Census of the longhorn beetles (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae and Vesperidae) of the Macau SAR, China.

An intensive census, extended over a period of approximately three and a half years, October 2017- May 2021, was conducted in the remaining green areas of the Macau SAR in order to provide an updated status of the biodiversity of longhorn beetles in this region. This insect group includes more than 36,000 species worldwide, subdivided into four families of mainly xylophagous or saproxylic insects, the Vesperidae, Oxypeltidae, Disteniidae, and Cerambycidae. They are of key importance in agricultural and forestry science, and are often used as an indicator of forest habitat health. A total of 52 species was recorded during this census, 2.6 times more than previously reported in the literature for this area. However, recorded abundances and frequency of occurrence for the various species were remarkably low, and of the 20 species previously reported for the region, some prominent ones remained unaccounted for. Among others, these include Batocera horsfieldii (Hope, 1839), Apriona rugicollis Chevrolat, 1852 [previously incorrectly reported as Apriona germarii (Hope, 1831)], Aristobia reticulator (Fabricius, 1781) [previously reported as Aristobia testudo (Voet, 1778)] and Imantocera penicillata (Hope, 1831). It is hypothesised that this may be related to the ongoing manipulation of the natural vegetation of the Macau SAR, which is rapidly being converted to plantations, city parks, and gardens. In particular, dead or dying trees and lower tree branches are systematically removed in order to improve the aesthetic appearance of these green areas. However, this process is also depriving xylophagous and saproxylic species of their essential habitats.

Census of the fruit and flower chafers (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) of the Macau SAR, China.

The coleopteran fauna of the Macau SAR in southern China has historically received only limited attention and no updated information has been published since the last substantial works produced in the 1990s. An annotated and illustrated review of the fruit and flower chafers (Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) of this region is here presented, in order to provide an account of the current status of the taxonomic diversity and ecology of this important insect group. Eleven species were observed in the SAR during an intense investigation undertaken during the period 2017-2020, with six of these representing new records for Macau and two for the broader region of the Pearl River Delta, also known as the Greater Bay Area. Although this census leads to a substantial increase in the number of species known for the area, it also highlights the threats that the recent escalation in urban development and land-use transformation are posing to a number of species which seem unable to maintain a sustainable population in the region, mainly due to habitat destruction.

Lophorrhinidesmuellerae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae): a new genus and species from southern Tanzania.

A male cetoniine specimen recently submitted for identification from the Ditsong Museum of Natural History (Pretoria, South Africa) has been found to represent a yet unknown species. A review of the recently published book of Beinhundner (2017) has further revealed that one of the specimens mistakenly figured as Lophorrhinadonckieri Bourgoin, 1913 in that work is most likely the female of this new species. Analysis of the diagnostic characters of the genus Lophorrhina Westwood, 1842 shows that the new species differs in several key areas. In particular, the clypeal armature is virtually identical in both sexes, the male protibiae are not typically elongate and narrow as in all the members of Lophorrhina, but are remarkably more robust, laterally expanded and with a tridentate margin in both sexes, even though the third tooth in the female and the second and third teeth in the male are virtually obsolete. The general body shape in the new species is also more globose and lacks the typical deplanate and apically tapering elytra of the Lophorrhina males. These and other characters are, in our view, sufficient to justify the erection of a new genus, Lophorrhinides gen. n., to accommodate the new species, here described as L.muellerae sp. n. The new genus is presumably a mountain specialist, as both known specimens were collected in the southern highlands of Tanzania, at Manow and Rungwe respectively.