Characteristics of the Fauna and Complexes of Phytophagous Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomeloidea, Curculionoidea) of Shihan Kushtau (Ishimbay District of the Republic of Bashkortostan)

Abstract

The article provides information on the species composition and gives a general description of the fauna of phytophagous beetles of the superfamilies Chrysomeloidea and Curculionoidea shikhan Kushtau. This is one of the three Sterlitamak shikhans – unique natural sites of the Republic of Bashkortostan, representing limestone paleorifs. A very high species diversity of Chrysomeloidea and Curculionoidea was established in Kushtau (282 species from 9 families, which is 23.5 % of the entire fauna of these groups in the forest-steppe zone of the Volga and Ural regions). The originality of the Kushtau fauna is emphasized by the low Jaccard similarity coefficient with the fauna of other shikhans – Yuraktau (0.63) and Tratau (0.58). Moreover, 30 species of beetles registered in Kushtau are not known on other shikhans. Among the biotopic complexes of phytophagous beetles, despite the relatively small areas of open habitats in Kushtau, the vast majority of species are concentrated in grassy and shrub biotopes. Especially rich are the complexes of herbivorous beetles of the steppe biotopes, in which 70 % of the species composition of the Kushtau fauna is concentrated (197 species). In the steppes (especially petrophytic), the largest number of relict species is concentrated. In the forests of Kushtau, 73 species of phytophagous beetles (25.6 % of fauna) were recorded, with a high proportion of non-moral species, on the eastern borders of their ranges. The data presented in the article, emphasizing the uniqueness of this natural object and the need for its conservation.