Working Group on Iberian Lucanidae (GTLI)

4. 2. IBERIAN DISTRIBUTION OF LUCANIDAE

Justification and objectives
As important as faunistic inventorying of a region is mapping of such fauna. The need of detailed distribution maps has been noticed long ago (Illies, 1983) and is getting more and more important for several growing disciplines, such as Biogeography, Macroecology and Conservation.

For the Ecological Biogeography, detailed information about species distribution is the base to establish the relationship between species range and several environmental factors, such as temperature (Jeffree & Jeffree, 1994). In addition, it is essential for the Philogenetic Biogeography (Morrone, 2000), which look for relationships between ranges of related species. Finally, biogeographical studies of specific groups allow to identify hot spots (Reid, 1998), i.e. areas with a high species richness.

Macroecology (Brown, 1995) look for big scale -macroecologic- patterns between range size and local abundance, range size and body size or local abundance and body size.

Xylophagous and saproxylophagous beetles are a group very sensible to environmental degradation (Speight, 1989). Many species, including several Lucanidae, are considered as threatened or vulnerable in Europe. Conservation decisions should be based on the best information available. Detailed knowledge about distribution allows: (1) to prioritize areas and habitats with higher diversity, abundance or endemism concentration, and (2) to evaluate the occurrence of historical declines in distribution (McCarthy, 1998).

There are many current projects for diversity mapping. GTLI intends, with this project, to contribute to that task by keeping an actualized data base about distribution of all Iberian Lucanidae species. Such data base consists of literature records, data from official and private entomological collections, and field observations.

Results

GTLI’s data base is not included in this homepage. Notwithstanding, is made available, free of charge, under request to any scientific institution, entomological society, gubernamental office, or private person, on the understanding that the source will be fully acknowledged.
Below, distribution maps with 10 x 10 km squares grid are shown, as well as a table which summarizes the information available for the Iberian Lucanidae species.

Aesalus scarabaeoides ....... Map (in preparation) .. Table 4.2.1
Sinodendron cylindricum ..... Map 4.2.2 .................... Table 4.2.2
Ceruchus chrysomelinus .... Map (in preparation) .. Table (in preparation)
Platycerus spinifer ............... Map 4.2.4 .................... Table 4.2.4
Platycerus caraboides ......... Map 4.2.5 .................... Table 4.2.5
Platycerus caprea ................ Map (in preparation) .. Table (in preparation)
Dorcus parallelepipedus ...... Map 4.2.7 ............... Table 4.2.7
Lucanus cervus ................... Map 4.2.8 ............... Table 4.2.8
Pseudolucanus barbarossa . Map 4.2.9 .............. Table 4.2.9

We have gathered all the Faunistic literature about Iberian Lucanidae we have been able to find.
How to collaborate
1.- Sending to the GTLI contact address your field observations or data from your private collection referred to any Lucanidae species. Information requested can be checked at the cards for data recording and in the instructions for data card filling (only in Spanish). It is very important to learn how to distinguish the different Lucanidae species, especially the diferences betweenLucanus and Pseudolucanus and those among the different species of Platycerus. Check the determination keys and species figures within the section “Iberian Lucanidae”. Learn also how to report UTM coordinates (only in Spanish).

2.- Visiting any University, Museum or research centrum within your region to check the existence of entomological collections and to take the available information about Lucanidae. Follow the instructions for data recording in entomological collections (only in Spanish), in which you will find a list of the collections already visited. Remember that it is possible to find Iberian specimens of Lucanidae even in foreign entomological collections. Help from outside the Iberian peninsula is welcome to track Iberian Lucanidae in entomological collections.

3.- Checking the current presence of Lucanidae species at localities in which they were found long ago but in which recent records are lacking. This is a way to know if a real “local extinction” has occurred or it is, simply, that nobody has gone there in a long while. You can ask to GTLI for a list of localities close to your residence area.

4.- Sending to GTLI a copy of faunistic papers quoting Lucanidae from the Iberian peninsula. The list of papers already available can be checked under the heading “Faunistic literature about Iberian Lucanidae” above. Remember that it is possible to find mentions to Iberian specimens of Lucanidae even in foreign entomological literature. Help from outside the Iberian peninsula is welcome to track faunistic records of Iberian Lucanidae in the entomological literature.

Those people providing information to GTLI must do it on the understanding that such information will become available to anybody else. If they consider that the information provided is worth publishing, GTLI encourages them to do that and to submit to GTLI a copy of the published paper, instead of unpublished data.

References

Brown, R. H. 1995. Macroecology. Chicago University Press, Chicago, IL.

Jeffree, E. P. & Jeffree, C. E. 1994. Temperature and the biogeographical distributions of species. Funct. Ecol. 8: 640-650.

Illies, J. 1983. Changing concepts in biogeography. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 28: 391-406.

McCarthy, M. A. 1998. Identifying declining and threatened species with museum data. Biol. Conserv. 83: 9-17.

Morrone, J. J. 2000. La importancia de los atlas biogeográficos para la conservación de la biodiversidad. En F.

Martín-Piera, J. J. Morrone & A. Melic (eds.) Hacia un proyecto CYTED para el inventario y estimación de la diversidad entomológica en Iberoamérica: PrIbES 2000: 69-78. m3m-Monografías Tercer Milenio Vol. 1, Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, Zaragoza.

Reid, W. V. 1998. Biodiversity hotspots. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13: 275-280.

Speight, M. C. D. 1989. Saproxylic invertebrates and their conservation. Nature and Environment Series No. 42. Council of Europe, Estrasbourg.

Last updated: 1 July 2007