Census of the fruit and flower chafers (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) of the Macau SAR, China

By

Perissinotto, Renzo
Clennell , Lynette

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1026

Pages

17--43

Subjects

Cetoniini , new records , Palearctic region , Schizorhinini , Taenioderini

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1026.60036

 

Abstract

The coleopteran fauna of the Macau SAR in southern China has historically received only limited attention and no updated information has been published since the last substantial works produced in the 1990s. An annotated and illustrated review of the fruit and flower chafers (Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) of this region is here presented, in order to provide an account of the current status of the taxonomic diversity and ecology of this important insect group. Eleven species were observed in the SAR during an intense investigation undertaken during the period 2017–2020, with six of these representing new records for Macau and two for the broader region of the Pearl River Delta, also known as the Greater Bay Area. Although this census leads to a substantial increase in the number of species known for the area, it also highlights the threats that the recent escalation in urban development and land-use transformation are posing to a number of species which seem unable to maintain a sustainable population in the region, mainly due to habitat destruction.