An Annotated Checklist of the Scarabaeoidea Oftexas (Coleoptera)
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SUPPL.NO.26 SOUTHWESTERNENTOMOLOGIST MAR.2003 AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE SCARABAEOIDEA OFTEXAS (COLEOPTERA) EdwardG. Riley Deparfinentof Entomology TexasA&M University CollegeStation, T exas77 845 [email protected] and CharlesS. Wolfe Departmentof BiologY University of Texasat Arlington Arlington,Texas 76019 ABSTRACT A list of 544 species/subspeciesof Scarabaeoidea reoorded from Texasis presented. Eachspecies on the list is annotatedwith within-statedistributional data by reoordingits pr"r*.. in eachof sevenregions ofTexas, or by providingthe sourcefor lessprecise Texas iecords.Twelve specieson the list are representedby dubiousTexas records and are recommendedfor rernovalfiom futuretabulations of TexasColeoptera. Forty'eight species aredocumented from Texasfor the first Ertre.Aphodius giuliani Gordon,Diplotaxis simplet Blanchardand Phanaeus adonis Harold are recorded from Americanorth of Mexico for the first time. Phyttophagaopacita F.:eirfi:f.rd is placedin synonymy:]ufJdet Phyllophaga arcta (Hom) NEW SVNOWnvtV.Sixty-five species are recognized as beingreoorded only from i"*ur. Thirty-fo* oftheseare not likely to occuroutside the stateand are identified as Texas endernics.The southTexas plains region is hometo moreTexas endemics than any other regionofthe state.Ofthe generarepresented by Texasendernics, the ge,lrusPhyllophaga is especiallywell representedwith 13species endanic to Texas. INTRODUCTION "scarab The Superfamily Scarabaeoideaincludes the familiar Scarabaeidae- beetles," "stag 'bess the Lucanidae - beetles," Passalidae- beetles," and several of the traditional subfamilies of the Scarabaeidaethat are now generally treated as s€,pulratefamilies. The group is diverse in North America and worldwide, In Texas, the group comprisesone of a i"* latge, cohesiveblocks of Texasbeetle diversity. In additionto speciesdiversity, their vmied habitats, food pr€ferences,and behavior make scarabaeoidsan important group for a wide range of research areas, including behavioral ecology, biogeography, biodiversity' systernaticsand conservation. There is a need among researchers,resource managers, collection curators and generalcoleopterists for a checklistof the Scarabaeoideaof Texas.Such a list shouldprovide documentationfor the speciesrecorded from Texas,a coarseoverview ofthe distributionof eachspecies within Texas,and a compilationof the Speciesbelieved to be endernicto Texas. This publicationis an attemptat sucha list. METHODSAND FORMAT Data Collection: Tlte present list began with an extraction of Texas scarabaeoid recordsfrom a wide rangeofliterature sources.Those publications found to containrecords areincluded in the bibliographyregardless of whetheror not they are cited elsewherein the text of this work. Theserecords were refined by cross-referencingamong multiple references and confirmed or not by examinationof specimensfrom Texas. All literature records remaining unconfirmedfor Texas are included on the list and are further armotated.Doubtful Texasrecords are also noted. Scarabaeoideawere collected in Texas continually for roughly a l4-year period (1988-2002)during which time all cornersof the stateand a broad crosssection of habitat types throughoutTexas were visited. Collecting techniquesemployed were those commonly used for scarabbeetles and thus are not presentedhere in detail. In general,there has been a heavy bias towards the use ofultra-violet light sources(blacklight and mercury vapor) and baited pinfall traps. Flight intercept traps were operatedsporadically at several sites and continuouslyat a few additionalsites. Strictly diurnal specieswere obtainedby examining flowers and vegetationor by use of fermentedsugarbait traps. The most underutilized techniquesinclude the sifting of soils and soil-surfacelitter, and the excavationor examinationof variousmammal nests and burrows. A significantportion ofthe distributiondata presented in this checklistcomes from specimensexamined or identified in various institutional and private collections (see Acknowledgements).Foremost among these collections is the collectionof the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, in college Station, where the vast majority of specimensvouchering Texas collection recordsreside. Also examinedwere specimensfrom the private collections of several area scarab collectors (see Acknowledgements). Approximately 35,000scarabaeoid specimens from Texaswere examinedduring this study. Classification:The classificationused here follows the recenttrend of recognizing severalfamilies in placeof the traditionalsingle family Scarabaeidae(following Lawrence and Newton, 1995).This arrangementis not universallyaccepted (see Jameson & Ratcliffe, 2002).Therelatively