The first cupedine beetle from Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Cupedidae)

A rare archaic beetle, Mallecupes qingqingae gen. et sp. n., (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata: Cupedidae) is described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. It shows affinity with Paracupes found in South America today and ‘Paracupes’ found in North America during the Cretaceous. Archostemata are diverse in Burmese amber.     

Review of the family Anthribidae (Coleoptera) from the Jurassic of Karatau: Subfamily Protoscelinae. Genus Protoscelis Medvedev

The subfamily Protoscelinae from the Middle to Late Jurassic of Karatau is transferred from the family Chrysomelidae to the family Anthribidae. The genus Protoscelis, comprising five species, is reviewed. Males and females of the genus are described and keys to the identification of male and female specimens are provided. The new species P. medvedevi sp. nov. is described. The generic names Cerambyomima Medvedev, 1968, Pseudomegamerus Medvedev, 1968 and Protosceloides Medvedev, 1968 are synonymized under Protoscelis Medvedev, 1968, and the species Pseudomegamerus grandis Medvedev, 1968 is synonymized under Cerambyomima longicornis Medvedev, 1968. The new combinations Protoscelis longicornis (Medvedev, 1968) comb. nov. and P. nitidicornis (Medvedev, 1968) comb. nov. are established.     

The first fossil Athyreini beetle (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae)

The first fossil Athyreini in the subfamily of Bolboceratinae from the family of Geotrupidae, ?Amberathyreus beuteli Bai et Zhang gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a specimen from the mid-Cretaceous Myanmar (Burmese) amber from northern Myanmar. Its external morphology (including 3D reconstruction of the head and pronotum) was analyzed and compared with all known genera of Athyreini. ?Amberathyreus’ close relationship between Athyreini and Bolboceratini is supported. ?Amberathyreus was likely active at night and lived in a lowland environment. The finding of ?Amberathyreus greatly enrich our knowledge of Athyreini.     

The first record of the subfamily Xenoscelinae (Coleoptera,Erotylidae) from the Baltic amber

The first Erotylidae of the subfamily Xenoscelinae from the Late Eocene Baltic amber, Warnis tvanksticus gen. et sp. nov., is described. The new genus is distinguished from closely related Xenoscelis Woll. and Zavaljus Reitt. by the presence of well-developed femoral lines on the first abdominal ventrite and also the shape of the pronotum, the body size, the absence of lateral carina on the elytra or pits at the base of the pronotum, and the presence of a gular pit.     

New species of the genus Glaesotropis (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthribidae) from Rovno amber

A new species of the fungus weevil genus Glaesotropis is described from the Late Eocene Rovno amber. G. diadiasashai sp. nov. differs from G. weitschati and G. minor described from Baltic amber in having a longer rostrum and in the structure of its antennae, with the third and fourth antennomeres being longer than the first and second ones. Additionally, the new species differs from G. weitschati in being smaller, in having unswollen frons, and weakly and smoothly concave elytral margin near hind coxae. The new species also differs from G. minor in having an uninterrupted posterior transverse carina on the pronotum, elytra less convex longitudinally, and a slightly broadened rostrum at the attachment of antennae.     

Home range size in two darkling beetle species (Coleoptera,Tenebrionidae) from Southern Kazakhstan

The repeated collecting of marked darkling beetle species, including the diurnal species Tentyria gigas and the nocturnal species Cyphogenia gibba from Kazakhstan demonstrated that their home ranges constituted 457 and 360 m², respectively. More than 500 beetles from an area of 2.5 ha were marked by engraving numbers on their elytra. Beetles were observed during two seasons at a distance covering 2 km from the site of release. Sex was determined in a quarter of all the beetles. In females and males of T. gigas, the home range constituted 700 and 552 m², respectively; in C. gibba, 599 and 343 m², respectively. Small home ranges of these species can be explained by the presence of numerous predators, occasional death of beetles under cattle’s hoofs, and a great number and high density of shelters.     

A basal oxyteline rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) from the Early Cretaceous of China: Oldest record for the tribe Euphaniini

A remarkable new rove beetle, Protodeleaster glaber gen. et sp. nov, is described and illustrated based on two well-preserved specimens from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China. The new genus is placed in the extant staphylinid subfamily Oxytelinae, and recent tribe Euphaniini, based on several characteristic features (e.g. a single pair of wide paratergites on abdominal segments; open procoxal fissures; contiguous mesocoxae; abdominal sternite II short and poorly sclerotized). This find from the Early Cretaceous documents the oldest fossil representative of the tribe Euphaniini. Morphologically, it resembles most closely the recent genus Platydeleaster Schülke, 2003, an unusual member of the extant Oxytelinae. According to the currently accepted hypothesis of the phylogenetic position of Euphaniini and the prior discovery of other taxa from the Late Jurassic, we suggest the tribe might have first appeared at least as early as the Late Jurassic.     

New Obrieniidae from the jurassic of Kazakhstan (Coleoptera,Obrienioidea)

A new subfamily, Pseudobrieniinae, including the new genus Pseudobrienia and the new species Pseudobrienia rasnitsyni, Kararhynchus jurassicus, and K. gratshevi, are described from the Middle-Late Jurassic of Karatau. K. occiduus Zherikhin et Gratshev, 1993 is redescribed.     

