28. Laemostenus (s. str.) venustus (Dejean, 1828)

Fig. 4 I

Habitat and general distribution.

Laemostenus venustus is a Euro-Mediterranean species that dwells in forests (especially of Q. coccifera and P. orientalis) (Austin et al. 2008).

Material examined.

• Rethymno: Rouvas Forest, 35.169897°N, 24.922200°E, 1100 m elev., 20.II.1990 – 6.V.1990, pitfall traps, 1 spm, leg. Trichas A. (NHMC) ; • Lochria, in Quercus coccifera dehesa-like forest, 35.17640°N 24.77780°E, 980 m elev., 24.V.2019 – 2.VII.2019, pitfall traps, 1 spm leg. G. Bolanakis (NHMC) .

Comments.

Laemostenus venustus is known in Greece from the Greek mainland and Peloponnese (von Oertzen 1886; Apfelbeck 1904; Arndt et al. 2011). This is the first record of L. venustus reported from Crete. The species has been recorded only from two localities. Specifically, it has been recorded in Rouvas Forest (a shadowed riparian forest with large, veteran plane trees and kermes oaks). The original record dates back to 1990 (Trichas 1996). After several re-samples with pitfall traps, we managed to find one more specimen in 2018, in Lochria, a dehesa-like shrubland with old kermes oaks. Therefore, L. venustus appears to be a rare species in Crete, with a restricted distribution around Ida mountain.