Subgenus Hemisaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976

Hemisaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976in KRYZHANOVSKIJ & REICHARDT (1976): 111, 182. Type species: Hister subvirescens Ménétriés, 1832, original designation.

Hemisaprinus: MAZUR (1984): 62; MAZUR (1997): 231; MAZUR (2004): 96.

Diagnosis. Species included in this subgenus differ from all other representatives of Saprinus by the presence of pre-apical foveae. All other characters as with subgenus Saprinus .

Biology. Saprinus (Hemisaprinus) subvirescens is found on carcasses, dung, etc. in arid regions and S. (H.) lutshniki (Reichardt, 1941) is found in decomposing vegetable matter, and has not been found on carcasses so far (KRYZHANOVSKIJ & REICHARDT 1976: 184). The biology of S. (H.) cyprius Dahlgren, 1981, is virtually unknown.

Distribution. This subgenus includes three described species, all from the Palaearctic Region, with one species S. (Hemisaprinus) subvirescens (Ménétriés, 1832) occurring over a large area from Turkey in the west to Myanmar and China in the east. One species, S. (H.) cyprius Dahlgren, 1981 is endemic to the Cyprus (MAZUR 1997).

Species examined. Saprinus (Hemisaprinus) lutshniki (Reichardt, 1941), S. (H.) subvirescens (Ménétriés, 1832) .