Entomoscelis sacra sensu Kippenberg, 1994

Mikhailov, Yuri E., 2019, Review of leaf beetles from the genus Entomoscelis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Zootaxa 4619 (2), pp. 285-296 : 293-294

Entomoscelis sacra sensu Kippenberg, 1994

Entomoscelis sacra (Linnaeus) was described from Palestine and since then nobody examined the type but the name was used by J. Weise (1882) and several authors later on to indicate a species from Central Europe other than E. adonidis and E. suturalis Weise. The review of such indications was given by A. Warchalowski (1994) and Ge et al. (2009) who treated them as questionable or erroneous. In a situation when the type of E. sacra (Linnaeus) is still unknown and E. sacra auct. (exactly sensu Kippenberg 1994) does not occur in Israel, it is more correct to treat the species in question as E. dorsalis (Fabricius) (H. Kippenberg, pers. comm). But prior to the final decision I keep treating this species as E. sacra following the known key by Kippenberg (1994).

Lopatin (1967) examined specimens from Austria treated as E. sacra by Jacob (1954) and indicated their difference from typical E. adonidis , especially the more rounded and convex body and some (not indicated) peculiarities in aedeagus structure. However Lopatin (1967) concluded that Austrian specimens should be a local race of E. adonidis at most. In spite of this Kippenberg (1994) included two species, namely E. adonidis and E. sacra , in the key for Middle Europe that can be readily distinguished by the shape of body, tarsi and aedeagus. I studied specimens from Austria, Slovakia and Hungary concerning such treatment of E. sacra . They differ from E. adonidis by a shorter and wider body, short and rounded 3 rd tarsomere in females and more curved shorter aedeagus in males ( Fig. 5–7 ).

The specimens from South Kazakhstan (see records below) differ from E. adonidis ( Figs. 1d ) with the same characters but each have a well developed longitudinal stripe on elytra ( Fig. 1f ), which is reduced in specimens from Europe ( Fig. 1e ).

Concerning Central Asia, G. Jacobson (1894; 1901) recorded E. sacra from specimens collected on 25.06.1892 by P. Schmidt from Kastek (now in Almaty Area of Kazakhstan, N 43°05’03”, E 75°59’03”) and from specimens collected on 20– 21.06.1896 by K.E. Stenroos from Merke (now in Zhambyl Area of Kazakhstan, N 42°51’48”, E 73°10’27”). I could not find these specimens in ZIN, although some others, indicated in the same publications, are preserved there. These records are questionable, although they are close to the locality in South Kazakhstan (env. of Turkestan) from where this species is reported here. E. sacra was reported moreover by Jacobson (1901) from Merv, the ancient town on Murgab river near Bayram-Ali in Mary velayat of Turkmenistan, and by Bechyné (1961) from Herat in western Afghanistan. I put the mentioned records on the map ( Fig. 3 ) although I cannot prove them.

Therefore we can see the extreme western and south-eastern parts of the distribution area of E. sacra , i.e. Central Europe and Central Asia. Is the distribution really so disjunctive or any intermediate localities exist?

My examination of Entomoscelis specimens in ZIN yielded additional localities. The majority of them are concentrated in South Urals, exactly on the territory of Bashkortostan Republic of Russia near Ufa city (see map on Fig. 2 ). One more locality was found in Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine. The indications for E. sacra are given for Russia and Ukraine for the first time.

Specimens examined: 1 ♂, ( Austria) Leithageb. A., Neusiedl. Lechner u Jacob ( ZIN) ; 2♂♂, Slovakia 8178, Kamenica n. Hr. env., 7.6.1994, J. Odehnal leg. ( YMC) ; 2♂♂, 1♀, Slovakia mer., Silic. planina, 20.6.1956, Vorišek leg. ( YMC) ; 1 ♂, Hungaria bor., Vertes mts., Csakbereny, 12.5.1996, A. Bezdek ( YMC) .

Previously known distribution: Austria, Slovakia, Hungary ( Kippenberg 1994; Warchalowski 1994).

New records:

Kazakhstan: 3♂♂, 2♀♀, South Kazakhstan, Turkestan (former South-Kazakhstan) Area, 40 km NW Turkes- tan, env. of Sauran , N 45º30’55”, E 67º46’07”, 8.05.2005, V. Kozlov ( YMC) ;

Russia: South Urals, Resp. Bashkortostan: 1 ♂, Belebeyevsky uezd Ufimskoi gubernii, Skosarevsky and Peskova (date not indicated) ( ZIN); 1 ♂, Aksenovo , Ufimsk. gub. (now in Alsheevsky district , N 53°55’00”, E 54°36’14”), VI .1900, Krulikovsky ( ZIN); 1 ♂, d. Alexandrovsk, Belebeyevsky uezd Ufimsk. gub. (now proba- bly Maloalexandrovka N 54°14’50”, E 53°54’41”), I. Sokolov, VII–VIII. 1907 ( ZIN); 1 ♂, Ufa, 3–10.VII.1954 ( YMC) ;

Ukraine: 1 ♂, Bagovitsa , Kamenetsk. u., Pod. gub. (now a village in Kamenets-Podolsky district of Khmel- nitsky region, N 48°36‘52“, E 26°43‘03“), 21.06.1896, Sainog leg. ( ZIN) .

In the more modern key to leaf beetles of Russia and adjacent countries of Eastern Europe ( Bienkowski 2004) only two species were included, namely E. adonidis and E. suturalis , and both of them were indicated for Kazakhstan and Middle Asia. But unlike E. adonidis the presence of E. suturalis in the mentioned region is not supported by other reviews ( Ge et al. 2009; Lopatin 2010) or the material examined by me, anyway, I include it in the key below and further collecting efforts will prove its presence or not.

Figures

FIGURES 1a–h. Entomoscelis spp., habitus, dorsal view. a, E. pilula Lopatin, male, West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk Area, Aktolagai plateau; b, E. pilula, female, the same locality; c, E. pilula, female, paratype, Azerbaijan, Baku; d, E. adonidis (Pallas), male, Eastern Kazakhstan, 30 km NNW Kurchum; e, E. sacra, male, South Kazakhstan, 40 km NW Turkestan; f, E. sacra, male, Slovakia, Kamenica; g, E. suturalis Weise, female, Jordan, Petra; h, E. erythrocnema, male, Tajikistan, 40 km W Khujand. Scale bar—1.0 mm.

FIGURE 2. Distribution map of Entomoscelis in Kazakhstan: known localities correlated with natural-climatic zones and subzones (according the data from the State of environment of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2000).

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Entomoscelis in Central Asia. Abbreviations: AF—Afghanistan, KG—Kyrgyzstan, TD— Tajikistan, TM—Turkmenistan, UZ—Uzbekistan. For Kazakhstan only a part of localities on the eastern borders are shown, others are given on Figure 2.

FIGURES 4–11. Aedeagi of Entomoscelis spp. in dorsal and lateral view. 4, E. adonidis (East-Kazakhstan Area, west piedmonts of Narymsky mt. range)—variability in one locality; 5–6, E. sacra (South Kazakhstan, 40 km NW Turkestan)—variability in one locality; 7, E. sacra (Russia, Bashkortostan, former Belebeyevsky uezd Ufimskoi gubernii); 8, E. pilula (West Kazakhstan, Aktyubinsk Area, Aktolagai plateau); 9, E. pilula (West Kazakhstan, Northern Ustyurt, chink Donguztau), 10, E. suturalis (Turkey, env. of Gülsehir); 11, E. erythrocnema (Tajikistan, 40 km W Khujand). Scale bar—1.0 mm.