Remyella spanovicae Ćurčić, Vrbica & Vesović sp. nov., a new troglobitic leiodid beetle (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Leptodirini) from southwestern Serbia

Keywords: round fungus beetles, subterranean, endemic, cytochrome oxidase subunit I, Balkan Peninsula

Abstract

The genus Remyella Jeannel, 1931 consists of stenoendemic troglobitic leiodid beetles restricted to subterranean habitats in southwestern Serbia and northeastern Montenegro. A new subterranean leiodid species, Remyella spanovicae Ćurčić, Vrbica & Vesović sp. nov., from the Pećina na Đerekarskom Vrelu Cave (village of Đerekare, near the town of Tutin, Pešter Plateau, southwestern Serbia), is described and diagnosed. All taxonomically important morphological features of the new taxon are presented, including traits of both male and female genitalia. The new species is clearly distinguished from other congeners both morphologically and molecularly. Data on the sexual dimorphism of the new species are presented. Molecular analysis confirmed that Remyella raskae S. Ćurčić & B. Ćurčić, 2008 is a valid species. A key to the identification of the species of the genus Remyella is given. In addition, the species Remyella hussoni Jeannel, 1934 was found at another subterranean site in the village of Đerekare.

References

Čeplík D. 2023. Supplementary data and taxonomic changes in the subterranean beetles of the Balkan Peninsula from July 1st 2016 to September 30th 2023. Zootaxa 5383 (4): 401–440. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5383.4.1

Ćurčić S.B., Waitzbauer W., Zolda P., Brajković M.M. & Ćurčić B.P.M. 2008. New cave-dwelling species of the genus Remyella Jeannel (Leptodirini, Leiodidae, Coleoptera) from Serbia. Archives of Biological Sciences 60 (1): 109–115. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1303217C

Ćurčić S.B., Antić D.Ž., Ćurčić N. & Ćurčić B.P.M. 2013. Remyella montenegrina, a new troglobitic leiodid beetle (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Leptodirini) from northeastern Montenegro. Archives of Biological Sciences 65 (3): 1217–1222. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1303217C

Ćurčić S., Pavićević D., Vesović N., Vrbica M., Kuraica M., Marković Đ., Petković M., Lazović V., Pantelić D. & Bosco F. 2021. On the diversity of subterranean beetles of the Dinarides: new leiodid taxa (Coleoptera: Leiodidae) from Serbia. European Journal of Taxonomy 782 (1): 55–81. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.782.1589

Drummond A.J., Suchard M.A., Xie D. & Rambaut A. 2012. Bayesian phylogenetics with BEAUti and the BEAST 1.7. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29 (8): 1969–1973. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss075

Folmer O., Black M., Hoeh W., Lutz R. & Vrijenhoek R. 1994. DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology 3: 294–299.

Fresneda J., Giachino P.M., Salgado J.M., Faille A., Bourdeau C., Cieslak A. & Ribera I. 2024. A phylogenetic classification of Leptodirini (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae). Memorie della Società Entomologica Italiana 101: 3–936. https://doi.org/10.4081/memoriesei.2024.3

Giachino P.M. & Etonti M. 1995. Il genere Remyella Jeannel, 1931 (Coleoptera Cholevidae Leptodirinae). Atti del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Trieste 46: 77–98.

Guéorguiev V.B. 1990. Recherches sur les Bathysciinae (Coleoptera: Catopidae) de Yougoslavie. I. Antroherponini. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 43: 237–273.

Hall T.A. 1999. BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium Series 41: 95–98.

Hebert P.D.N., Ratnasingham S. & de Waard J.R. 2003. Barcoding animal life: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 270: 596–599. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0025

Hlaváč P., Perreau M. & Čeplík D. 2017. The Subterranean Beetles of the Balkan Peninsula: Carabidae, Leiodidae, Staphylinidae, Scarabaeidae, Bothrideridae, Zopheridae, Salpingidae, Brachyceridae, Curculionidae. Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.

Jeannel R. 1924. Monographie des Bathysciinae. Biospeologica L. Archives de Zoologie expérimentale et générale 63: 1–436.

Jeannel R. 1931. Bathysciinae nouveaux recueillis par P. Remy dans les grottes du Novi-Pazar. Bulletin de la Société zoologique de France 56: 258–266.

Jeannel R. 1934. Bathysciinae recueillis par MM. P. Remy et R. Husson dans le Sandjak de Novi-Pazar et la Macédoine grecque. Revue française d’Entomologie 1: 89–103.

Mojsilović S., Baklaić D. & Đoković I. 1973. Tumač za list Sjenica. Institute for Geological and Geophysical Research, Belgrade.

Moravec J. 2017. Recent records of Remyella propiformis A. Winkler, 1933 (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Leptodirini) from the Đalovića Pećina Cave in Montenegro. Studies and Reports, Taxonomical Series 13 (2): 425–427.

Nešić D. 2015. Results of the speleological exploration on Pešter Plateau. Bulletin of the Serbian Geographical Society 95 (4): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.2298/GSGD1504001N

Njunjić I., Schilthuizen M., Pavićević D. & Perreau M. 2017. Further clarifications to the systematics of the cave beetle genera Remyella and Rozajella (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Leptodirini). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 75: 141–158. https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.75.e31881

Perreau M. 2000. Catalogue des Coléoptères Leiodidae Cholevinae et Platypsyllinae. Mémoires de la Société entomologique de France 4: 1–461.

Perreau M. 2015. Family Leiodidae Fleming, 1821. In: Löbl I. & Löbl D. (eds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Volume 2/1. Hydrophiloidea – Staphylinoidea. Revised and Updated Edition: 180–291. Brill, Leiden / Boston.

Perreau M. & Pavićević D. 2008. The genus Hadesia Müller, 1911 and the phylogeny of Anthroherponina (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Leptodirini). In: Pavićević D. & Perreau M. (eds) Advances in the Studies of the Fauna of the Balkan Peninsula. Papers Dedicated to the Memory of Guido Nonveiller: 215–239. Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, Belgrade.

Petrović J. 1976. Jame i pećine SR Srbije. Military Publishing Institute, Belgrade.

Pretner E. 1968. Catalogus Faunae Jugoslaviae. III/6. Coleoptera. Fam. Catopidae. Subfam. Bathysciinae. Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana.

Rambaut A. 2009. FigTree Version 1.4.4. Available from https://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree/ [accessed 25 Sept. 2023].

Rambaut A., Drummond A., Xie D., Baele G. & Suchard M. 2018. Posterior summarisation in Bayesian phylogenetics using Tracer 1.7. Systematic Biology 67: 901–904. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syy032

Tamura K., Stecher G. & Kumar S. 2021. MEGA11: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 11. Molecular Biology and Evolution 38: 3022–3027. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab120

Winkler A. 1933. Zur Kenntnis der Blindkäfer Albaniens, Jugoslawiens und Rumäniens (Trechinae, Bathysciinae). Koleopterologische Rundschau 19 (1–2): 71–78.

Published
2025-06-25
How to Cite
Ćurčić, S., Vrbica, M., Kocić, K., Gojšina, V., Vranić, S., & Vesović, N. (2025). Remyella spanovicae Ćurčić, Vrbica & Vesović sp. nov., a new troglobitic leiodid beetle (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Leptodirini) from southwestern Serbia. European Journal of Taxonomy, 997(1), 289–307. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.997.2941
Section
Research article