Abstract

MATTOS, Ingrid  and  MERMUDES, José Ricardo M.. Geographic Distribution and Diversity of Passalidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) from the Atlantic Rainforest of Southeastern (Brazil). Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2015, vol.31, n.3, pp.412-430. ISSN 2448-8445.

The Passalidae fauna is poorly known in the southeasternof Brazil, a region with Atlantic Forest thatincludes typical tropical phyto-physiognomies of the Brasilian coast, with distinctive geology and geography. This is the first study in seven areas of conservation of the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil, and intends to list the species of Passalinae. Actually, the diversity of Passalidae fauna from southeastern of Brazil increase to 44 species, of which 30 were collected and are accurately recorded in remnants of Atlantic Forest biome. Passalus (Pertinax) convexus Dalman, 1817, Passalus (Passalus) )enticollis Kaup, 1869 and Passalus (Passalus) punctiger Lepeletier & Serville, 1825 were the most abundant, representing over 49% of individuals. Passalus (Pertinax) convexus is one of the most typical species from the Atlantic Forest biome in the Southeast. Based on a large sample of material examined from several institutions, we found 25 new locations, 11 new records for the states of Brazil and seven records to other countries in South America, promoting additions to the distribution of species in Southeast Brazil. Passalus nasutus Percheron, 1835 have new unambiguous comemmts to elucidate Passalus (Passalus) curtus Kaup, 1869, where the former species is restricted to Brazil and the latter is restricted to Colombia.

Keywords : Bess beetles; Neotropical; Passalinae; Passalini; Proculini.