The first record of the family Cleridae (Coleoptera): Shartegopsis miranda gen. et sp. nov. in the mesozoic (Shar-Teg, Upper Jurassic, Southwestern Mongolia)

A new genus and species of the family Cleridae, Shartegopsis miranda gen. et sp. nov., is described from Shar-Teg (southwestern Mongolia, Upper Jurassic). Judging by the characters that can be examined, it can probably belong to the subfamily Tillinae, and it is the earliest known member of the family. Mathesius liaoningensis Kolíbac et Huang, 2011 is considered closely related to species of the paleoendemic family Parandrexidae.     

New click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) from the cretaceous of Russia and Kazakhstan

A new tribe, two new genera, and seven new species of click beetles are described: Pollostelaterini, trib. nov., Pollostelater baissensis, gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia (Baisa locality), five new species in the genus Cryptocoelus Dolin et Nel C. sinitshenkovae, sp. nov. (Romanovka locality), C. shcherbakovi, sp. nov., C. baissensis, sp. nov., C. lukashevichae, sp. nov., C. dolini, sp. nov. (all from Baisa locality), and Turonelater giganteus, gen. et sp. nov. from the Turonian of Southern Kazakhstan (Kzyl-Dzhar locality).     

The first fossil Paussine (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from Mexican amber

Eohomopterus simojovelensis n. sp., the first fossil record of the subfamily Paussinae (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from the Miocene amber of the Simojovel area, Chiapas, Mexico, is described. The morphology of the new species is compared withEohomopterus poinari Nagel, 1997 from Dominican amber as well as with extant representatives ofEohomopterus, and the biogeographical implications are discussed.      

Ranodon cf.Sibiriens (Amphibia,Caudata) from the upper pliocene of Southern Kazakhstan: The first fossil record of the family Hynobiidae

PalZ - Remains of a hynobiid salamanderRanodon cf.Sibiriens are reported from the Upper Pliocene (Early Villafranchian, mammal zone MN 16) of the Zaili Alatau Range, southern Kazakhstan. Vertebrae...     

Potential resistance of crape myrtle cultivars to flea beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Japanese beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) damage

Field and laboratory studies were conducted to identify potential resistance among crape myrtles, Lagerstroemia spp., to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman and to flea beetles, Altica spp. Damage ratings revealed variation among cultivars in susceptibility to beetle feeding. Cultivars with Lagerstroemia fauriei Koehne in their parentage exhibited the least amount of damage in choice and no-choice experiments, with few exceptions. The data indicate that both beetle species cause more feeding damage on certain cultivars of Lagerstroemia indica L., such as 'Country Red', 'Twilight', and 'Carolina Beauty' than interspecific cultivars with L. fauriei in their parentage, such as 'Natchez', 'Tonto', and 'Muskogee'. When comparing the effect of parentage on all of the major pests of crape myrtle, L. faurei confers resistance to all pests except crape myrtle aphid. No correlation was found between leaf toughness, leaf color, and leaf nutrients in estimating flea beetle cultivar preference. With this information, growers can more effectively target scouting measures to the most susceptible cultivars. and breeders can select plants that will require the fewest chemical inputs.     

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.     

An Iridovirus from the black beetle,Heteronychus arator (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae)

Abstract

Iridescent virus type 23 from the black beetle (Heteronychus arator) replicated in Spodoptera frugiperda cells, producing some cell vacuolation after 3 days and extensive vacuolation and detachment of cells 7 days after infection. The virus also replicated in Aedes albopictus cells, and in the larvae and pupae of Galleria mellonella.     

New beetle species of the genus Lasiosyne (Coleoptera, Lasiosynidae) from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Russia and Mongolia

Six new species of the genus Lasiosyne Tan et al., 2007, the type genus of the family Lasiosynidae Kirejtshuk et al., 2010, are described from Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of Mongolia and East Siberia: L. shartegiensis sp. nov., L. insculpta sp. nov., L. longitarsa sp. nov., L. cataphracta sp. nov., L. punctata sp. nov., and L. decora sp. nov. A modified diagnosis of the genus is proposed.     

The first study on the bacterial flora of the european spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus micans (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

The European spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus micans Kugelann (Coleoptera, Scolytidae), is one of the most serious pests of oriental spruce (Picea orientalis L.) in Turkey. In this study, we investigated bacterial flora of D. micans collected from different populations of the forests of Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey from 2002 to 2004. Seven different bacteria were isolated from healthy, diseased and dead specimens based on the color of colony and morphology. According to morphological, physiological and biochemical properties, metobolic enyzme profile by BIOLOG microtiter plate system, and total cellular fatty acid profile by Microbial Identification System (MIS), isolates were identified as Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. morrisoni, Serratia grimesii, Enterobacter cloaceae, Enterobacter intermedius, Streptococcus sp. and Pseudomonas putida. This is the first study on the bacterial flora of D. micans.