New record of Calosoma (Campalita) auropunctatum (Herbst, 1784) in Latvia with notes on its occurrence in the Eastern Baltic region

Abstract

Background and purpose Calosoma auropunctatum (Herbst) is the species with no confirmed records in the last 150 years in Latvian fauna. Until now the species was considered possible extinct in this area. The species was confirmed for Latvia in 2014, during the research project devoted to biodiversity monitoring in various agrocenoses with different management systems. The paper is aimed to clarify habitat peculiarities of the species in Latvian fauna and discuss the possibilities of widest distribution of this species in Easter Baltic region.

Materials and methods The study site is located in the eastern part of Latvia, from May 2014 to August 2015. The ground beetles were collected using pitfall traps, installed in 2 linear transects located at field margin and in the field central part, more than 100 m. far away from the field border.

Results One male and three females were caught by pitfall traps during vegetation period in cource of 2014-2015 years. Calosoma specimens deposited in coleopterological collections in Latvia were reviewed. Previous record of this species in Latvia based on specimen deposited in Latvian Museum of Natural History is disproved. In addition the paper presents information on the geographical distribution and biology of the species.

Conclusions The first proven findings of C. auropunctatum in Latvia was presented during two field season’s, that suggest a presumption of occurring of small, local population of this species in territory of Latvia.