A contribution to the knowledge of ground beetles (Col.: Carabidae) fauna of northeastern Iran along with two new records

Abstract

Carabidae is the third most species-rich family of the order Coleoptera. Most members of the family are predators considered beneficial components of natural and agricultural ecosystems. A faunistic study was conducted on the carabids of northeastern Iran, including Khorasan-e-Razavi, Khorasan-e-Shomali, and Golestan provinces, during 2016–2018. A total of 35 species belonging to 22 genera and seven subfamilies were identified from collected ground beetles in the studied area. The subfamily Harpalinae (58.90%) had the most number of individuals, followed by Carabinae (17.45%), Broscinae (13.45%), Scartinae (4.36%), Trechinae (3.37%), Cicindelinae (2.18%) and Siagoninae (0.36%). The dominant species was Calosoma imbricatum deserticola (15.27%). In total, 18 species, including six species from Khorasan-e-Razavi province, seven species from Khorasan-e-Shomali province, and five species from Golestan province, are reported for the first time for these regions. Moreover, Calathus distinguendus (subfamily Harpalinae) is recorded for the fauna of Iran for the first time.