Taxonomic revision of genus Ablattaria Reitter (Coleoptera, Silphidae) using geometric morphometrics

The genus Ablattaria Reitter, 1884 (Coleoptera: Silphidae: Silphinae) is revised. Four taxa are recognized as valid species: Ablattariaarenaria (Kraatz, 1876), Ablattariacribrata (Ménétries, 1832), Ablattarialaevigata (Fabricius, 1775) and Ablattariasubtriangula Reitter, 1905. Ablattarialaevigatavar.meridionalis Ganglbauer, 1899 is newly treated as a junior subjective synonym of Ablattarialaevigata. Lectotypes are designated for Phosphugaarenaria Kraatz, 1876, Ablattariaarenariavar.punctigera Reitter, 1884, Ablattariaarenariavar.alleoni Portevin, 1926, Silphacribrata Ménétries, 1832, Silphalaevigata Fabricius, 1775, Silphagibba Brullé, 1832, Ablattariagibbavar.costulata Portevin, 1926, Ablattariagibbavar.distinguenda Portevin, 1926, Ablattariagibbavar.punctata Portevin, 1926 and Ablattariasubtriangula Reitter, 1905. The distribution of all taxa is mapped, based on material examined. Geometric morphometric methods were used to evaluate shape variability in Ablattaria. Results indicated sexual dimorphism in all species. Shape inconsistency was found between the sexes of all taxa when tested independently. The first two relative warp axes indicated 65.17% shape variation in males and 65.72% in females. Canonical variate analysis separated the taxa studied. There was minimal overlap between some groups in both sexes. Differences in body shape between populations of Ablattarialaevigata from Central Europe, Italy and Greece + Turkey were also examined. Relative warps implied 58.01% shape variability on both axes in males and 64.78% in females. CVA revealed noticeable overlaps between the groups, although the Italian population demonstrated a higher separation in both sexes.