Variimorda (Galeimorda) caprai (Franciscolo, 1951)

Selnekovic, David & Ruzzier, Enrico, 2019, New distributional records for sixteen Mordellidae species from the Western Palearctic (Insecta, Coleoptera, Mordellidae), ZooKeys 894, pp. 151-170 : 151

Variimorda (Galeimorda) caprai (Franciscolo, 1951) Fig. 1A

Mordella (s. str.) caprai Franciscolo, 1951: 7-9 [type locality: Shkodër, Albania].

Variimorda caprai : Ermisch 1969b: 846, 849.

Variimorda (Galeimorda) caprai : Horák 1985: 15.

New records.

MONTENEGRO • 43 ♂♂, 13 ♀♀; Bar env., Volujica hill; 42°04'29.0"N, 19°06'11.8"E; 20 June 2011; D. Selnekovič leg.; slopes with dry grassland vegetation; on the flowers of Helichrysum ; D. Selnekovič det.; DSPC • 15 ♂♂, 12 ♀♀; Bar env., Ribnjak Monastery; 42°07'56"N, 19°07'33"E, 22 June 2011; D. Selnekovič leg.; slopes with dry grassland vegetation; on the flowers of Helichrysum ; D. Selnekovič det.; DSPC.

Distribution.

Albania ( Franciscolo 1951), Montenegro (new country record).

Remarks.

Variimorda caprai was described based on three male specimens from Shkodër, Albania and since then no other record has been published. In 2011, the first author collected 83 specimens in the environment of Bar in Montenegro on the slopes with xerothermophilous grassland vegetation ( Fig. 2 ). Specimens were found feeding on the flowers of Helichrysum . The immature stages and their host plants remain unknown.

Figures

Figure 1. A Variimorda (Galeimorda) caprai (Franciscolo, 1951), male B Mordellistena (s. str.) dives Emery, 1876, male.

Figure 2. Mediterranean xeric grasslands with flowering Helichrysum on Volujica hill in Montenegro, 42 ° 04 ' 29.0 " N, 19 ° 06 ' 11.8 " E. Variimorda caprai (Franciscolo, 1951), Mordellistena olympica Ermisch, 1965 and Mordellistenula longipalpis Ermisch, 1965 recorded from this locality are new to Montenegro.