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The purpose of this work was to establish the composition of the community of beetles associated with xylotrophic fungi on the territory of the Saratov city landscapes which diff ers from the natural forest regional ecosystems. Collections of coleoptera (imagos and larvae) were carried out in the spring-summer period 2017–2020 from fruiting bodies of various xylotrophic basidiomycetes from deciduous tree species of the city areas in the Volzhsky, Kirovsky, Frunzensky, Oktyabrsky and Zavodsky districts of the town. When collecting the material, various methods were used: manual collection, fl otation method and mounted traps. Beetles were found on 129 fruiting bodies of 7 species of xylotrophic fungi. 986 beetles’ specimens of 29 species from 8 families were collected on fruiting bodies of various xylotrophic fungi. The mycetophilic beetles’ community is based on Staphylinidae (41.3%), Tenebrionidae (17.2%), Erotylidae (10.3%), Mycetophagidae (6,8%) and Ciidae (10.3%). The most typical for xylotrophic fungi were eight beetles’ species: Anotylus nitidulus (Gravenhorst, 1802), Gyrophaena joyi Wendeler, 1924 (Staphylinidae), Diaperis bolete (Linnaeus, 1758), Eledona agricola (Herbst, 1783) (Tenebrionidae), Cis comptus Gyllenhal, 1827 (Ciidae), Mycetophagus quadripustulatus (Linnaeus, 1760) (Mycetophagidae), Dacne bipustulata (Thunberg, 1781) and D. pontica (Bedel, 1868) (Erotylidae). It has been established that three main trophic groups of Coleoptera are associated with xylotrophic fungi, among which more than 76% were specialized mycetobionts – obligate mycetophagans, for which fungi are the only or predominant food source. Over 21% accounted for the share of mixophagans and only 3% of the species complex falls on the third group – predators (zoophagous).

New faunistic data are presented for six water beetle families from Mongolia. The family Dryopidae, with the genus Dryops Olivier, 1791, and the genus Platambus Thomson, 1859 of the family Dytiscidae are recorded for the first time from Mongolia. Agabus semipunctatus (Kirby, 1837), previously known only from the Nearctic Region, is reported for the first time from the Palearctic. Eight species of water beetles are recorded for the first time from Mongolia: Dytiscidae (6): Agabus mandsuricus (Guignot, 1956), A. semipunctatus, Platambus maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Hydroporus cf. breviusculus Poppius, 1905, H. goldschmidti Gschwendtner, 1923, H. striola (Gyllenhal, 1826); Hydrophilidae (1): Laccobius binotatus Orchymont, 1934; Dryopidae (1): Dryops similaris Bollow, 1936. The presence of Rhantus suturalis (Macleay, 1825) is confirmed for the fauna of Mongolia. First province records are listed for 41 species, and for four species of Hydraenidae, the list of literature-based province records provided by Prokin et al. (2020) is supplemented or respectively corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the aquatic and semi-aquatic beetles collected from the 'Sarykumskie Barkhany' section of the Dagestan Nature Reserve is provided. Altogether, 61 water-associated and terrestrial (Helophorus nubilus Fabricius, 1777 and three species of Cercyon Leach, 1817) beetle species are recorded from this territory, of which 44 species are recorded for the first time from the studied area, 18 species are newly reported from the Dagestan Republic, and eight species are newly recorded from the North Caucasus Region. Ochthebius lividipennis Peyron, 1858 (Hydraenidae) is reported for the first time from Russia. Also, because of possible discovery of Dryops caspius (Ménétries, 1832) (Dryopidae) in the territory considered, the lectotype of this species is designated in the current work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-eight species of water beetles and shore beetles are recorded for the first time from Mongolia: Dytiscidae (16): Acilius sulcatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Agabus amoenus (Solsky, 1874), A. blatta Jakowlew, 1897, A. japonicus continentalis Guéorguiev, 1970, A. moestus (Curtis, 1835), A. thomsoni (Sahlberg, 1871), Bidessus nasutus Sharp, 1887, Colymbetes dolabratus (Paykull, 1798), Dytiscus circumcinctus Ahrens, 1811, Hydaticus aruspex Clark, 1864, H. continentalis Balfour-Browne, 1944, Hydroglyphus trassaerti (Feng, 1936), Hygrotus confluens (Fabricius, 1787), Laccornis oblongus (Stephens, 1835), Nebrioporus assimilis (Paykull, 1798), Rhantus rufus Zimmermann, 1922; Helophoridae (3): Helophorus bergrothi Sahlberg, 1880, H. kryzanovskii Angus, 1984, H. timidus Motschulsky, 1860; Hydrophilidae (6): Crenitis apicalis (Reitter, 1896), Enochrus coarctatus (Gredler, 1863), E. melanocephalus (Olivier, 1792), E. testaceus (Fabricius, 1801), Laccobius syriacus Guillebeau, 1896, Paracymus chalceolus Solsky, 1874; Hydraenidae (1): Ochthebius joosti Jäch, 1992; Heteroceridae (2): Augyles obliteratus (Kiesenwetter, 1843), Heterocerus marginatus (Fabricius, 1787). The presence of Haliplus ruficollis (De Geer, 1774) (Haliplidae), Hydroglyphus hamulatus (Gyllenhal, 1813) (Dytiscidae), Cercyon marinus (Thomson, 1853), Hydrophilus dauricus Mannerheim, 1852, Paracymus aeneus (Germar, 1824) (Hydrophilidae), and Ochthebius evanescens Sahlberg, 1875 (Hydraenidae) in Mongolia is confirmed by new findings. For 76 species, new faunistic records are listed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass reproduction of Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) was recorded in many Russian regions in 2018-2020. The material was collected from 13 areas of the Central Russia and the Volga region, and from one area of the Caucasus. New data on the distribution in the European part of Russia of the invasive Harmonia axyridis is presented. The species recorded for from the Republic of Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Kursk, Tambov, Astrakhan regions and the Chechen Republic for the first time. The ratio of morphs of the species in some localities was analyzed. Red morphs (f. succinea and f. spectabilis) apparently dominated, which can be explained by their longer lifespan. The nominative morph (f. axyridis) was observed for populations of H. axyridis from the Kursk region. Probably, the expansion of the species in European Russia has two ways: the first from the side of Western and Eastern Europe, and the second from the Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on our own research and literature sources, the known distribution of Protaetia fieberi (Kraatz, 1880) (P. f. boldyrevi (Jacobson, 1909)) (Insecta, Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) in the European part of Russia is discussed Reliably this species is known from 23 administrative unitss (excludingdoubtful indication from the Vologda region). The species is not yet recorded northwards of Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov regions and the Republic of Udmurtia. Presumably it should also occurs in Bryansk, Kursk, Lipetsk, Orel, Smolensk regions, the republics of Bashkortostan and Mari El. the Volga River it is found only in Volgograd and Saratov regions. In the south of European Russia P. fieberi is noted only in Novorossiysk. In the south of the Don River and in the Caucasus the species was not recorded. The main habitats are old deciduous forests with oak, linden, old willow, and black poplars. Imagines are found in the daytime on oak sap, as well as on various flowering plants like Umbelliferae, Asteraceae and Rosaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epimetopidae are a small beetle family of the superfamily Hydrophiloidea, comprising 72 described species in three genera: the American Epimetopus Lacordaire, 1854 (56 species), Asian Eumetopus Balfour-Browne, 1949 (eight species) and African Eupotemus Ji & Jäch, 1998 (eight species, of which six are described as new here). In this study we illustrate and compare the adult morphology of all three genera and generate the first DNA sequences for Eumetopus and Eupotemus. The morphological data and sequences of four genes (cox1, 16S, 18S and 28S) are used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among genera. Both strongly support the monophyly of Epimetopidae, reveal Eumetopus as the earliest diverging taxon and Epimetopus + Eupotemus as a strongly supported clade with numerous synapomorphies. The reciprocal monophyly of Epimetopus and Eupotemus is strongly supported by DNA data but not in the morphological analysis which reveals Epimetopus paraphyletic. Eumetopus, despite being the earliest branching clade, is characterized by many unique derived structures, e.g. by the presence of the sperm pump in males (unique in Hydrophiloidea). The available data on the biology of Epimetopidae indicate that most species inhabit sandy to muddy margins of streams or rivers. Females of all three genera carry egg cases; Epimetopidae hence are one of three independent lineages of Hydrophiloidea in which this behavior evolved. Larvae are only known for Epimetopus and are characterized by morphological adaptations for feeding by piercing and sucking, a closed tracheal system and abdominal gills; larvae of Eumetopus and Eupotemus remain unknown and further research is needed to confirm whether they show the same adaptations as Epimetopus. The taxonomy of the African genus Eupotemus is revised, with six species described as new: E. bilobatus sp. nov. (Nigeria), E. cameroonensis sp. nov. (Cameroon), E. ophioglossus sp. nov. (Gabon, Togo), E. smithi sp. nov. (Côte d'Ivoire), E. taianus sp. nov. (Côte d'Ivoire) and E. uluguru sp. nov. (Tanzania). Eupotemus limicola Delève, 1967 is fixed as the type species of the genus according to ICZN (1999: Art. 70.3). New records of Eumetopus species are provided (E. acutimontis Ji & Jäch, 1998 from Vietnam, E. bullatus (Sharp, 1875) from India: Maharashtra, E. flavidulus (Sharp, 1890) from India: Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, E. maindroni (Régimbart, 1903) from India: Maharashtra and Gujarat, and E. weigeli Skale & Jäch, 2003 from India: Uttarakhand). The habitus of all species is illustrated. An updated checklist of the Epimetopus species is provided, and records of two specimens of the E. costatus group from Zambia and Saudi Arabia are considered to result from either accidental introductions or mislabelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]