Biodiversity of Lamellicorn beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) of the Russian Pacific Islands

Study Extent

The study and conservation of insect biodiversity over vast areas requires a detailed understanding of the ranges of species, their distribution and abundance. For this purpose, databases are created that accumulate and organize this information. Object of this paper is to analyze of Scarabaeoidea biodiversity on the Russian Pacific Islands based on a recently published dataset.

Sampling

We conducted our research in 2014, 2019, 2021, 2022. The dataset also includes materials from the collections of scientific institutions and individuals, previously published in the scientific publications. Various methods of collecting and observing insects were used in the work: washing and sieving of animal droppings and plant composts and the soil under them; inspecting of flowers, trunks and green parts of plants; searching under the bark of trees and in rotten wood. Pitfall and carrion traps were used. The geographical coordinates of the locality, the date of collection and the collector, if possible, are given for each studied specimen.

Method steps

1. The data set contains data on 134 species and subspecies from 44 genera and four families of Scarabaeoidea recorded on 21 islands of the Peter the Great Gulf, Sakhalin and Moneron Islands, as well as on 12 Kuril Islands. There are 2138 samples in total in the dataset. The family Scarabaeidae (117 species) dominate in the Scarabaeoidea fauna of the islands by species diversity, other families are not so diverse – Lucanidae (9 species), Trogidae (5 species), Geotrupidae (3 species). Sakhalin island and the Kuril Archipelago are northern borders of distribution for 55 species lamellicorn beetles, and the southern borders of ranges for 13 species.

1. Scarabaeoidea
   common name: Lamellicorn beetles rank: superfamily

Pacific sector of the southeastern part of the Russian Far East