small traditional families of Passalidaeand Lucanidae are included here to completethe superfamilyScarabaeoidea. Classifications within families and subfamilies are a reflection of thoseused in most North American lists and faunal heatrnentsand closely follow thosefound in the scarabaeoidchapters in Amett, etal. Q002). Identifications: Fortunately, the taxonomy of North American Scarabaeoideais relativelywell known comparedto many groupsof Coleoptera.Thus, we havebeen able to confidently identify to speciesor confirm the determinationsmade by others for the vast majorityof materialcollected or examinedduring this study.However, there are serious gaps in the knowledgeof some specific goups. For example,the large and complex genus Aphodiusawaits a modem taxonomicrevision, and numeroussmall toronomic problerns, including undeterminedand possiblyundescribed species, exist in a fair numberof other genora.Where necessary,some comments on taxonomicproblems and undeterminedspecies "Selected are provided in the Annotations" section of this work. Where appropriate, determinationlabels were placedon specimensin various collectionsexamined. Many specialistson scarabaeoidtaxonomy assisted us, either directly or indirectly, by providing identifications, opinions and commentson various taxonomic problemspresent in the Texas scarabaeoidfauna (see Acknowledgements).However, we accept full responsibilityfor any inaccuraciesfound in the taxonomyupon which this checklistis based. ChecklistQualifications: Only describedgenera and speciesare includedon this list. The genus Geopsammodiasis included without the listing of a known speciesfrom Texas, but it is the only case where a genuspresent in Texas is not representedby one or more describedspecies. Junior synonyms and published misidentifications are not givanon the list; however,a few junior synonymsthat are prominent in popular literature are cited in order to help usersreconcile the cited valid names.These synonyms are shown in parenthesesbelow the valid name and are precededwith an equal sigr (=). h a few casesthe namesfor a few species/subspeciesthat we were unable to satisfactorily distinguish are also indicated under the main entry on the list. Suchentries are given in parenthesesand are precededby the word "including ..." Our inability to adequatelyse,parate the taxain thesecases should not be taken as groundsfor the establishmentofnew synonymies.However, in one case(see Phyllophaga arcta) anew species-groupsynonymy is proposed. For a named specieVsubspeciesto be placed on the presentchecklist, it must meet oneof the following sevenstatus categories (A-G): CategoriesA-B: recordsfrom specimensexamined. A = SpecieVsubspecieswe collectedin Texas. B : SpecieVsubspeciesnot in A above,for which we examinedspecimens from one or morecollections labeled from "Texas"or morespecific Texas locality. CategoriesC-F: recordsfrom literature only. C : Species/subspecieswhere "Texas" or a specific Texas locality is the given type locality. D : SpecieVsubspeciesnot in C abovewhich are recordedin the literatwe from one or more specific Texas localities (at least county level) that are considered reliable records. E : SpecieVsubspeciesnot in C-D above,but which are recordedin the literature from "Texas" without specific localities which never-the-lessare consideredreliable records. F : Species/subspeciesnot in C-D above,but which are recorded in the literature from or oneor more specificTexas localities that areconsidered as possibly reliable recordsbut in needofconfirmation. CategoryG: recordsfrom the literature considereddubious, G: SpecieVsubspeciesrecorded in the literaturefrom "Texas"or one or more specific Texaslocalities that are consideredhighly questionable.We recommendthe removal of thesespecies from futurelistings ofTexas Coleoptera. Introduced species: Fifteen species of exotic coprophagousscarabaeines have been deliberatelyreleased in Texasto aid in the removalof bovinemanure (Fincher, 1990). These speciesare not listed hereunless they areknown or thoughtto be establishedin the state. EndemicSpecies: One goal of this study was to recognizeand highlight Texasspecies that are not found outside the state.The term "Texas endernic"is used throughoutthis work to refer to speciesthat are not likely to be found outside the borders of Texas. The term "provisional Texas endemic"is used here to denotespecies that, althoughnot presently recordedfrom outsidethe state,are likely to eventuallybe found beyondthe boundriesof Texas.Determining whether or not a speciesrecorded only from Texasis an endemicor a provisionalendemic is, admittedly,not an entirelyobjective process. It cannever be proven beyond a doubt that a particularspecies does not occur outsidethe state.Irr making our assignments,we followed a reasonableassumption: species occurring at or very near the state's