Aphodius Hellwig, 1798

Alekseev, Vitalii I., 2018, Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) Of The Kaliningrad Region (Russia): The Commented Actual Checklist, Assessment Of Rarity And Notes To Regional Protection, Acta Biologica Universitatis Daugavpiliensis 18 (2), pp. 111-152 : 126

Subgenus Aphodius Hellwig, 1798

14. A. fimetarius (Linnaeus, 1758) [=

pedellus (De Geer, 1774) sensu Wilson (2001) ]

Bercio & Folwaczny 1979; Alekseev & Sakhnov 2000; Alekseev 2005, 2007, 2014; Alekseev & Shapoval 2016.

Voucher specimens: 33 [Zelenogradsk, 27 April 1997; Svetlogorsk, 14 May 1997; Dolzhanskoe, 29 June 1997; Rybachii, 10 August 1997, 3 exp.; 1 km E Cherniakhovsk, 06 May 1999, 2 exp.; ibidem, 29 May 2007; Kashirskoe, 22 May 1999; 1 km S Zelenogradsk, 10 June 2000, male edeagus extracted; Sovetsk, 09 July 2000, 2 exp., male edeagus extracted; Kumachevo, 16 June 2001; Kolosovka, 02 June 2001; ibidem, 11 June 2003; 5 km NE Cherniakhovsk, 31 March 2002, 2 exp.; Timiryazevo, 12 June 2007; Kaliningrad, May 2003; ibidem, 19 August 2007, A. fimetarius ab. autumnalis (Naezen, 1792); Krasnoles’e, 07 June 2008; Cherniakhovsk, 1 May 2016; Mechnikov, 09 April 2018; ibidem, 07 May 2018; Medovoe, 10 April 2018, 2 exp.; Baltic Spit, 26 June 2018, 2 exp.; Vzmor’e, 11 September 2018; Sosnovka, 16 October 2018, 3 exp.].

Kaliningrad Region: Common everywhere; Bagr., Chern., Gur., Gus., Gvard., Krasn., Nem., Nest., Oz., Pol., Pravd., Slav., Zel .

Comments: Eutytopic, widely distributed and abundant species occupies a variety of open habitats. It is encountered in different kinds of excrements on pastures, forest edges and in towns; the species is one of the most frequently observed representatives of the subfamily Aphodiinae . The aberration autumnalis (Naezen) is rare and was sampled only once in Kaliningrad. The sibling species A. cardinalis Reitter, 1892 [ = fimetarius (Linnaeus, 1758) sensu Wilson (2001) ], recently discovered on the base of distinctly different karyotype ( Wilson 2001) and sympatric with A. fimetarius within Central and Southern Europe ( Miraldo et al. 2014; Fery & Rössner 2015; Rössner & Fery 2015) was not found. Several externally questionable specimens were dissected, but the genitalia extracted showed the presence of A. fimetarius [ pedellus sensu Wilson ] in the Region only.

15. A. foetens (Fabricius, 1787) [= aestivalis

Stephens, 1839]

Bercio & Folwaczny 1979; Alekseev & Sakhnov 2000 (aestivalis).

Voucher specimens: 47 [Dolzhanskoe, 29 June 1996; Mezhdurech’e, 13 June 2000; Timiryazevo, 12 June 2007; Chenyakhovsk, 18 August 2007; Kostrovo, 10 September 2018, 3 exp.].

Kaliningrad Region: Bagr. (Ludwigsort), Chern. (Insterburg), Gur. (Kleinheide, Königsberg), Zel. (Loppöhnen, Medenau); Chern., Krasn., Zel.

Comments: Widely distributed and frequent coprophagous species on river valleys and meadows.

(16) A. foetidus (Herbst, 1783) [= scybalarius auct. nec (Fabricius, 1781)]

Bercio & Folwaczny 1979 (scybalarius F. ( foetidus Hbst. ));

Kaliningrad Region: Zel. (Cranz).

Comments: The species is known in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia ( Silfverberg 2010), Latvia ( Telnov 2004), and Lithuania ( Tamutis et al. 2011). The actual occurrence of the species in the Kaliningrad Region is possible, but not confirmed by our material.