Polyphaga aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Materials examined.

GEORGIA • 1♂; Dighomi village (8 km E of Tbilisi); N41.7805°, E44.7034°; 775 m a.s.l.; heathland, under rocks at night; leg: A Seropian and L-G Japaridze; 13 Sep 2020; CaBOL- ID 1010347 (Fig. 1E) . • 1♀; Dighomi village (8 km E of Tbilisi); N41.7805°, E44.7034°; 775 m a.s.l.; heathland, under rocks at night; leg: A Seropian and L-G Japaridze; 05 Sep 2020; CaBOL- ID 1010359 (Fig. 1F) . • 1juv.; Dighomi village (8 km E of Tbilisi); N41.7776°, E44.7132°; 654 m a.s.l.; heathland, under artificial garbage; leg: A Zukakishvili; 03 May 2021; CaBOL- ID 1021022 (Fig. 1G-H) . • 2♀♀; 2juv.; Uplistiskhe; N41.966004°, E44.219267°; 563 m a.s.l.; steppe, under rocks; leg. L Mumladze; 02 Sep 2010; ISUIZ . • 1♂, 3♀♀; Chachuna Managed Reserve; N41.29366°, E45.95407°; 400 m a.s.l.; semidesert, under rocks; 19 Oct 2020; ISUIZ .

Genetics.

We obtained two identical barcodes from the specimens with CaBOL-IDs 1010347 and 1010359 (BOLD: AEP4515) and provided the first COI sequences of P. aegyptiaca .

Remarks.

The distribution range of the species covers the entire Mediterranean region, the southern parts of Europe, and southwestern Asia, reaching Iran in the east. With such a wide distribution, one might think it’s a well-studied species in Georgia. In fact, there is almost no location-specific data on P. aegyptiaca finds in Georgia, as we provide one based on the material collected within CaBOL, museum material, and also photographic observations available at the Georgian Biodiversity Database (Tarkhnishvili et al. 2013), iNaturalist, and the Facebook group "Wildlife in Georgia". The distribution in Georgia is as follows: Batumi (Bey-Bienko 1950), Chachuna Managed Reserve, Gori, Kumisi, Tbilisi, Rustavi, Poladauri, Kutaisi, Mtskheta, and Uplistsikhe.