New data on cetoniidae species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) preserved in the patrimony of the Oltenia Museum Craiova (Romania)
The paper includes new data concerning the species Cetoniidae family preserved in the patrimony of the Oltenia Museum Craiova. The examined material (1029 specs) was collected between 1951-2009 from 55 sites, mostly from Oltenia and two sites from Constanţa county. 17 of the 19 species and subspecies previously known in this area have been identified. The Protaetia (Netocia) cuprea metallica (Herbst, 1782) subspecies is mentioned for the first time in the fauna of Oltenia. The identification of the Oxythyrea cinctella (Schaum, 1841) reconfirms the presence of this species in the Romanian fauna. The only mention of this species belongs to Panin (1957). The following species have not been found again: Protaetia (Netocia) fieberi (Kraatz, 1880) and P. (Netocia) ungarica (Herbst, 1790) which were previously mentioned in the museum patrimony (Chimişliu, 1999). At present, in the fauna of Oltenia 20 species and subspecies are confirmed, out of which 19 are preserved in the patrimony of the Oltenia Museum of Craiova.
Authors' Contribution CSM, CC, MA, TB and GM designed the research. CSM, CC and MA conducted research. GM and CSM prepared figures and tables. CSM Wrote and revised the draft.
Morphological and molecular data indicate that two valid species exist in Europe within the two species complex, Onthophagus vacca and O. medius. The aim of our study is to check specimens from major museum collections and some personal collections from the country and to assign them to O. medius or O. vacca. We have examined 417 specimens belonging to the following collections: "Grigore Antipa'' National Museum of Natural History Bucharest, Brukenthal National Museum-Natural History Museum, Department from Sibiu and the authors' personal collections. We extracted elevation data for each specimen and we created distribution maps. The biogeographic distribution for Romania shows the ranges of O. vacca and O. medius overlap and they are found in all the country's bioregions. Our study shows a high ecological plasticity in both species. Our data apparently indicate a preference for altitudes below 500 meters, possibly influenced by non-random sampling.
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