Under the Cretaceous bark: Fossil evidence for the ancient origin of subcortical lifestyle of clown beetles (Coleoptera: Histeridae)

We describe three new genera and four new species of the Histeridae (Coleoptera) from the mid-Cretaceous amber in Myanmar. Platycretus muscularis Simon Pražák & Lackner gen. & sp. nov. represents the first known fossil of the subfamily Histerinae from the Cretaceous. We assign the remaining three fossils, Olexum complanatum Simon Pražák & Lackner gen. & sp. nov., Cretanapleus seideli Simon Pražák & Lackner gen. & sp. nov., and Yethiha pubescens Simon Pražák & Lackner sp. nov. to the subfamily Dendrophilinae. Platycretus muscularis and O. complanatum have adaptations typical for the subcortical lifestyle (flattened body shape, dilated protibiae), proving this life strategy existed in independent lineages of clown beetles already in the Cretaceous. We also provide a review of all Histeridae fossil species described up to date and test the phylogenetic position of all of them including the newly described ones

Factors influencing carrion communities are only partially consistent with those of deadwood necromass

Research on decomposer communities has traditionally focused on plant litter or deadwood. Even though carrion forms highly nutrient-rich necromass that enhance ecosystem heterogeneity, the factors infuencing saprophytic communities remain largely unknown. For deadwood, experiments have shown that diferent drivers determine beetles (i.e., decay stage, microclimate, and space), fungi (i.e., decay stage and tree species) and bacteria (decay stage only) assemblages. To test the hypothesis that similar factors also structure carrion communities, we sampled 29 carcasses exposed for 30 days that included Cervus elaphus (N=6), Capreolus capreolus (N=18), and Vulpes vulpes (N=5) in a mountain forest throughout decomposition. Beetles were collected with pitfall traps, while microbial communities were characterized using amplicon sequencing. Assemblages were determined with a focus from rare to dominant species using Hill numbers. With increasing focus on dominant species, the relative importance of carcass identity on beetles and space on bacteria increased, while only succession and microclimate remained relevant for fungi. For beetle and bacteria with focus on dominant species, host identity was more important than microclimate, which is in marked contrast to deadwood. We conclude that factors infuencing carrion saprophytic assemblages show some consistency, but also diferences from those of deadwood assemblages, suggesting that short-lived carrion and long-lasting deadwood both provide a resource pulse with diferent adaptions in insects and microbes. As with deadwood, a high diversity of carcass species under multiple decay stages and diferent microclimates support a diverse decomposer community.publishedVersio

Dung‐visiting beetle diversity is mainly affected by land use, while community specialization is driven by climate

Dung beetles are important actors in the self‐regulation of ecosystems by driving nutrient cycling, bioturbation, and pest suppression. Urbanization and the sprawl of agricultural areas, however, destroy natural habitats and may threaten dung beetle diversity. In addition, climate change may cause shifts in geographical distribution and community composition. We used a space‐for‐time approach to test the effects of land use and climate on α‐diversity, local community specialization (H (2)′) on dung resources, and γ‐diversity of dung‐visiting beetles. For this, we used pitfall traps baited with four different dung types at 115 study sites, distributed over a spatial extent of 300 km × 300 km and 1000 m in elevation. Study sites were established in four local land‐use types: forests, grasslands, arable sites, and settlements, embedded in near‐natural, agricultural, or urban landscapes. Our results show that abundance and species density of dung‐visiting beetles were negatively affected by agricultural land use at both spatial scales, whereas γ‐diversity at the local scale was negatively affected by settlements and on a landscape scale equally by agricultural and urban land use. Increasing precipitation diminished dung‐visiting beetle abundance, and higher temperatures reduced community specialization on dung types and γ‐diversity. These results indicate that intensive land use and high temperatures may cause a loss in dung‐visiting beetle diversity and alter community networks. A decrease in dung‐visiting beetle diversity may disturb decomposition processes at both local and landscape scales and alter ecosystem functioning, which may lead to drastic ecological and economic damage

Revision of the genus Procoryphaeus Mazur, 1984 (Coleoptera: Histeridae: Histerinae: Exosternini)

Lackner, Tomáš (2015): Revision of the genus Procoryphaeus Mazur, 1984 (Coleoptera: Histeridae: Histerinae: Exosternini). Zootaxa 4044 (2): 289-300, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4044.2.

Revision of the genus Hemisaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976 (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Saprininae)

The monophyletic genus Hemisaprinus Kryzhanovskij in Kryzhanovskij & Reichardt, 1976 is revised herein. All three species Hemisaprinus subvirescens (Ménétries, 1832), H. lutshniki (Reichardt, 1941) and H. cyprius (Dahlgren, 1981) are found to be correctly assigned to the genus and their monophyly is supported by the synapomorphy of the presence of prosternal foveae. The three species are re-described and supplemented with colour photographs as well as SEM micrographs outlining their differences. Male genitalia drawing of H. subvirescens and H. lutshniki are provided and a key to the species is given. Hemisaprinus subvirescens (Ménétries, 1832) is newly reported from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Jordan, Cyprus and Mongolia. The lectotypes and paralectotypes of the following species are designated herein: Saprinus foveisternus Schmidt, 1884, Saprinus syriacus Marseul, 1855 and Saprinus viridulus Marseul, 1855

On the identity of Chalcionellus orcinus and Chalcionellus libanicola (Coleoptera: Histeridae)

Lackner, Tomáš (2011): On the identity of Chalcionellus orcinus and Chalcionellus libanicola (Coleoptera: Histeridae). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 51 (2): 505-515, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.532886

Afroprinus cavicola gen. et sp. n. from the Afrotropical region with notes on cave-dwelling Saprininae (Coleoptera, Histeridae)

A new genus and species from Kenya, Afroprinus cavicola is herein described and illustrated and its systematic position is discussed. By the prosternal pre-apical foveae connected by marginal prosternal stria it resembles most of the Afrotropical species of the genus Chalcionellus Reichardt, 1932, or some species of the genus Pholioxenus Reichardt, 1932 from South Africa and Namibia. Afroprinus can be distinguished from Chalcionellus chiefly by the lack of pronotal depressions and a coarsely sculptured, non-metallic dorsum; from Afrotropical species of Pholioxenus it can be most easily distinguished by the asetose pronotal hypomeron. The new taxon was discovered in a cave, but lacks obvious troglophilic adaptations. Notes on other Saprininae taxa found in caves are given. An identification key to the genera of Afrotropical Saprininae is provided

Description of the male of Ctenophilothis altus (Lewis, 1885): supplement to the revision of the genus Ctenophilothis Kryzhanovskij, 1987 (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Saprininae)

A description of the male, including illustrations of the male genitalia, and a colour image of the habitus of the extremely rare species Ctenophilothis altus (Lewis, 1885) are provided for the first time. Further support for the monophyly of the genus Ctenophilothis Kryzhanovskij, 1987 is given