New record of the steppe longhorn beetle species Phytoecia (Musaria) argus (G. F. Frölich, 1793) (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) in Bulgaria Gradinarov, Denis Gjonov, Ilia ZooNotes 2020 2020-01-31 155 1 4 4HLSR (G. F. Frolich, 1793) G. F. Frolich 1793 [285,802,1845,1870] Insecta Cerambycidae Phytoecia Animalia Coleoptera 0 1 Arthropoda species argus  ( Fig. 1C, Fig. 2A, B)  Material examined:  Bulgaria: W Stara Planinarange, Chepun Mts., 2,5 km NW Golemo Malovo Vill., 42°57’17.9’’N 22°59’06.6’’E,  1065 m., dry calcareous grassland,  11.05.2019, 1 ♂, net sweeping, I. Gjonovleg. ( BFUS); the same data, but 42°57’17.5’’N 22°59’12.6’’E,  1078 m.,  17.05.2019, 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, hand collection, D. Gradinarov& I. Gjonovleg. ( BFUS). All specimens collected by hand collection were found individually around the stems of  Trinia glauca(L.) Dumort. ( Apiaceae), on the ground ( Fig. 1B, C).  Species of the genus  SeseliL. ( Apiaceae) are most commonly cited as host plants of  Ph. argus( Bense 1995, Rejzek et al.2001, Sama 2002, Migliaccio et al.2007, Hoskovec et al.2019). Known host plants of  Seseligenus are summarized by Rejzek et al.(2001), including the following species –  S. pallasiiBesser(syn.  S. variumTrev.),  S. annuumL.,  S. montanumsubsp. tommasinii(Rchb. f.) (syn.  S. tommasiniiRchb.f.) and  S. devenyenseSimonk. Alongwith this more accepted view, Zettel (2006)and Merkl & Szél (2012)reported a relationship of  Ph. argusalso with  T. glaucafrom the same plant family for Austriaand Hungary, respectively. According to Merkl & Szél (2012), beetles can be found as early as April at the base of both  TriniaHoffm.and  Seselihost plants. Adult beetles are active from April to June and the larval development is at the roots of both  T. glaucaand  Seselispp. ( Merkl & Szél 2012). Our record seems to confirm the ability of  Ph. argusto use  T. glaucaas a host plant as well. The distribution of  Ph. argusseems to be restricted to the remnants of natural steppe habitats in the Western Palaearctic ( Schoppmann 1990, Pokorný 2005, Zettel 2006, Merkl 2008, Shapovalov 2012, Dedyukhin 2016). We conclude that the species may be useful as an indicator species for the assessment of the conservation status of natural steppe habitats in Europe.   Fig. 2.  Phytoecia argus(G. F. Frölich, 1793), Chepun Mts., 17.05.2019. A: male; B: female. Scale bar: 1 mm. The mountain petrophytic steppes are widespread in the low mountain regions of Western Bulgariaat an altitude of 500 to 1500 m( Tzonev et al.2011). The first report of  Ph. argusfrom Bulgaria( Ganev 1984) lacks information on the habitat typeand host plant, but petrophytic steppes are also present in the area of the Zemen Gorge. The species is likely to be more widespread in suitable habitats in Western Bulgaria. In faunistic studies, host plants of both  Seseliand  Triniagenera must be checked for the presence of beetles. 2598038302 2019-05-11 BFUS I. Gjonov Bulgaria 1065 42.95497 Chepun Mts. 1 22.985167 Stara Planina 0 1 1 1 2598038301 2019-05-17 BFUS D. Gradinarov & I. Gjonov Bulgaria 1078 42.95486 Chepun Mts. 1 22.986834 Stara Planina 0 1 5 2 3