Verschiedene Charaktermerkmale, einschließlich der eigentümlichen Form des Körpers (robust, angepasst an eine grabende Lebensweise), der Ausbildung der Grab-Protibia und die fünfgliedrigen Fühler, zeigen eine große Ähnlichkeit der neuen Gattung zu rezenten Vertretern der “Sclerina”-Gattungsgruppe des Subtribus Opatrina. Palaeosclerum gen. nov. wird mit den heutigen Gattungen Sclerum Dejean, 1834, Platynosum Mulsant und Rey, 1859 und Eurycaulus Fairmaire, 1868, verglichen.