New field record for the rare dung beetle, Phanaeus melampus harold (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae)
The endemic Mexican species, Phanaeus melampus Harold, is among the rarest members of the genus. Indeed, because of the scarcity of modern collecting records Edmonds (1994) speculated that it had become extirpated or nearly so in many areas where it was collected in earlier times because of intense conversion of natural habitats into agricultural ecosystems. Modern (post-1950) recorded collection sites include isolated localities in the states of Veracruz (the Córdoba - Fortín de las Flores corridor) and Chiapas (northern mountains). Both areas support mesophyllic forests above about 1,200 m (see Edmonds 1994). Recent fieldwork has resulted in the discovery of a population of P. melampus in the eastern mountainous forests (Selva Lacandona) of the state of Chiapas (study area 16°05'10"-16°20'36" N; 90°42'30"-91°08'30"W; Fig. 1). The study area is within the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, where the climatic regime is warm humid with summer monsoon rains (>3,000 mm) and an average annual temperature >22°C (coldest month >18°C; INE 1993). Elevation varies between 100 and 900 m and the landscape consists of rolling hills and arroyos with shallow soils and poor drainage. The predominant vegetation is tall (60 m) and medium height tropical evergreen forest dominated by Terminalia amazonia (Gmelin), Schizolobium parahybum (Vell) Blake, Swietenia macrophylla King and Cedrela odorata L., among others. Shade-loving palms (Astrocarium mexicanum Liebmann ex Martius) predominate in thickets. This region is a biodiversity hotspot (see Mendoza and Dirzo 1999; Gómez Pompa and Dirzo 1995, for a more complete description). In October 2003 and February and August 2004, nine individuals (3 males; 6 females in the collection of DN-G) were collected in primary tropical rain forest at an altitude of 145 m above sea level in pitfall traps baited with human feces during a systematic survey of the dung beetle fauna of the study area. Other dung beetles
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | Phanaeus melampus, Escarabajos, Frosur, |
| Online Access: | http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1649/839.1 |
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| Summary: | The endemic Mexican species, Phanaeus melampus Harold, is among the rarest members of the genus. Indeed, because of the scarcity of modern collecting records Edmonds (1994) speculated that it had become extirpated or nearly so in many areas where it was collected in earlier times because of intense conversion of natural habitats into agricultural ecosystems. Modern (post-1950) recorded collection sites include isolated localities in the states of Veracruz (the Córdoba - Fortín de las Flores corridor) and Chiapas (northern mountains). Both areas support mesophyllic forests above about 1,200 m (see Edmonds 1994). Recent fieldwork has resulted in the discovery of a population of P. melampus in the eastern mountainous forests (Selva Lacandona) of the state of Chiapas (study area 16°05'10"-16°20'36" N; 90°42'30"-91°08'30"W; Fig. 1). The study area is within the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve, where the climatic regime is warm humid with summer monsoon rains (>3,000 mm) and an average annual temperature >22°C (coldest month >18°C; INE 1993). Elevation varies between 100 and 900 m and the landscape consists of rolling hills and arroyos with shallow soils and poor drainage. The predominant vegetation is tall (60 m) and medium height tropical evergreen forest dominated by Terminalia amazonia (Gmelin), Schizolobium parahybum (Vell) Blake, Swietenia macrophylla King and Cedrela odorata L., among others. Shade-loving palms (Astrocarium mexicanum Liebmann ex Martius) predominate in thickets. This region is a biodiversity hotspot (see Mendoza and Dirzo 1999; Gómez Pompa and Dirzo 1995, for a more complete description). In October 2003 and February and August 2004, nine individuals (3 males; 6 females in the collection of DN-G) were collected in primary tropical rain forest at an altitude of 145 m above sea level in pitfall traps baited with human feces during a systematic survey of the dung beetle fauna of the study area. Other dung beetles |
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