Philorhizus, Hope, 1838

Wrase, David W. & Assmann, Thorsten, 2008, A new species of Philorhizus Hope, 1838 from Greece (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini), ZooKeys 3 (3), pp. 1-10 : 6

Biogeographic notes on the unwinged Philorhizus species from the West Palaearctic realm

Philorhizus marggii n. sp. belongs to a group of species of the genus Philorhizus which is characterized by microptery (or brachyptery) and by the fact of its distribution in mountainous regions. As far as is known at present, these species occur in the western part of the Palaearctic realm from the Macaronesian Islands (Canary Islands, Madeira), the Iberian, Apennine and southern Balkan Peninsulas, up to the Caucasus. The northern limit is marked by populations in the Ukraine, the southern by those in the Sierra Nevada, northern Sicily, Turkey and by the population(s) of Ph. marggii n. sp. from southern Greece (cf. Sciaky 1991; Wrase 2005). Philorhizus tinauti Anichtchenko, 2005 , a sister species of Ph. mendizabali Mateu et Colas, 1954 ), is known from low altitudes in eastern Andalucia (Almería, Anichtchenko 2005). At least most, if not all, of these species live in southern glacial refuge areas of the western Palaearctic. Distribution pattern and low power of dispersal resulting from microptery (or brachyptery) in combination with small body size suggest that these taxa survived the glacial periods within or close to the recent/present-day distribution areas (cf. Holdhaus 1954). Moreover, we believe that these endemic Philorhizus species are relicts because in many cases not only one, but several massifs are colonized (cf. Habel and Assmann 2008). In contrast to some extreme endemics, such as numerous Trechus species or cave dwelling carabids, it is highly probable that these Philorhizus species had a wider distribution in the past. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the existence of some isolated populations of the same species such as Ph. dacicus Sciaky, 1991 known from Romania and Ukraine ( Kabak 2003), Ph. brandmayri Sciaky, 1991 recorded from Sicily and the Aspromonte Mountains in Calabria and Ph. paulo Wrase, 1995 distributed in northern Spain and the Pyrenees. A new record from a locality in the East Pyrenees, about 5 kilometres southwest from Prades-de-Mollo-la-Preste, close to the Spanish border, enlarges the known distribution area of Ph. paulo to southern France (first record for France: “ France, Collado de Ares, 27.V.1978, Hozman lgt.” (Dept. Pyrénnées-Orientales); 1 male in cWR).