Pilemia tigrina (Mulsant, 1851)

Gradinarov, Denis & Petrova, Yana, 2021, New records of Pilemia tigrina (Mulsant, 1851) (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae) from roadside habitats in Bulgaria, ZooNotes 2021 (183), pp. 1-4 : 2

Pilemia tigrina (Mulsant, 1851)

New records:

Vrachanska Planina Mts.: S of Milanovo Vill. , 43°05.429’N 23°23.879’E, 441 m a.s.l., 18.v.2019, 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (two copulating pairs), DG obs.; the same locality and date, but 43°05.401’N 23°24.074’E, 489 m a.s.l., 2 ex., DG obs.; the same locality and date, but 43°05.516’N 23°23.987’E, 511 m a.s.l., 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀, DG leg.; the same locality, but 43°05.514’N 23°23.995’E, 514 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 1A ), 25.iv.2021, 2 ♀♀, DG obs.; the same locality and date, but 43°05.624’N 23°23.953’E, 527 m a.s.l., 1 ♀, DG obs.; the same locality and date, but 43°05.793’N 23°23.911’E, 555 m a.s.l., 1 ♂, 1 ♀, DG obs .

Mala Planina Mts.: N of Beledie Han Settlement (Gradets Vill.), 42°54.120’N 23°09.582’E, 826 m a.s.l., 20.v.2020, 13 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, DG & YP leg.; the same locality, 42°53.678’N 23°09.113’E, 768 m a.s.l., 15.v.2021, 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (two copulating pairs), DG obs. ( Fig. 1E; F ); the same locality and date, 42°53.700’N 23°09.098’E, 768 m a.s.l., 1 ♂, 1 ♀, DG obs.; the same locality and date, 42°53.767’N 23°09.085’E, 776 m a.s.l., 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, DG leg., 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, DG obs.; the same locality and date, 42°53.789’N 23°09.082’E, 779 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 1D ), 1 ♂, 1 ♀, DG obs.; the same locality and date, 42°54.042’N 23°09.465’E, 811 m a.s.l., 2 ♀♀, DG leg., 3 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (two copulating pairs), DG obs.; the same locality and date, 42°54.114’N 23°09.574’E, 825 m a.s.l., 1 ♂, 6 ♀♀, DG leg., 1 ♀, YP obs.; the same locality and date, 42°54.282’N 23°09.613’E, 844 m, 2 ♂♂, DG leg., 1 ♀, DG obs., 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (copulating pair) YP obs.; the same locality, 42°53.767’N 23°09.085’E, 776 m a.s.l., 25.v.2021, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (copulating pair), DG obs .

Iskarski Prolom Gorge: NE of Eliseyna Vill. , 43°04.804’N 23°29.967’E, 333 m a.s.l. ( Fig. 1C ), 25.iv.2021, 1 ♂, DG leg.; near Eliseyna train station, 43°04.923’N 23°30.223’E, 332 m a.s.l., 25.iv.2021, 1 ♀, DG leg .; NE of Zverino Vill. , 43°05.337’N 23°34.647’E, 277 m a.s.l., left bank of Iskar Riv. ( Fig. 1B ), 25.iv.2021, 2 ♀♀, DG leg .

The new reported localities of the species are within NATURA sites “Vrachanski Balkan” (site code BG0000166, both localities near Eliseyna Vill.), “Dragoman” (site code BG0000322, all sites near Beledie Han Settlement) and “Iskarski prolom – Rzhana“ (site code BG0001042, the locality near Zverino Vill.). The locality of the species near Zverino Vill. is situated only about 3 km SW from the Cherepishki Manastir Monastery (the first reported locality of P. tigrina in Bulgaria), which confirms the presence of a recent population of the species in this part of the Iskarski Prolom Gorge as well as within the NATURA 2000 site “Iskarski prolom – Rzhana“.

It seems that P. tigrina is not rare in the studied regions of the Western Stara Planina Mts., and its distribution is determined entirely (at least in roadside habitats) by the presence of the host plant A. barrelieri . In our study all individuals of P. tigrina were recovered from roadside habitats. Even in the cases when the host plants were present at a greater distance from the road, the beetles clearly preferred the roadside area. The preference of the species to roadside verges is noted as well by Tóth et al. (2016). The roadside habitats may serve as corridors or refugia for insect species, associated with open habitats, but also may act as “ecological traps” due to increased mortality rate ( Eversham & Telfer 1994, Milton et al. 2015). Additional research is needed in order to determine the proportion of individuals in the populations of P. tigrina that use roadside habitats for breeding and the importance of these habitats for the species conservation.

Figures

Fig. 1. Habitats and the host plant of Pilemia tigrina in Western Stara Planina Mts. A – near Milanovo, 25.iv.2021; B – near Zverino, 25.iv.2021; C – near Eliseyna, 25.iv.2021; D, E – near Beledie Han, 15.v.2021; F – the last locality and date, P. tigrina on its host plant.