Aphodius ( Phalacronothus ) botulus Balthasar, 1945

Aphodius ( Phalacronothus) botulus Balthasar, 1945 View in CoL

Figs 1–4 View Figs 1–4

Aphodius ( Paragolius) botulus Balthasar, 1945: 43 View in CoL . Type locality “Mandschukuo, circum oppidium Charbin” [= China: Heilongjiang]; Balthasar, 1964: 281.

Aphodius ( Phalacronothus) botulus View in CoL : Kim, 1989: 3; Takahashi, 1999: 34; Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2006: 134; Murata et al., 2011: 84; Kim, 2012: 126.

Phalacronothus botulus View in CoL : Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2016: 145.

Aphodius ( Orodalus) naraensis Nakane, 1956: 120 View in CoL . Type locality “ Nara, Yamato, Honshu” [= Japan: Honshu]; Balthasar, 1964: 201; Stebnicka, 1980: 239. Synonymized by Stebnicka, 1982: 78.

Aphodius ( Amidorus) manschuriensis Petrovitz, 1958: 138 View in CoL . Type locality ”Manschurei: Charbin” [= China: Heilongjiang]. Synonymized by Balthasar, 1964: 281.

Liothorax plagiatus View in CoL auct.: Shabalin, 2020: 188; Shabalin, 2021: 625; Shabalin, 2022: 477; Shabalin, 2023: 20; Shabalin, 2024: 256.

MATERIAL. Russia: Primorskii krai: valley of Ryazanovka River (42°82' N, 131°23' E), 29. V 2018, 19 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin ; same locality, 7. VI 2018, 9 specimens in sheep and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin ; same locality, 15. VI 2018, 5 specimens in sheep and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin ; same locality, 6.VII 2018, 1 specimen in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin ; Safari-Park ( 43°32' N, 132°40' E), 8. VI 2020, 3 specimens in deer dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; 5 km E Romanovka ( 43°23' N, 132°52' E) 15. V 2019, 6 specimens in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; vicinity Peretino ( 43°00' N, 133°14' E), 15. V 2019, 1 specimen in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; 16 km SSE Partizansk ( 43°06' N, 133°18' E), 15. V 2019, 19 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 24. V 2019, 11 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 3. VI 2019, 8 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 12. VI 2019, 2 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; 15 km NNE Partizansk ( 43°26' N, 133°17' E), 15. V 2019, 202 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 24. V 2019, 8 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 3. VI 2019, 7 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; Novogordeevka ( 44°03' N, 133°14' E), 15. V 2020, 1 specimen in horse dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; same locality, 23. V 2020, 1 specimen in horse dung, leg. S. Shabalin GoogleMaps ; vicinity of Kornilovka , 15. V 2020, 2 specimens in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin ; same locality, 23. V 2020, 1 specimen cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin. Four specimens from the valley of Ryazanovka River are deposited in the collection of the Zoological Institute ( Saint Petersburg), but the rest material deposited in the collection of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity ( Vladivostok) .

DISTRIBUTION. Russia (first record, Primorskii krai), Japan (Honshu, Kyushu), North Korea, China ( Heilongjiang, Jilin).

NOTES. Adults of Aphodius botulus can be separated from other species of subgenus Phalacronothus recorded from Russia, namely A. biguttatus Germar, 1824 , A. citellorum Semenov et Medvedev, 1928 , and A. quadrimaculatus , by denser and coarser punctation of head, pronotum and elytra, and by the shape of the parameres. In Primorskii krai, A. botulus occurs along with the more abundant A. pusillus , and can be confused with it. It differs from the latter, apart from the characters mentioned above, also in having a hooked protibial spur in males and in a smaller average size. In North Korea, the beetles were found in sheep and cow dung ( Stebnicka, 1980). In addition to the dung of abovementioned animals, in Russia the beetles were also found in horse and deer dung. Our data suggest that A. botulus is a generalist coprophagous species with imago active mostly in late spring and early summer.