Lyctus brunneus (Stephens, 1830)

Nardi, Gianluca & Mifsud, David, 2015, The Bostrichidae of the Maltese Islands (Coleoptera), ZooKeys 481, pp. 69-108 : 72-73

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Bostrichidae

Lyctus brunneus (Stephens, 1830)

Lyctus brunneus Steph.: Cameron and Caruana Gatto 1907: 398.

Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus Steph.: Luigioni 1929: 642.

Lyctus brunneus (Stephens, 1830): Nardi 2004a, Denux and Zagatti 2010: 366.

Literature records.

Malta: Valletta ( Cameron and Caruana Gatto 1907); “Mal.” [= Malta] ( Luigioni 1929); Malta ( Nardi 2004a, Denux and Zagatti 2010).

Material examined.

Malta: Naxxar, 7.IX.1997, DD, [in human abitation], 2 ♂♂ (CMM); Rabat, Wied ta l-Isqof, 28.VI.2002, PS, [in an agricultural area], 1 ♀ (CNI).

Chorotype.

Cosmopolitan ( Borowski 2007, as Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus ). This species is widespread in the Palaeartic region (cf. Nardi 2004a, Borowski 2007), but the followings countries were overlooked in the species distribution summarized by Nardi (2004a) and/or Borowski (2007): Algeria ( Peyerimhoff 1919, as Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus , Lesne 1924), Austria ( Horion 1961, Lucht 1987, Adlbauer 1998, Nardi 2004a, Denux and Zagatti 2010, Querner et al. 2011), Azores (cf. Borges 1990, Nardi 2004a, Oromí et al. 2010), Belarus, Bulgaria ( Denux and Zagatti 2010), Canary Islands (cf. Machado and Oromí 2000, Nardi 2004a, Oromí et al. 2009), Corsica (cf. Becker 1969, Geis 2002), Croatia ( Damoiseau 1966, Nardi 2004a), Cyprus ( Baudi di Selve 1873, 1874, Georghiou 1977, Nardi 2004a), Egypt ( Kaszab 1959, Attia and Kamel 1965, in both cases as Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus , Hanna 1970, Alfieri 1976, Hamad and Aly 1985), Fujian (southeastern China) (Vrydagh 1960), Greece ( Damoiseau 1966, Nardi 2004a, Denux and Zagatti 2010), Iran ( Adeli 1972, Niloufari 1985), Israel (cf. Halperin and Geis 1999, Chikatunov et al. 2004 b, 2006), Latvia ( Denux and Zagatti 2010), Poland (cf. Burakowsi et al. 1986, Nardi 2004a, Jabłoński et al. 2007, Krajewski and Mazurek 2009), Serbia and Montenegro ( Glavendekic et al. 2005, Denux and Zagatti 2010) and Turkey (cf. Gerberg 1957, Akbulut et al. 2008).

Ecology.

In tropical areas this species develops in the wood of a large number of unrelated plants, whereas in temperate regions (where the species is considered as an established alien) it develops mainly in hardwood timber (e.g. Castanea sativa , Fraxinus exelsior , Junglans regia , Quercus spp., Ulmus spp., etc.) primarily in synanthropical environments (workshops, plywood industries, private houses). In the West Palaearctic region, the species was also found in local trees ( Alnus , Eucalyptus , Ulmus , etc.) which were in poor health conditions. The passive transport of this beetle has been documented with both wooden products (timbers, tables, furniture, ethnographic collection, briers, etc.) and manioc (cf. Lesne 1924, Lepesme 1944, Español 1956a, Gerberg 1957, Cymorek 1961, Burlini 1972, Aitken 1975, Cavalloro and Ratti 1978, Gambetta and Orlandi 1982a, Gambetta 1983, Wang et al. 1996, Halperin and Geis 1999, as Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus , Geis 2002, Peters et al. 2002, Chikatunov et al. 2004, Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007, as Lyctus (Xylotrogus) brunneus , Mattson et al. 2007, Krajewski and Mazurek 2009, Denux and Zagatti 2010, Geis 2012). According to Gambetta and Orlandi (1982b: 55), Lyctus brunneus and Trogoxylon impressum (Comolli, 1837) are the two species of Lyctinae which are the most widespread in woods in Italian storage situations.

Notes.

A species native to Asia which has been established throughout Europe for more than 150 years ( Denux and Zagatti 2010). The recently collected material confirm its presence in Malta. In the nearby countries, the species is recorded from Tunisia ( Lesne 1924, Normand 1936, Borowski 2007) but not from Sicily (cf. Audisio et al. 1995, Sparacio 1997, Chiappini et al. 2001, Nardi 2004a, Denux and Zagatti 2010). Accurate information and illustrations on the morphology of all stages of this species were provided by Iwata and Nishimoto (1981, 1982) and Kucerová and Stesjkal (2008). Moreover the genitalia of both sexes was illustrated by different authors (e.g. Altson 1924: pls. 31-34, Gerberg 1957: pl. II, figs 15-16, Cymorek 1961: 81, fig. 3c, Iwata and Nishimoto 1982: 19, figs 42-44).