2023 Ecosystem Transformation 6 (1), 39–50
Beetles (Coleoptera) from the burrows of the great gerbil Rhombomys opimus (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Mammalia: Muridae) in the southern Turkmenistan
Alexey S. Sazhnev , Nikolay M. Ermakov , Evgeniy N. Kondratyev
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23859/estr-220527Volume: 6
Number: 1
Pages: 39–50
Received: 27.05.2022
Accepted: 06.06.2022
Available online: 22.02.2023
ISSN 2619-094X Print
ISSN 2619-0931 Online
The study is the first attempt to generalize the data on the burrow biocenoses of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus (Lichtenstein, 1823)) in the region of persistent plague epizootics in the lowland part of the Karakum Desert (Southern Turkmenistan). The material was collected in May, November, and December of 1987–1988 using trapping cylinders in residential and non-residential colonies of the great gerbil. Coleoptera made up about 40% of the species composition of invertebrates; their share of the total abundance was 19%. The beetle fauna of the studied burrows was represented by fifteen species belonging to seven families (another four taxa from the Staphylinidae family were identified down to the genus level). Atheta flagellicornis G. Benick, 1967 was the most abundant species, common species were Sepedophilus rufulus (Hochhuth, 1849), Aleochara jacobsoni Kirshenblat, 1935 (Staphylinidae), and large zoophagous Eremosphodrus dvorshaki Casale et Vereschagina, 1986 (Carabidae). The photographs of Atheta flagellicornis (Staphylinidae) and Bradyus pygmaeus (Fischer von Waldheim, 1821) (Tenebrionidae) are provided for the first time.
Alexey S. Sazhnev
I.D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, senior research scientist
Borok 109, Nekouz District, Yaroslavl Region, 152742 Russia
PhD in Biology
sazh@list.ru
Nikolay M. Ermakov
Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”
ul. Universitetskaya 46, Saratov, 410005 Russia
Evgeniy N. Kondratyev
Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”
ul. Universitetskaya 46, Saratov, 410005 Russia
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Keywords: nidicolous beetles, Karakum Desert, beetles, mammals, rodents
For citation: Sazhnev, A.S. et al., 2023. Beetles (Coleoptera) from the burrows of the great gerbil Rhombomys opimus (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Mammalia: Muridae) in the southern Turkmenistan. Ecosystem Transformation 6 (1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.23859/estr-220527