Accepted by D. Pollock: 23 Jun. 2009; published: 29 Jul. 2009 53 ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Copyright © 2009 · Magnolia Press Zootaxa 2170: 53–60 (2009) www.mapress.com/ zootaxa/ Article Two new species of the genus Gunarus Des Gozis, 1886 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini) from Southern Turkey MAXIM V. NABOZHENKO 1 & BEKIR KESKIN 2 1 Azov branch of Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Southern Scientific Centre RAS, 41 Chekhov str., Rostov-on-Don 344006, Russia. E-mail: nalassus@mail.ru 2 Zoology department, Biology Section, Ege University, Bornova-Izmir 35100, Turkey. E-mail: bekir.keskin.phd@gmail.com Abstract Three species of the genus Gunarus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini) are known from Turkey: G. lapidicola (Küster, 1850), G. gayirbegi sp. n. and G. korkutelensis sp. n. The species G. nodicornis Reitter, 1922 was described from Algeria (Takhat) and erroneously recorded from Turkey (Tokat). A key to the species of Gunarus of Turkey is provided. Key words: Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Gunarus, new species, Southern Turkey Introduction Representatives of the genus Gunarus Des Gozis, 1886 are known from Northern Africa, Spain, Italy, Malta, the Aegaean Islands, the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey. Only one species of this genus, G. lapidicola (Küster, 1850), was recorded in Turkey (European Turkey, Thracia). Gebien (1943) as well as Español & Comas (1987) erroneously mentioned G. nodicornis Reitter, 1922 from the city of Tokat in Turkey. However, this species was originally described from specimens with a similar locality name: the mountain Takhat in Algeria (Reitter, 1922). The mistake of these authors was repeated recently (Nabozhenko & Löbl, 2008). In this paper two new species of Gunarus from southern Turkey are described. Many species from genera Catomus Allard, 1876 and Ectromopsis Antoine, 1949 have been included in the genus Gunarus by several authors (Reitter, 1922; Medvedev, 1965; Angelov & Medvedev, 1981; Español & Comas, 1987; Abdurakhmanov & Medvedev, 1994). Español and Comas (1987) reviewed the genus Gunarus of southern Europe and partially of Northern Africa and provided a short diagnosis of the genus, new descriptions and key to species in which they overlooked the description of one more species from the Aegaean Island Santorin (Grimm 1981). More recently, some species were transferred to the genus Ectromopsis of the subtribe Cylindrinotina (Nabozhenko, 2005). The genus Gunarus is closely related to the genus Catomus from which it differs in the vertical basal margin of elytra, fully developed humeral angles and fully developed dorsal margin of the epipleura (lateral margin of elytra). The vertical basal margin of the elytra and humeral angles allow movement of the pronotum only in a dorso-ventral direction, whereas the pronotum of Catomus can move in lateral and dorso-ventral directions; this allows for more efficient movement in cavities of soil, tunnels of other invertebrates (Formicidae, Annelidae etc.), or free movements on branches of small shrubs and grassy vegetation. Contrary to the majority of Catomus, many representatives of the genus Gunarus live on trees, on which they feed on lichens at night.