Forum Entomologi Italiani

Length is 7mm.

hi georgi

it looks like an immature Molops sp., yet the size is quite small... are you sure about it?

anyway, without a male from the same locality, i doubt very much it will ever be possible to identify the species

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maurizio

Thank you, Maurizio!
The size is correct. Unfortenately a single specimen from the forest floor. I found 2 Molops specimens, too, but they are really larger and from a different place and habitat, 3-4 kms away , alpine meadows.

I see 2 setae on the apical thirth of elytra. Is this normal for Molops?

please check if:

1) there are, or not, setae on 3rd interval of elytra

2) there is, or not, a seta at posterior angles of pronotum

3) the 3rd antennomere is pubescent in apical half, or it is glabrous, except for apical half

(it could also be a Tapinopterus...)

p.s. for next two days, i will not have an internet connection

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maurizio

hello Georgi,
There is a notable feature in your specimen: the absence of scutellar stria.
My first impression was that belongs to the genus Platyderus, but as I think, in all the species of this genus, the scutellar stria exist.

So my next thought was the genus Pterostichus.
There, at the subgenus Cryobius Chaudoir, 1838 (= Haptoderus Chaudoir, 1838), in several species, the scutellar stria is missing.
Thus, three possible species are
-Pterostichus (Cryobius) pumilio (Dejean 1828) [referred to in Romania, but not in Bulgaria]
-Pterostichus (Cryobius) properans (Chaudoir 1868) [Bulgaria and Turkey] and
-Pterostichus (Cryobius) vecors ( Tschitscherine, 1897) [also Bulgaria and Turkey].
In the collection here, there are 2 males, identified as Pterostichus (Cryobius) vecors (Tschitscherine, 1897). They are very similar to yours, but black in color.

you can see also, here:
http://carabidae.org/taxa/cryobius-chau ... 8?mode=all

ciao from Athens,
George

Thank you for the efforts, both of you!
I think at this stage we should agree with George.
Pterostichus vecors

From Apfelbeck, 1904 (Kaferfauna der Balkanhalbinsel),
the species Pterostichus properans not match, neither at the description nor at the size (9.5-10 mm).
The species Pterostichus vecors fits much better, both at the description and at the size (7.5-7.75 mm), as also at the capture area (Etropol Balkan), located close to your own locality.

My specimens, have a length of 7.25 and 7.3 mm and have captured a little further east (pass between Gabrovo and Kazanlak - Shipcenska planina, if it is written correctly).
Correction for the color: these specimens are very dark brown. Not completely black ...

So perhaps the best that we can propose (as long as there isn't another opinion) is Pterostichus cf. vecors.