Description of two new species of the genus Tillicera Spinola (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Clerinae), with new synonyms, new distributional records, and an updated key.

Two species, Tillicerafortis sp. nov. and Tilliceraspinosa sp. nov., are newly described. New distributional records are presented for Tilliceracallosa Gerstmeier & Bernhard, 2010, Tillicerajavana Spinola, 1844, Tillicerapseudocleroides Gerstmeier & Bernhard, 2010, Tillicerasoror Schenkling, 1902, and Tilliceratonkinensis Gerstmeier & Bernhard, 2010. Cleruspostmaculatus Nakane, 1963 syn. nov. is synonymized with Tilliceraihlei Corporaal, 1949. The presence of sensory organs (sensilla) on the ventral surface of the antennae is discovered in Tillicera and Hemitrachys for the first time. A key to the valid species of Tillicera is provided.

Seasonal and temporal patterns of rainfall shape arthropod community composition and multi-trophic interactions in an arid environment.

In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, rainfall and rainfall temporal distribution shape species communities and multi-trophic interactions. Whereas the relationship between climate change-induced decline of precipitation and plants is well know, there is little knowledge of these relationships with consumers, such as arthropods of different trophic levels. In a 6-year period we studied precipitation effects and microhabitat conditions on multi-trophic interactions of ground-dwelling arthropods in an arid savannah. We analysed the effects of seasonal rainfall, plant cover and soil texture on community composition and activity density of arthropods of different trophic levels and investigated the critical window of vegetation and occurrence arthropods in relation to rainfall. Our result show, that arthropod community composition was determined by seasonal rainfall and plant cover. Soil texture did not explain arthropod response sufficiently. Especially detritivorous arthropods were strongly affected by precipitation and can therefore serve as indicators of droughts. Further, multi-trophic interactions can better be explained by short-term rainfall pulses, rather than by seasonal patterns, with a window of seven days being most suitable to explain the influence of rainfall. Plant cover responded immediately after the rainfall, followed by herbivorous and predatory arthropods, and with a lag of 23 days omnivorous arthropods. This highlights the importance of short-term rain pulses for multi-trophic interactions among arthropods and emphasized the relevance of studying detailed precipitation effects for the arthropod diversity and ecosystem stability in arid ecosystems.

Revision of the genus Neorthrius Gerstmeier amp; Eberle, 2011 (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Clerinae).

