Saproxylic beetles on oaks in a wooded pasture in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and contributions to Turkish entomofauna

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate the saproxylic Coleoptera fauna found in oak trees of different ages in Mersin/Gülnar in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2017. Fourty-five window traps were used to sample the beetles on the oak trees. Traps were checked five times, once a month, from June to October. In total, 13 217 individuals from the order Coleoptera were collected and 242 saproxylic beetle species belonging to 44 families were found. In the material, 33 beetle species were identified as new records for the Turkish fauna. Most beetle species were from the Buprestidae (24 species), Anobiidae (23 species) and Tenebrionidae (18 species) families. The highest numbers of individuals were from the Dermestidae (2 354), Elateridae (2 325) and Curculionidae (1 531) families. The highest number of individuals were Xyleborus dryographus (Ratzeburg, 1837) (Curculionidae) and Cardiophorus (Cardiophorus) parvulus Platia & Gudenzi, 2000 (Elateridae) with 1 109 individuals each. Three species were found; namely Protaetia (Eupotosia) mirifica (Mulsant, 1842), Chromovalgus peyroni (Mulsant, 1852) (Cetonidae) and Propomacrus bimucronatus (Pallas, 1781) (Euchiridae), which appear on the IUCN European and Mediterranean red list as Vulnerable (VU).