NEW FAUNISTIC RECORDS OF THREATENED SAPROXYLIC COLEOPTERA, DIPTERA, HETEROPTERA, HOMOPTERA AND LEPIDOPTERA FROM THE REPUBLIC-OF-KARELIA, RUSSIA

Saproxylic insects were collected during fifteen expeditions to the Re public of Karelia in summers 1991-94. A total of 63 species (48 beetle s, 15 others) included in the Finnish red data book are reported. Four teen species of Coleoptera and Aradus ribauti Wagner are reported as n ew for Karelia. Notes on the biology of e.g. Hylochares cruentatus (Gy llenhal), Rhizophagus puncticollis Sahlberg, Cis fissicornis Mellie, S ulcacis bidentulus (Rosenhauer) and Leptura thoracica Creutzer are giv en. The number of threatened species found is striking considering the short period of time spent collecting in the field. We ascribe this t o the management history of forests in Karelia, especially to the larg e amount of decaying wood in managed forests even. The forests in Kare lia will be of crucial importance in preserving biodiversity and the l ast viable populations of numerous species that have disappeared in ot her parts of Fennoscandia.