Abstract
The chromosomes of eight species of Melinopterus Mulsant, 1842 are described and illustrated, five of them, M. punctatosulcatus (Sturm, 1805), M. maroccanus Rößner, 2018, M. villarreali (Baraud, 1975), M. abeillei (Sietti, 1903) and M. tingens (Reitter, 1892), for the first time. Melinopterus villarreali is shown to be a valid species, distinct from M. sphacelatus (Panzer, 1798). All the species have distinctive karyotypes comprising 2n = 18 + Xy (♂), 2n = 18 + XX (♀), but those of female M. villarreali and M. tingens are difficult to distinguish because, although their X chromosomes are of different sizes, it is difficult to pick out the correct chromosome.
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References
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Acknowledgments
It is a pleasure to thank all who have helped me in the production of this paper. Eckehard Rößner identified my M. maroccanus and confirmed my identifications of M. tingens and M. abeillei and has been consistently helpful and informative. Jason Mate sent me material and accompanied me on several enjoyable Spanish collecting trips. Tristão Branco has given me detailed information about his Algarve collecting sites, and here in England Darren Mann and Ron Carr gave me details of the localities for M. punctatosulcatus and Ron and I together collected the species in May this year. My daughter Lizzie (Dr E. M. Angus) has accompanied me on a number of Spanish trips, always adding greatly to the enjoyment and productivity. Finally I thank Max Barclay and the Natural History Museum in London for my continuing position as a Scientific Associate and the use of the Museum’s facilities.
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Angus, R.B. A Chromosomal Analysis of Eight Species of Melinopterus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). Entmol. Rev. 99, 859–867 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873819070017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873819070017