Anoplistes galusoi (Kostin, 1974) *

Karpinski, Lech, Szczepanski, Wojciech T., lewa, Radoslaw, Walczak, Marcin, Hilszczanski, Jacek, Kruszelnicki, Lech, Los, Krzysztof, Jaworski, Tomasz, Marek Bidas, & Tarwacki, Grzegorz, 2018, New data on the distribution, biology and ecology of the longhorn beetles from the area of South and East Kazakhstan (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae), ZooKeys 805, pp. 59-126 : 77-78

Anoplistes galusoi (Kostin, 1974) * Figs 3C, D, 10E, F

Material examined.

Almaty Region: 25 km SW of Kalinino [ Басши], 691 m a.s.l., 13 VI 2017, 1♂, leg. LK; 2♂♂, 1♀, leg. WTS.

Remarks.

This is an endemic Kazakh species with its known distribution limited to the area of Mt. Ulkunkalkan at the Ili River in the southeastern part of the country ( Kostin 1974, Danilevsky 2018a). According to Kostin (1974), the larvae develop in the roots and basal parts of the stems of living Ephedra strobilacea . The irregular feeding ground is widened with the increasing of larva and although it is initially oriented downwards, it turns back to the top. Its length usually does not exceed 20 cm. Most of the emergence holes of the adults are located at the base of the root neck, approx. a few centimetres above ground level. The damaged shoots dry up before the autumn, and sometimes this may cause the whole bush to die. Adults that are rather immobile can be found from the end of May to mid-June. They copulate on host plants shortly after they hatch and supplementary feeding does not seem to be important in this species.

The imagines (Fig. 10E, F) were observed during windy and hot weather sitting on tufts of E. strobilacea (Fig. 10G) that were growing on the steep mountain slopes on the western side at a higher altitude in the habitat of a stony semi-desert that was sparsely covered with vegetation (Fig. 10H). Only four inactive specimens (three males and one female) were found despite checking nearly a thousand Ephedra shrubs. They did not seem to react to either the strong gusts of wind or the presence of observers. The beetles were found throughout most of the day from about 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. This strongly limited, endemic species seems to be in decline recently. In order to protect the exact locality of this vulnerable cerambycid, even approximate geographical coordinates have not been given. The species may somehow be related to the extremely rare Anoplistes diabolicus Reitter, 1915.