Apate monachus Fabricius, 1775

Nardi, Gianluca & Mifsud, David, 2015, The Bostrichidae of the Maltese Islands (Coleoptera), ZooKeys 481, pp. 69-108 : 83-85

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Bostrichidae

Apate monachus Fabricius, 1775

Material examined.

Malta: Għargħur, 18.VII.2013, DM, on living branchs of Ficus carica ,1 ♂ (CMM); Manikata, VII.2012, DM, in healthy branch (3-5 cm in diameter) of Ceratonia siliqua tunneled by this beetle, 1 ♀ death (CMM). Mellieħa, Kortin, 24.VII.2004, HB, U.V. light trap, 1 ♀ (CNI); 28.VII.2004, HB, U.V. light trap, 2 ♀♀ (CMM); 29.VII.2004, HB, U.V. light trap, 1 ♂ (CMM); 15.VIII.2004, HB, U.V. light trap, 1 ♂ (CMM); 28.VI.2005, HB, U.V. light trap, 1 ♀ (CMM); 3.VII.2005, HB, U.V. light trap, 1 ♂ (CNI); 5.VII.2005, HB, UV lights, 1 ♀ (CNI); 16.VII.2005, HB, U.V. light trap, 2 ♀♀ (CMM; CNI); 18.VI.2006, HB, UV lights, 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (CMM); 20.VI.2006, HB, UV lights, 1 ♀ (CNI); 2.VII.2006, HB, UV lights, 1 ♀ (CMM); 19.VI.2009, HB, UV lights, 1 ♂ (CMM); 5.VII.2009, HB, UV lights, 3 ♂♂ 1 ♀ (CMM; CNI); 11.VIII.2009, HB, UV lights, 2 ♂♂ (CMM); 13.VIII.2009, HB, UV lights, 1 ♂ (CNI); 22.VIII.2009, HB, UV lights, 1 ♂ (CMM); Mellieħa, Santa Maria Estate, 24.VII.2004, HB, 1 ♀ (CMM).

Other material examined.

Italy: Calabria region, [Cosenza prov.,] Sibari, VII.1924, G. Leoni leg., 1 ex (MCZRL) (cf. Luigioni 1929: 642). Sardinia region, Cagliari prov., Geremeas, 18.VIII.2001, LF, 1 ♀ (CNI); ditto, ditto, [Island of Sant’Antioco,] Sant’Antioco, Torre Canai, 25.VIII.[19]79, Ferrara leg., 1 ♂ (MZUR); ditto, Oristano prov., Arborea, S. Anna, 10.VI.2004, LF, 6 ♂♂ 1 ♀ (CNI); ditto, Nuoro prov., Orosei, VI.1956, E. De Maggi leg., 1 ex (MCZRD); ditto, [Nuoro prov., Siniscola,] Capo Comino, 31.VIII.1973, L.G. Donadini leg., 1 ♀ (MCSV); ditto, [Sassari prov.,] Stintino, Punta Negra, 15.VII.1998, G. Mambrini leg., 1 ♂ (CCI). France: Corsica, Bastia, Pineto, 3.VIII.[19]80, A. Sette leg., 1 ♀ (MCSV).

Chorotype.

Afrotropical-Mediterranean (northward upto Corsica and northern Spain). This species is established in the Neotropical region (Greater Antilles, Brazil, etc.), and was intercepted in southern France, in central European countries and USA (cf. Vrydagh 1960b, Reichardt 1964, Horion 1972, Aitken 1975, Geis 2002, fig. 31, Ivie 2002, Nardi 2004b, Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007, Borowski 2007, Barriga and Cepeda 2009, Ciesla 2011, Brustel and Aberlenc 2014).

Ecology.

