08 Ara 2024 Pazar
Longhorned beetle (Cerambycoidea: Cerambycidae and Vesperidae) diversity of Turkey and neighboring countries on the base of number of species-group taxa and endemism
Abstract : Longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycoidea) is one of the largest, most diverse, ecologically and economically important groups of beetles. The paper presents numbers and endemism rates of species-group taxa with taxonomic names and territorial distributions of longhorned beetles in Turkey and 9 neighboring countries. According to the present study, Cerambycoidea of Turkey and neighboring countries includes a total of 1668 species-group taxa belonging to 173 genera of 62 tribes of 13 subfamilies in two families as Cerambycidae Latreille, 1802 and Vesperidae Mulsant, 1839. While Cerambycidae family is represented in all studied countries, Vesperidae family is represented only in Turkey and Greece each with one species. As a result, Turkey is the most diverse country by far among its neighbors. Apparently, in terms of highest number of species-group taxa, Turkey with 1036 taxa is strikingly prevailing, and Greece with 451 taxa and Iran with 419 taxa follow it. On the contrary, Cyprus with 69 taxa and Iraq with 63 taxa have the lowest number of species-group taxa. Also, in terms of highest number of endemic species-group taxa, Turkey with 510 taxa is strikingly prevailing, and Greece with 133 taxa and Iran with 131 taxa follow it. On the contrary, Bulgaria and Iraq each with 6 taxa have the lowest number of endemics. In addition, in terms of endemism rates of species-group taxa, Turkey also is far ahead among its neighbors. It is seen that approximately half (49.23 percent) of the fauna of Turkey consists of endemic taxa. Turkey is followed by the Iranian fauna, which consists of endemic taxa at a rate of about 1/3 (31.26 percent). Greece, an archipelago, and Cyprus, an island, follow with 29.49 percent and 28.99 percent, respectively. On the contrary, Syria with 5.40 percent and Bulgaria with 2.09 percent have the lowest endemism. Consequently, the studied area where Turkey and neighboring countries are located is a remarkable and important area in terms of biodiversity on Earth. The fact that more than half (53.72 %) of the Cerambycoidea fauna consists of endemic taxa is a clear proof of this.