A Chromosomal Analysis of Eight Species of Melinopterus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae)

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.