Genus Trichius (Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera) in Europe

There are only 3 species:

-Trichius fasciatus
-Trichius gallicus
-Trichius sexualis.

T. fasciatus is the most widespread species and its range overlaps the other two species, but it's easily identifiable in most cases: all 3 species have 3 pairs of black markings on the elytra, and in T. fasciatus the most anterior marks touch the anterior margin of the elytra.

In the other 2 species there is a separation between the margin and the markings. These two have mostly separate distributions: T. gallicus can be found in Western Europe and T. sexualis in Eastern Europe. However, there are some exceptions, like this observation of T. sexualis in France (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164617047) and this one from Western Austria (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189154121), which may indicate that there may be some individuals of T. sexualis incorrectly assigned to T. gallicus in that region.

Posted on March 18, 2024 05:20 PM by antonva