Resumo

JIMENEZ-FERBANS, LARRY  e  AMAT-GARCIA, GERMÁN. The passalid beetles (Coleoptera:Scarabaeoidea: Passalidae) from Caribbean region of Colombia. Caldasia [online]. 2009, vol.31, n.1, pp.155-173. ISSN 0366-5232.

The beetle family Passalidae comprises about 680 described species, most of them distributed in the tropical and temperate-humid zones of the world, especially in humid environments. Passalidae are subsocial insects, that live and eat rotting logs and some species of the genus Ptichopus occur in the detritus of ant leaf cut, allowing a fast incorporation of organic matter in the nutrient cycles. In Colombia have been recorded about 65 species from humid, rain and dry forests of low lands to high mountain forests, with the upper altitudinal limit near to 3000m. In the last years, many studies have been made in this family but related only with humid environments and neglecting the dry forests. Surveys of some regions of the country, like the Caribbean region, are very few and the knowledge about these organisms is scanty. This work study the Passalidae fauna of the Colombian Caribbean region makes contributions to their taxonomic, biogeography and systematic knowledge. 21 localities of four zones (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Tayrona National Natural Park, Serranía del Perijá and the lowlands of the department of Córdoba) were sampled; at each locality 30 rotting logs were inspected. The survey comprises two tribes, six genera and 18 species. Passalini is the most diversified tribe with 12 species and Proculini with six species. Passalus is the richest genera in this region with nine species, which includes the subgenera Mitrorhinus, Pertinax and Passalus s.tr. In the Proculini tribe, Popilius is the genus with the largest number of species (3); Popilius erotylus is the first record for Colombia.

Palavras-chave : Coleoptera; Beetles; Passalidae; Diversity; Caribbean; Colombia.

        · resumo em Espanhol     · texto em Espanhol     · Espanhol ( pdf )