Fauna and biotopic distribution of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in the Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserve, Russia

Abstract

Research on taxonomically diverse groups of insects are an important component of studying biodiversity in Protected Areas of various ranks. Based on the results of original studies (2017–2020), this paper presents for the first time data on the Chrysomelidae family and its species composition in the Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserve, Russia. The study area is located in the south of the forest-steppe zone of the low mountains of the Southern Urals in the Orenburg Region, Russia. Currently, this Chrysomelidae fauna is one of the most studied ones in Protected Areas of the Southern Urals. In the study area, 180 Chrysomelidae species have been registered, which is 51% of the Chrysomelidae family in the Orenburg Region. In addition, 86 recorded species were found for the first time in the Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserve, including eight species recorded for the first time in the Orenburg Region. A new species of the genus Altica was discovered in the study area. In terms of the level of species richness, the Chrysomelidae family of the Shaitan-Tau Nature Reserve is comparable with or noticeably richer than other local faunas of the Protected Areas of the Southern Urals. At the same time, this Chrysomelidae fauna has fewer species than of other state nature reserves and national parks in the forest-steppe zone of the Volga Upland. Features of the zoogeographical structure of the Chrysomelidae family in the Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserve include quite a high number of West-Palaearctic species (23 species; 12.8%), many of which are located there on the eastern limit of their natural ranges, and a low proportion of Central Palaearctic species (3.9%). At the same time, two Siberian species were discovered (Labidostomis sibirica and Gonioctena flavicornis), which are located on relict island sites of their ranges in the Urals. These findings noticably distinguish the studied fauna from the Chrysomelidae of the steppe Protected Areas in the south of the Orenburg Region, where a considerable proportion are representatives of the Kazakh-Turanian genesis. The studied Chrysomelidae fauna is characterised by a set of rich groups of steppe, meadow-steppe, nemoral and, to a lesser extent, boreal forms (a large part of which are located on the lomits of their ranges in the study area), as well as a pronounced spatial mosaic of biotopic complexes (e.g. forest, steppe, floodplains). In general, the data presented in this study objectively characterise the Chrysomelidae fauna of the Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserve as a reference for the Ural oak forest-steppe ecosystem, which emphasises its important role for the conservation of natural complexes, as well as the knowledge of the current state and historical stages of the formation of biota of the western macroslope of the South Urals.