Calosoma ( Campalita ) maderae (Fabricius, 1775)

Pavlou, Christoforos, Bolanakis, Giannis, Kardaki, Ljubitsa & Trichas, Apostolos, 2025, Forty years of ground-beetle sampling in Crete. A major contribution to the Carabidae (Coleoptera, Adephaga) fauna of Crete (Greece), Contributions to Entomology 75 (2), pp. 269-288 : 269-288

3. Calosoma ( Campalita) maderae (Fabricius, 1775)

Fig. 2 B

General distribution.

Calosoma maderae has a wide distribution in Europe, North Africa and Near and Middle East ( Häckel 2017).

Material examined.

• Chania: Chora Sfakion , 35.201518°N, 24.138031°E, 40 m elev., 16.V.2019, handpicking, 1 spm, leg. Alexandrakis G. ( NHMC) ; • Lefka Ori, Niato plateau , 35.29416°N, 24.14765°E, 1226 m elev., pitfall traps, 20.VI.2019 – 31.VII.2019, 1 spm, leg. Bolanakis G. ( NHMC) .

Comments.

The taxonomic status of this species and its close relatives is ambiguous, with a wide discussion of the species / subspecies rank amongst the different taxa (see Roeschke (1900); Breuning (1927); Jeannel (1941)). Herein, we follow Bruschi (2010) who suggests a lumping approach for the different taxa of the C. maderae group, as well as the inclusion of C. auropunctatum as a synonym of C. maderae s. str. ( https://www.calosomas.com/Campalita/cal_maderae.html).

The first record of C. maderae in Crete is that of Schaum (1857), from material collected by Zebe. Zebe also managed to collect C. maderae from the island of Syros “ Syra ” at the same time ( Schaum 1857). Apfelbeck (1904) cites these references and adds two more, both from the volcanic island of Milos. Herein, we report new specimens of C. maderae from Crete for the first time in more than 150 years. This is indicative of its rarity, which is both distributional (until now the only known localities of the species in Crete are confined on Lefka Ori mountain massif) and in terms of abundance (only two specimens), in contrast to the other two Calosoma spp. of Crete which exhibit far greater abundances (and a broad distribution in C. sycophanta case). The species was found in a mountain shrubland (Niato plateau) with Berberis cretica and Quercus coccifera , as well as to an urban environment (Chora Sfakion), near the sea level.

Figures

Figure 2. A. Calosoma inquisitor; B. Calosoma maderae; C. Carabus graecus trojanus; D. Brachinus plagiatus; E. Brachinus psophia; F. Clivia ypsilon; G. Sirdenus grayii; H. Scarites eurytus; I. Scarites buparius. Scale bars: 5.5 mm (A); 7.75 mm (B); 5 mm (C); 3 mm (D); 2.5 mm (E); 1.75 mm (F); 1.1 mm (G); 6.4 mm (H); 6.8 mm (I).