The genus Neorthrius Gerstmeier Eberle, 2011 is taxonomically revised to include sixty-one species. The following thirty-one species are described as new: Neorthrius aduncus n. sp., Neorthrius aurantiacus n. sp., Neorthrius bipunctatus n. sp., Neorthrius bonasus n. sp., Neorthrius brunnorbis n. sp., Neorthrius buteocoloratus n. sp., Neorthrius cechovskyi n. sp., Neorthrius centromaculatus n. sp., Neorthrius chiangmaii n. sp., Neorthrius cornutus n. sp., Neorthrius crassopunctatus n. sp., Neorthrius ebenus n. sp., Neorthrius elegantulus n. sp., Neorthrius fortecruris n. sp., Neorthrius fulvus n. sp., Neorthrius fuscomaculosus n. sp., Neorthrius guttatus n. sp., Neorthrius longulus n. sp., Neorthrius majae n. sp., Neorthrius mariannae n. sp., Neorthrius molestus n. sp., Neorthrius schnitzeli n. sp., Neorthrius serratus n. sp., Neorthrius sexmaculatus n. sp., Neorthrius sigmoideus n. sp., Neorthrius tenuistriatus n. sp., Neorthrius tulipae n. sp., Neorthrius unicolor n. sp., Neorthrius uniformis n. sp., Neorthrius volsella n. sp. and Neorthrius zebrinus n. sp.. The following taxa, described as varietal forms, are raised to the rank of species and transferred from Orthrius Gorham, 1876: Orthrius striatopunctatus var. bimaculatus Schenkling, 1901 and Orthrius striatopunctatus var. brunneus n. syn. = Neorthrius bimaculatus (Schenkling, 1901) n. comb., n. stat.; Orthrius tarsalis var. obscurus Schenkling, 1906 = Neorthrius obscurus (Schenkling, 1906) n. comb., n. stat.; Orthrius posticalis var. nigricollis Corporaal 1926a: 180 = Neorthrius nigricollis (Corporaal, 1926), n. stat., n. comb. The following new synonymies are proposed: Orthrius deboyssyi Pic, 1951 n. syn. is synonymized with Neorthrius crassipes (Chapin, 1928) n. comb. Orthrius nigromaculatus Pic, 1951 n. syn. is synonymized with Neorthrius bimaculatus (Schenkling, 1901) n. comb. Orthrius rufitarsis Pic, 1932 n. syn., n. comb. is synonymized with Neorthrius obscurus (Schenkling, 1906). The following species are transferred to Neorthrius from Orthrius: Neorthrius angusticollis (Schenkling, 1902), n. comb., Neorthrius bengalus (Westwood, 1852) n. comb., Neorthrius bicrucis (Chapin, 1924) n. comb., Neorthrius brachialis (Gorham, 1893) n. comb., Neorthrius carinifrons (Schenkling, 1900) n. comb., Neorthrius crassipes (Chapin, 1928) n. comb., Neorthrius feae (Gorham, 1892) n. comb., Neorthrius grandjeani (Pic, 1932) n. comb.,in Neorthrius haemorrhoidalis (Schenkling, 1906) n. comb., Neorthrius innotatus (Pic, 1925) n. comb., Neorthrius madurensis (Gorham, 1895) n. comb., Neorthrius massiliensis (Pic, 1951) n. comb., Neorthrius octopunctatus (Schenkling, 1906) n. comb., Neorthrius pallidus (Chapin, 1924) n. comb., Neorthrius posticalis (Westwood, 1852) n. comb., Neorthrius pygidialis (Corporaal, 1949) n. comb., Neorthrius sexplagiatus (Schenkling, 1908) ) n. comb., Neorthrius sinensis (Gorham, 1876) n. comb., Neorthrius subfasciatus (Westwood, 1849) n. comb., Neorthrius subscalaris (Pic, 1954) n. comb., Neorthrius subsimilis (White, 1849) n. comb., Neorthrius subunicolor (Pic, 1935) n. comb., Neorthrius sulcatus (Pic, 1926) n. comb., Neorthrius sumatranus (Schenkling, 1899) n. comb., Neorthrius tarsalis (Gorham, 1892) n. comb. A key to species, color photographs of the habitus, the genitalia, the terminal abdominal segments and distribution maps are provided.

High genetic variation within mitochondrial CO1 in Middle European Thanasimus formicarius (Linné, 1758) (Coleoptera: Cleridae).

The aim of this study is to assess the species status of the Middle-European Thanasimus Latreille, 1806 species using mitochondrial CO1 sequence data. Molecular biological results clearly support the synonymy of T. pectoralis (Fuss, 1863) and T. rufipes (Brahm, 1797) with T. femoralis (Zetterstedt, 1828) as already proposed by Kolibác (1992). Results of the present study indicate high genetic variation within T. formicarius (Linné, 1758) and emphasize the study of population dynamics of T. formicarius within Europe. Furthermore, preliminary screening of all available T. formicarius sequences on BOLD and Genbank (shorter than 500bp) indicates the presence of a "Continental" and a more "Atlantic" clade in T. formicarius. To support our hypothesis of a probably cryptic species among T. formicarius, more studies, with more specimens from different populations, especially from southern England, northern France and the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, will be necessary.

A review of the Tillicera genus group with a revision of Plathanocera Schenkling (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Clerinae).

The Tillicera genus group is revised and defined to contain 40 species in the following six genera: Apopempsis Schenkling, 1903; Cardiostichus Quedenfeldt, 1885; Hemitrachys Gorham, 1876; Placocerus Klug, 1837; Plathanocera Schenkling, 1902 and Tillicera Spinola, 1941. The definition of the Tillicera genus group is mainly based on the presence of the dorsoventrally compressed and expanded antennae (from antennomere 3 onwards). The antennomeres are dilated at least from antennomeres 5 to 9 onwards, and are broader than long, always vested with dense long setae. A key to the constituent genera, color photographs, and distribution maps are provided. The genus Plathanocera is taxonomically revised, including a key to species and genital figures.