The genus Apate Fabricius, 1775 is one of the most notorious and troublesome forest pests in Africa (cf. Schabel 2006). Apate monachus is a polyphagous beetle, with over 80 host-plants used for larval development (cf. Lesne 1924, Rungs 1946, Boselli 1959, as Apate monachus var. rufiventris P.H. Lucas, 1843, Peretz and Cohen 1961, Boselli 1962, as Apathe [sic!] monachus , Chararas and Balakowski 1962, Prota 1963, Zanardi et al. 1969, Zocchi 1971, Halperin and Damoiseau 1980, Luciano 1982, Benfatto and Longo 1985, Sadok and Gerini 1988, Borowski and Mazur 2001, Gobbi 2003, Pisano et al. 2003, Schabel 2006, Bahillo de la Puebla at al. 2007, Di Franco and Benfatto 2008, Bonsignore et al. 2011, Ciesla 2011, Bonsignore 2012, Cillo and Bazzato 2012) of which, the following occur also in Malta (E. Lanfranco, pers. comm., 2014): Acacia spp., Ailanthus glandulosa , Amigdalis comunis , Arbutus unedo , Armeniaca vulgaris , Ceratonia siliqua , Citrus bigaradia , Citrus limon , Citrus limonia , Citrus nobilis , Citrus sinensis , Cupressus sp., Erica sp., Erythrina sp., Eucalyptus spp., Grevillea sp., Malus communis , Malus domestica , Melia azedarach , Myrtus comunis , Olea europaea , Olea europaea var. oleaster , Persica vulgaris , Phoenix dactylifera , Pinus pinea , Pisidium guajava , Pistacia lentiscus , Pyrus amigdaliformis , Pyrus dulcis , Pyrus communis , Pyrus communis var. piraster , Prunus amygdalus , Pyrus armeniaca , Pyrus domestica , Pyrus persica , Pyrus spinosa , Punica granatum , Quercus ilex , Schinus sp., Tamarix sp., and Vitis spp. Adults are nocturnal and as observed also in Malta, they are frequently collected at light (cf. Lesne 1924, Sparacio 1997, Angelini 1998, Ragusa and Russo 1989, Chikatunov et al. 2006, Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007). In the Afrotropical region, Lyctoderma africanum (Grouvelle, 1900) and Lyctoderma testaceum Lesne, 1913 ( Bostrichidae , Lyctinae) are associated with adults of Apate monachus , usually living under the abdomen and between the legs of these beetles ( Lesne 1932, Paulian 1988: 501).

Notes.

First record for Malta and it is not known from neighbouring Sicilian Islands (Tab. 1). Most of the Maltese specimens were collected at Mellieħa, Kortin using U.V. lights, with sex ratio of 1:1. This habitat can be best described as garigue but with pockets of low lying Ceratonia siliqua and Pistacia lentiscus . At Manikata, several healthy branches (3-5 cm in diameter) of Ceratonia siliqua were found tunneled by this beetle; the wood was drilled in the late summer, and the above mentioned specimen was found death in one of these holes. This area was recently converted into an agritouristic area and the owners were very concerned when they found the healthy branches of Ceratonia siliqua damaged by this beetle. According to the above records, the earliest capturs of this species from Malta was 2004. This beetle is very conspicuous (10-19 mm of lenght: Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007) and it may be hypothesised that it is a recently established species in Malta. Having said this however, it is also worth mentioning that very few people in Malta were interested in collecting and studying these beetles in recent years. Apate monachus is also recorded from Tunisia ( Lesne 1924, Borowski 2007) and Italy. In Italy it is known from three southern mainland regions (Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria), Sicily and Sardinia (including some small circumsardinian islands) (cf. Dodero 1908, as Apate monachus ab. rufiventris, Luigioni 1929, Porta 1929, as Apate monachus a. rufiventris, Boselli 1959, 1962, Chararas and Balachowsky 1962, Prota 1963, Tassi 1967, Zanardi et al. 1969, Zocchi 1971, Luciano 1982, Benfatto and Longo 1985, Ragusa and Russo 1989, Audisio et al. 1995, Angelini 1996b, Sparacio 1997, Angelini 1998, Gobbi 2003, Pisano et al. 2003, Bonsignore et al. 2011, Bonsignore 2012, Cillo and Bazzato 2012). Its doubtfull presence “N?”, in northern Italy ( Audisio et al. 1995) was later confirmed by records from South Tyrol ( Kahlen and Hellrigl 1996) that are probably based only on interceptions, since its establisment in the mentioned Alpine region is climatically improbable (Nardi, unpublished data).

The aedeagus of this species was figured by Jeannel and Paulian (1944: 91, figs 75, 87) and by Jeannel (1955: 57, fig. 32c).

The nomenclatorial problems for Apate Fabricius, 1775 were discussed by Borowski and Węgrzynowicz (2009).