Forum Entomologi Italiani

This species was described by Panzer (1823: 110) from Austria and is reliably known only from following countries: Czech Republic (only southern and central Moravia - see Juřena et al. 2008; at present I consider it in CZ nearly extinct!), Slovakia (single specimen from 19th century), Austria (last recorded by Petrovitz 1969), Hungary (one or two specimens only - see Ádám 1994), Russia (from where was described as Aphodius hoberlandti Tesař 1945 based on single male) and Ukraine (recently collected by Oleg A. Novikov: Král 2008).
All the records from other countries are dubious because of its difficult identification.
I was collected the species in southern Moravia in 1995-2002, always in autumn, in a meadows in horse dung. In Moravia, the adults are active in IX.-XI., mostly in the second half of X.
I consider A. (N.) affinis one of the greatest rarities from the European fauna (from my opinion, the species is becoming extinct in whole area of its distribution).

REFERENCES:

ÁDÁM L. 1994: A check-list of the Hungarian Scarabaeoidea with the description of ten new taxa (Coleoptera). Fol. Entomol. Hung., 55: 5-17.
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).
KRÁL D. 2008: Aphodius (Nimbus) affinis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Slovakia and Ukraine. Klapalekiana, 44 (Suppl.): 177-181.
PANZER G. W. F. 1823: Faunae Insectorum Germaniae initia oder Deutschlands Insekten. Felsecker, Nürnberg, 110: [Nos.] 1, 2, 3.
PETROVITZ R. 1969: Ergänzungen und Berichtigungen zu: Ad. Horion/Faunistik der mitteleuropäischen Käfer, VI/1958, Lamellicornia. I. Teil. Zeitschr. Arbeitsgem. Österr. Entomol., 21: 62-64.
TESAŘ Z. 1945: De novis Aphodiinarum speciebus palearcticis. Čas. Čs. Společ. Entomol., 42: 66-72.

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Daniel

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

This is the characteristic biotope of A. (N.) affinis:

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Daniel

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

nice species and nice photo Daniel
will be interested to search for that in Romania, can you give more details regarding knows stations?

thank you

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Cosmin-Ovidiu Manci
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cosmln's place - my blog
just insects
Dragonflies of Romania

Wonderful species

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alexandrupintilioaie(AT)gmail.com

It is possible that A. affinis occurs in Romania, but I am afraid there are no suitable localities because in lowlands of Romania there is too warm and xeric climate. The species love softly dump lowlands (100-200 m a.s.l.) with mild climate, best meadows nearby flooded and alluvial forests with pasturage of horses. But the pastures mustn't be underflooding. In the photograph above you can see characteristic biotope of the species (CZ, S-Moravia, Pohansko nr. Břeclav).

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Daniel

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

Ciao Daniel
colgo l'occasione per salutarti e farti i complimenti.Davvero belle le tue foto

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Marco
"Le foreste a precedere le civiltà, i deserti a seguire."
François-René de Chateaubriand

Ciao Marco, grazie!

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Daniel

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

A. affinis was very rarely collected in some different localities in southern Moravia (generally in one or two specimens only):

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Daniel

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

in this (first photo with habitat) in first plan are also some community of salt-loving plants?

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Cosmin-Ovidiu Manci
**********************
cosmln's place - my blog
just insects
Dragonflies of Romania

I don't think so.

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Daniel

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

Another male of A. (N.) affinis:

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Daniel

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

Nice foto

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alexandrupintilioaie(AT)gmail.com

I think I have some places in western part of Romania that are more or less similar with your first images, but in that area in general are only sheeps and cows, I don't remember if I have seen horses in that area

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Cosmin-Ovidiu Manci
**********************
cosmln's place - my blog
just insects
Dragonflies of Romania

Cosmin, A. affinis occur not strictly in horse dung but also e.g. in droppings of Oryctolagus cuniculus and maybe other mammals. You can try it next autumn (X., XI.)

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Daniel

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

Distribution of Aphodius (Nimbus) affinis in the Czech Republic (last known sporadic record is from 2007!) and Slovakia (open circles refer to records collected before 1960, solid circles refer to records after 1959):

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Daniel

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