Vol. 77 2025
ARTICLES
An Updated Catalogue of Bulgarian Species of Athous (Orthathous) (Coleoptera: Elateridae) with a Description of a New Species
Alexandru-Mihai Pintilioaie1,2,* & Giuseppe Platia3
More info
*1Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Research on the Marine Environment and Marine Terrestrial Atmosphere (RECENT AIR), Al. I. Cuza University of Iasi, “Prof. Dr. Ioan Borcea” Marine Biological Station, Nicolae Titulescu str. no. 163, Agigea, Constanţa, Romania; E-mail: alexandrupintilioaie@gmail.com
2Doctoral School of Biology, Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, Carol I Avenue no. 20A, 700505 Iași, Romania
3Via Molino Vecchio, 21/a, 47043 Gatteo (FC), Italy; E-mail: giuseppe.platia52@gmail.com
Abstract
A new species of Athous (Orthathous), Athous (Orthathous) stefani sp. n., is described from Bulgaria, based on a male specimen collected in June 2024 in Burgas District. This species is closely related to the small-sized Athous (Orthathous) barriesi Platia & Gudenzi, 1996 and Athous (Orthathous) stoimenovae Platia, 2001, but it can be easily distinguished by its deeply impressed frons, the length of the antennae, the highly glossy surface of the pronotum and the shape of the aedeagus. Additionally, an updated catalogue of the species of this subgenus with new distributional data is provided, increasing the number of known Athous (Orthathous) species in Bulgaria to 16.
Key words
Balkans, click-beetles, Insecta, taxonomy
How to Cite
Pintilioaie A.-M. & Platia G. 2025. An Updated Catalogue of Bulgarian Species of Athous (Orthathous) (Coleoptera: Elateridae) with a Description of a New Species. Acta zoologica bulgarica 77.
References
- Cate P. C. 2007. Family Elateridae Leach, 1815. In: Löbl I. & Smetana A. (Ed.): Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 4: Elateroidea – Derodontoidea – Bostrichoidea – Lymexyloidea – Cleroidea – Cucujoidea. Denmark: Apollo Books, Stenstrup, pp. 89-209.
- Guglielmi A. & Platia G.1985. Contributo alla conoscenza degli Elateridi di Grecia e Turchia (Coleoptera). Fragmenta Entomologica 18 (1): 169-224.
- Mertlík J. 2016. The species of the subgenus Orthathous Reitter (Coleoptera, Elateridae, Dendrometrini, Athous) of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Elateridarium 10: 94-132. (In Czech).
- Mertlík J., Šíma A & Németh T. 2015. New distributional data on eleven click-beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Turkey. Elateridarium 9: 171-181.
- Platia G. 1989. Descrizione di nuove specie di Elateridi della Grecia e della Turchia (Coleoptera Elateridae). Lavori – Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, 14 (1): 79-86.
- Platia G. 1994. Coleoptera, Elateridae. Fauna d’Italia, Vol. XXXIII. Calderini Bologna Ed. Bologna. XIV + 429 pp.
- Platia G. 2001. Descrizione di nuove specie di Athous Eschscholtz dell’Europa sud orientale con note sistematiche e geonemiche (Coleoptera, Elateridae). Lambillionea 101 (4): 522-527.
- Platia G. 2010a. Descriptions of fourteen new species of click beetles from the Palearctic Region, with chorological notes Insecta Coleoptera Elateridae). Boletin de la Sociedad Entomologica Aragonesa (S.E.A.) 46: 23-49.
- Platia G. 2010b. Descriptions of fourteen new species of click beetles from the Palearctic Region, with chorological notes (Insecta Coleoptera Elateridae). Quaderno di Studi e notizie di Storia Naturale della Romagna 30: 103-130.
- Platia G. & Gudenzi I. 1996. Descrizione di tre nuove specie di Athous Eschscholtz del sottogenere Orthathous della Turchia con chiave di determinazione dei maschi delle specie note. (Coleoptera, Elateridae). Lambillionea 96: 235-241.
- Platia G. & Gudenzi I. 2007. Click-beetle species and records new to the palearctic region (Insecta Coleoptera Elateridae). Quaderno di Studi e notizie di Storia Naturale della Romagna 24: 235-241.
- Platia G. & Németh T. 2011. On some Palaearctic click beetles in the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Annales historico-naturales musei nationalis hungarici 103: 1-42.
- Ruan Y., Zhang M., Kundrata R., Qiu L., Ge S., Yang X., Chen X. & Jiang S. 2022. Functional Morphology of the Thorax of the Click Beetle Campsosternus auratus (Coleoptera, Elateridae), with an Emphasis on Its Jumping Mechanism. Insects 13 (2): 1-40.


