Click beetles (coleoptera, elateridae) from two areas with hollow oaks and plane trees in Turkey

Abstract

When trees become old, structures serving as microhabitats for many organisms begin to develop (Jansson, 2009; Sverdrup-Thygeson et al., 2010). Forestry and changes in land management have reduced the number of old trees (Kirby & Watkins, 1998; Eliasson & Nilsson, 2002; Nieto & Alexander, 2010). One group with a high diversity on old hollow trees is the saproxylic beetles. In northern Europe this fauna is richest on oaks (Quercus robur) in comparison with other tree species (Palm, 1959). The old hollow oaks (Quercus spp.) in Turkey are even richer than for example Swedish oaks (Jansson & Coskun, 2008). This study is a part of a larger project aiming to describe the saproxylic beetle fauna on old trees in Turkey (Schillhammer et al., 2007; Novak et al., 2011, 2014; Sama et al., 2011; Atay et al., 2012; Mazur et al., 2013) and compare the results with neighbouring countries. One beetle family with a high diversity in our studies is the click beetles (Elateridae) and many new species have been found (Platia et al., 2011; 2014). In total more than 495 click beetle species are known from Turkey. Most of the species are predators in their larval stage and in the habitat we are studying many of the species have their larval development in dead wood or in the wood mould in cavities in the trunks and branches on the old trees. Three new species (Ampedus karesiensis Platia n. sp., Ampedus erdeki Platia n. sp. and Cardiophorus kovadai Platia n. sp.) from Turkey, are presently described, illustrated and compared with related species of Turkey and adjacent regions.