Forum Entomologi Italiani

This is the beetle from my avatar, Aphodius bilimecki.
Phytosaprophagous species, known from many mountains across central and southern Europe – Switzerland, Austria, the Italian Alps, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Monenegro, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia and Greece; see Mariani (1979) for details. From the Czech Republic is known only from three mountains of the Hrubý Jeseník mountain range: Praděd Mt., 1491 m, Petrovy kameny Mt., 1438 m, and Vysoká hole Mt., 1464 m.
Adults of both sexes are collected mainly on/under stones, among rhizomes and rootlets; in case of sunny and calm weather, females can also be found sitting on grass-blades. The larva is phytosaprophagous and inhabits moist tussocks of rootlets and rhizomes of montane grasses (e.g., Nardus stricta). It is a very local species similar to the other European species of the subgenus Neagolius W. Koshantschikov, 1912. The adults are active mostly in early June.

REFERENCES:
JUŘENA D., TÝR V. & BEZDĚK A. 2008: Příspěvek k faunistickému výzkumu listorohých brouků (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) na území České republiky a Slovenska. (Contribution to the faunistic research on Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia). Klapalekiana, 44 (Suppl.): 17-176 (in Czech, English summary).
MARIANI G. 1979: Gli Aphodiini italiani del sottogenere Agolius Muls. Mem. Soc. Entomol. Ital. (Genova), 58: 41-94.

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)

Distribution of A. (N.) bilimecki in the Czech Republic and Slovakia:

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)

In Catalogue of Palearctic Coleoptera Vol.3

Aphodius (Neagolius) limbolarius danielorum Semenov, 1902
bilimecki Seidlitz, 1891

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Research Fields
Taxonomy, ecology, biomonitoring , faunistic of Staphylinidae

Photos of a female from my friend Filip Trnka:

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)

PalCat is out. Dellacasa & Dellacasa (2005) considered A. limbolarius Reitter, 1892 as a junior subjective synonym of A. bilimecki Seidlitz, 1891 (DELLACASA M. & DELLACASA G. 2005: Comments on some systematic and nomenclatural questions in Aphodiinae with description of new genera and on Italian taxa. Mem. Soc. Entomol. Ital. (Genova), 84: 45-99.)

See also: DELLACASA G. & DELLACASA M. 2006: Coleoptera Aphodiidae, Aphodiinae. Fauna d’Italia. Vol. 41. Calderini, Bologna, 484 pp.

Furthermore, in the PalCat A. bilimecki is incorrectly listed from Germany and Slovakia (no specimens from these countries are so far known).

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)

Some photos of the Czech locality of A. bilimecki:

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)

Obvious, it is a objective synonimy:
if it is true that A. limbolarius danielorum Semenov, 1902 = A. bilimecki Seidlitz, 1891
then automatically A. bilimecki Seidlitz, 1891 = A. limbolarius Reitter, 1892.
Hypothetically in the same case,
if it is also true that A. l. danielorum differs from A. l. limbolarius
the two taxa will became A. bilimecki bilimecki Seidlitz, 1891 [= danielorum Semenov, 1902] and A. bilimecki limbolarius Reitter, 1892.
All the above only on the basis of the code, without any competence on the taxa.

Ciao Roberto

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verum stabile cetera fumus

Of course, assuming that we consider both subspecies as valid, the name limbolarius wouldn't be a synonym for A. bilimeckii and would be the valid name for one from both subspecies. However, Dellacasa & Dellacasa (2005, 2006) don't recognize these subspecies, thus A. limbolarius is a junior subjective synonym of A. bilimecki. Likewise Mariani (1979) remarked that the distributional areas of both "subspecies" cannot be separate because specimens with the characteristics of the eastern taxon can be found in western populations and also the aedeagal features are identical.

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Daniel

Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον. (ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ, 1,9)