Menieroclerus gen. nov.: A new genus for Thanasimodes nigropiceus (Kuwert, 1893) (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae).

Opilo nigropiceus Kuwert was described from a specimen collected in Bagamoyo on the north coast of Tanzania, though the description was devoid of informative morphological detail (Kuwert 1893). Without comment, Schenkling (1915) transferred O. nigropiceus to Thanasimodes Murray, a genus erected by Murray (1867) for a single specimen from 'Old Calabar' (south Nigeria) described as Thanasimodes metallicus Murray. Thanasimodes presently contains ten species and is distributed widely throughout Africa, from South Africa to the northernmost countries (Corporaal 1950; Gerstmeier 1998).

Fauna Europaea: Coleoptera 2 (excl. series Elateriformia, Scarabaeiformia, Staphyliniformia and superfamily Curculionoidea).

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including synonyms) of all living European land and freshwater animals, their geographical distribution at country level (up to the Urals, excluding the Caucasus region), and some additional information. The Fauna Europaea project covers about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. This represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many users in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. Coleoptera represent a huge assemblage of holometabolous insects, including as a whole more than 200 recognized families and some 400,000 described species worldwide. Basic information is summarized on their biology, ecology, economic relevance, and estimated number of undescribed species worldwide. Little less than 30,000 species are listed from Europe. The Coleoptera 2 section of the Fauna Europaea database (Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga and Polyphaga excl. the series Elateriformia, Scarabaeiformia, Staphyliniformia and the superfamily Curculionoidea) encompasses 80 families (according to the previously accepted family-level systematic framework) and approximately 13,000 species. Tabulations included a complete list of the families dealt with, the number of species in each, the names of all involved specialists, and, when possible, an estimate of the gaps in terms of total number of species at an European level. A list of some recent useful references is appended. Most families included in the Coleoptera 2 Section have been updated in the most recent release of the Fauna Europaea index, or are ready to be updated as soon as the FaEu data management environment completes its migration from Zoological Museum Amsterdam to Berlin Museum für Naturkunde.

Revision of the checkered beetle genus Erymanthus Spinola, 1841 (Coleoptera, Cleridae, Clerinae).

The  genus  Erymanthus  Spinola,  1841  is  taxonomically  revised  to  include  sixteen  species.  The species E. transversopustulatus n. sp. is described as new. Erymanthus concoloripennis Pic, 1932, n. syn. is placed in synonymy with E. bicolor Chapin, 1924, E. horridus var. semirufus Kuwert, 1893 is recognized as a distinct and valid species E. semirufus; E. variegatus Pic, 1950 n. syn. is synonymized with E. pustulosus Quedenfeldt, 1888. A key to the species, color photographs, genital figures and distribution maps are provided. Erymanthus ampliatus Hintz, 1902 is transferred to the genus Gyponyx Gorham, 1883 (= Gyponyx amplicatus (Hintz, 1902) n. comb.).

Revision of the checkered beetle genus Eunatalis Schenkling, 1909 (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae).

The genus Eunatalis Schenkling, 1909 is taxonomically revised to include twenty-two species. The following species are described as new: Eunatalis auricoma, Eunatalis flavopilosa, Eunatalis foveata, Eunatalis ninae, Eunatalis pernodulosa, Eunatalis punctata, Eunatalis schopfi, Eunatalis spadicea and Eunatalis villosa. Eunatalis blackburni (Waterhouse, 1894), n. syn. is placed in synonymy with Eunatalis lugubris (Blackburn, 1890), Eunatalis longicollis (Blackburn, 1890), n. syn. is placed in synonymy with Eunatalis hirta (Blackburn, 1890); Eunatalis lata (Waterhouse, 1894), n. syn. and Eunatalis alternicostata (Kuwert, 1893), n. syn. are synonymized with Eunatalis semicostata (Blackburn, 1888). A key to the species, color photographs, genital figures and distribution maps are provided.