Biogeographia - vol. XXI - 2000 (Pubb/icato il 30 giugno 2000) Biogeografia del|’Anato|ia The scarab beetles of Turkey: an updated checklist and chorotype analysis (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea)1 GIUSEPPE M. CARPANETO *, EMANUELE PIATTELLA**, RICCARDO PITTINO *** *Dz;zgartz'menr0 di Biologia, Urzizzerszra degli Stmli “Roma Tre”, Viale G. Marconi, 446 — I—00I46Roma (Italy) **Dz}7artiment0 di Biologia Animale e dell’Uom0 (Zoologia), Univerritiz degli Studi “La Sapienza ”, Viale a’ell’Unz'z/erritfz, 32 — I—00185 Roma (Italy) ***Muse0 Civico di Sroria Naturale, Corro Vmezia, 55 — I—20I2I Milarzo (Italy) Key words: Anatolia, Turkey, Near East fauna, zoogeography, diversity, endemics. SUMMARY A checklist of 625 species of Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea (281 Laparosticti and 344 Pleurosticti) occurring within the political borders of the Turkish Republic is presented. These species belong to 99 genera and 14 families. The high percent value oFPleurosticti (55%) respect to other Mediterranean scarab beetle faunas, can be explained with the high degree ofwildetness and habitat diversity of the Turkish territory which includes large areas ofwoodland and natural steppe. Usually, the richness of Pleurosticti is subject to a strong decrease whenever the land use is dominated by intensive agriculture or grazing. To each species a main chorotype was assigned in accordance with the most recent criteria. Two chorotypes are dominant: the SW—Asiatic (15%), the E—Mediterranean (12%). According to the current taxonomic arrangement, the number of endemic species appeared very high (234 species that is 37.4% of the whole scarab fauna of Turkey) but inequally distributed in the two above mentioned groups, as the Pleurosticti represent 75% of the endemics. Most endemics occur in southern Anatolian, which resulted to be the scenario of an adaptive radiation for some genera (mainly within Glaphyridae, Melolonthidae and Rutelidae), probably due to the high Horistic and habitat diversity. Nevertheless, precaution is due in this diversity assessment because several taxonomic groups of scarab beetles should be carefully revised before processing data for zoogeographical analysis. The highest number of endemics is referable to a S—Anatolian (=Taurian) pattern ofdistribution observed in 87 species (14%). Other major patterns are: the species widely spread throughout Anatolia (10.6%), and those restricted to the Armenian and Armeno— Caucasian areas (4.5%). INTRODUCTION The aim of the present work is to set—up the current knowledge on the scarab beetle fauna of Turkey, providing an updated checklist of the species till now 1 Zoological researches in the Near East by Universities of Rome: 192. This study was supported by grants from MURST 1999 (University of “Roma Tre”) “Variazione geografica e diversita a livello di specie, faune e zoocenosi: cause storiche ed ecologiche”.