RARE ENDEMIC DARKLING BEETLE HEDYPHANES NYCTERINOIDES FALDERMANN, 1837 (COLEOPTERA: TENEBRIONIDAE) FROM DAGESTAN AS AN INDICATOR OF HALOPHYTIC BIOTOPES

Abstract

Aim. In this work, we aimed to study the distribution and habitat of rare Caucasian tenebrionid beetle Hedyphanes nycterinoides, as well as to identify reasons for the population re‐ duction and to develop a basis for its protection.Methods. Materials from the largest collection of the Zoological Institute RAS (St Petersburg) along with the authors’ fieldwork data were used for mapping the past and current distribution of the species, as well as for studying its habitat and possible trophic relations.Results. The taxonomic history of H. nycterinoides is complicated due to the loss of the type material. This taxon is currently interpreted as a separate species. H. nycterinoides is distributed across Piedmont Dagestan and Intermountain Dagestan (Russia); however, all known specimens were collected only in the 19th‐20th centuries (the last record is dated 1984). The population of H. nycterinoides from Intermountain Dagestan is likely to have died out due to the filling of the Irganay reservoir in 2008. Only one present‐day population from the arid Rubas valley in Southern Dagestan is known. The species inhabits saline soils (solonetz, solonchak) and feeds on saltworts. It is active in April–May in the evening or in the daytime provided it is cloudy.Conclusions. We recommend that H. nycterinoides be included in the list of threatened species of Dagestan as an indicator of the state of halophytic plant communities from the hilly landscapes of the Eastern Caucasus. The main factors of the contemporary population reduction include overgrazing and filling of reservoirs.