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77
ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Vol. 46, pp. 77–78 (17 July 2016)
SHORT COMMUNICATION
The rst record of Polyphylla olivieri (Laporte de Castelanu, 1840)
(Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Lebanon
Oz Ri t t n e R
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies
and Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 6997801 Israel.
Email: israelbutteries@gmail.com
Polyphylla (Polyphylla) olivieri (Laporte de Castelanu, 1840) is a widely distri-
buted June Beetle that occurs in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Turkey,
Iran, Syria and Israel (Bezdek 2006). Although it would be only logical to assume
that the species is present also in Lebanon, it was never actually reported from
there and so Lebanon remained a blank spot in its known range of distribution.
Figs 1, 2. Polyphylla (Polyphylla) olivieri (Laporte de Castelanu), male (1) and female (2) with cor-
responding data labels.
12
http://www.entomology.org.il/publications; ISSN (online) 2224-6304
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DE2F5067-FF9C-4B9E-AA3D-3CDAC462CFF5
78 ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, VOL. 46, 2016
During the examination of the Melolonthini beetles deposited in the National
Collection of Insects, The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National
Research Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (SMNHTAU), the author
encountered two specimens accompanied with hand written data labels that read
‘Syria Bokaah [or Bekaah, as ink is blurred]’.
Bekaah is recently known as Beqaa [Becaa] Valley (in English), Wadi al-Biqaʻ
[عﺎﻘﺒﻟا يداو] (in Arabic) or el-Bohah (Lebanese dialect). It is a large valley situated
east of Beirut in Lebanon between the Anti-Lebanon mountains to the east and
Mount Lebanon to the west.
Sadly the data labels state neither the name of the collector nor the collecting
date. The only information beyond the locality is a statement that the specimens
were received in January 1947.
Although this is not the place to elaborate on the complex history of Lebanon
during the rst half of the 20th century, it is essential to give a brief general ac-
count. Until 1943, when Lebanon became independent after the end of the French
protectorate of Lebanon and Syria, it was considered to be a part of the Arab king-
dom of Syria, or to be more accurate, a part of the Ottoman Empire. As men tioned
above, it is unknown when exactly the specimens were collected but it is probable
that it was before Lebanon existed as an independent country and therefore the
name of Syria appears on the data labels instead that of Lebanon (as it is the case
with many specimens collected in Lebanon or Israel during that period).
ACKNOWLDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Henk K. Mienis (SMNHTAU) and an anonymous referee for reviewing the
text and for their comments.
REFERENCES
Be z d e k , A. 2006. Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Melolonthini. In: Löbl, I. & Smetana, A. (eds), Ca-
talogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 3. Scarabaeoidea – Scirtoidea – Dasciloidea –
Buprestoidea – Byrrhoidea. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, pp. 191–198.