Nalassus (Nalassus) brevicollis (Krynicki, 1832)

Nabozhenko, Maxim V., Gagarina, Ludmila V. & Chigray, Ivan A., 2022, A New Nalassus Mulsant, 1854 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) From Transcaucasia With A Key To Species From The Greater Caucasus And Notes On The Taxonomy, Distribution, Bionomics And Trophic Relations, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 68 (2), pp. 119-158 : 122-124

Nalassus (Nalassus) brevicollis (Krynicki, 1832)

( Fig. 1 )

Material. 10 specimens (UC): Russia: Karachay-Cherkessia, Verkhnyaya Teberda, 43°33ʹ45.33ʺN, 41°48ʹ52.90ʺE, 1150 m, 7– 8.07.2021, on Salix sp. (leg. M. V. Nabozhenko, I. V. Shokhin, D. G. Kasatkin, E. N. Terskov). 5 m, 4 f (PCMN): Abkhazia, the confluence of Bzyb and Gega rivers, 43°22ʹ00.53ʺN, 40°27ʹ21.26ʺE, 134 m, on Carpinus betulus , 26.05.2004 (collectors of Rostov State University).

Distribution in the Greater Caucasus. This species is widely distributed in lowmountain and foothill forests of the west and central parts of the North Caucasus, reaching 1150 m a.s.l. along the river valleys. Russia: Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia – Alania. Abkhazia: the confluence of Bzyb and Gega rivers.

Nalassus (Nalassus) dissonus Nabozhenko, 2001

( Fig. 2 )

= Nalassus lutshniki Nabozhenko, 2001 , syn. n.

Material (DE MSU) . 1 m: Russia, North Ossetia-Alania, Mozdok Distr., Oktyabrskoe , agrocenoses, 19.05.1988 (leg. S. K. Alexeev) ; 1 f: Russia, North Ossetia-Alania, Alagir Distr. , Nizhniy Unal , 1200 m, opposite slopes, mountain steppe, 18.05.1985 (leg. S. K. Alexeev); 1 m: Russia, North Ossetia-Alania, Alagir Distr., Ardon River basin from Nizhniy Unal to Biz , 11.06.1985 (leg. S. K. Alexeev) ; 1 m: Russia, North Ossetia-Alania, Alagir Distr., Ardon River basin opposite slopes of Zintsar , 1000 m, Astragalus steppe, 9.06.1985 (leg. S. K. Alexeev); 1 m: the same label, but 9.07.1985 (leg. S. K. Alexeev).

Taxonomic notes. The species Nalassus lutshniki was described from Stavropol Region of Russia (Blagodarnoe). The first author ( NABOZHENKO 2001) erroneously interpreted differences between N. dissonus and N. lutshniki : presence or absence of the temple row on the ventral side of the epicranium and the structure of the apical piece of the aedeagus. In fact, both taxa are conspecific and have the same mentioned structures. Differences in the structure of aedeagus, illustrated by NABOZHENKO (2001), belong to a variability. This re- sults in the following synonymy: Nalassus dissonus Nabozhenko, 2001 = Nalassus lutshniki Nabozhenko, 2001 , syn. n.

Distribution. Russia: Stavropol Region (probably extinct), North Ossetia-Alania, steppes.

Nalassus (Nalassus) faldermanni (Faldermann, 1837)

( Fig. 3 )

Distribution in the Greater Caucasus. This species is widely distributed in the CisСaucasia and semi-xerophytic foothills of the southern part of the Greater Caucasus: Russia (Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan), Abkhazia (Sukhum), Georgia (North-Eastern regions), Azerbaijan (north provinces). Bionomics and differences between populations were published earlier (NABOZHEN- KO et al. 2016 b, NABOZHENKO & GRIMM 2019).

Nalassus (Nalassus) kalashiani Nabozhenko, 2001

( Fig. 4 )

Material. 3 m, 3 f (1 m, 2 f in ZIN, 2 m, 1 f in PCMN): Russia, Dagestan, N of Levashi , 42°27ʹ55.21ʺN, 47°20ʹ31.86ʺE, limestone mountain steppe, 1144 m, 14.06.2021 (leg. M. V. Nabozhenko, I. A. Chigray). Distribution. The eastern part of the North Caucasus. Russia: Dagestan, Chechnya .

Figures

Fig. 1. N. brevicollis, habitus, details of structure. A = m, dorsally; B = m, ventrally; C = f, dorsally; D = m, abdomen; E = m, head and pronotum

Fig. 2. N. dissonus, habitus, details of structure. A = m, holotype, dorsally; B = f, paratype, dorsally; C = head, ventrally; D = m, abdomen

Fig. 3. N. faldermanni, habitus, details of structure. A = m, dorsally; B = m, ventrally; C = f, dorsally; D = m, abdomen; E = m, head and pronotum

Fig. 4. N. kalashiani, habitus, details of structure. A = m, dorsally; B = f, dorsally; C = m, head and pronotum