First record of Kisanthobia ariasi (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Romania

Kisanthobia ariasi is recorded in Romania for the first time. The species is illustrated, redescribed and short considerations about its biology, ecology and distribution are discussed.

The xylophagous beetles are important in the natural ecosystems, being part of the natural processes. They contribute to the general health of the forest ecosystems. The rare or uncommon species are true indicators of the quality of these ecosystems and most of them are data deficient and considered at risk. A big percentage of the Buprestid beetles are secondary guests, in relation with the host plants, that means they are feeding with the already injured or stressed trees or bushes. In Romania, 150 Buprestid species (Ruicănescu 2013) were known, other 2 species being added later Manci and Ruicănescu 2018).
Description: 8-11 mm. Body oval, the maximum width in the right of the posterior third. Head gibbous, with no visible longitudinal groove. Antennal cavities, small and round. Antennae gracile. The antennal pores are concentrated at an end fossette, on the antennomeres 4-11. Eyes small, oval, distanced, with the internal margins subparallel.
Pronotum transversal, twice times large than long, trapezoidal, with all margins right. The sculpture consists in alveolar punctures.
Scutellum triangular. Elytra regularly narrowed started from the posterior third. Apex rounded. The posterior exterior margins with small denticles. The striae are almost indistinct. The surface consists in alveolar punctures, less regulate than in the head and pronotum. The legs are slender. Colour uniform emerald green (Fig.  1), sometimes with yellowish, golden or bluish shimmer, sometimes with the external margins golden or purple, or some specimens can be cyanotic, blue.

Ecology:
The prefered biotope consists in Quercus species bushes or trees, mixed with chestnuts or other bushes or trees, especially on the rocky ground ( Echevarría-León and Cáceres 2019).
The preimaginal stages, develops especially in dead wood of Quercus species and last about 3 years (Obregón 2012).
The material consists in a single specimen (Fig. 1), which is being deposited in the private collection of Adrian Ruicănescu.
The specimen was photographed with a Canon EOS 7D camera, equipped with a Canon EF 100mm, F2.8 Macro USM lens, all mounted on a stand, having around 3 desktop lamps with cold light LED bulbs. The obtained images were rendered using Zerene Stacker and Adobe Photoshop CC 2020.
The waypoint of collected specimen was taken using the smartphone application, named OruxMaps and the maps were created using QGIS 3.12 and then the collage was made with Photoshop CC 2020.
The specimen was collected in the Cozla Valley (South-Western Romania) (Fig.  2).
The collecting location evironment consists in a scarce oak forest, on rocky background (Fig. 3). This location is included in the Iron Gates Natural Park, Natura 2000 site, named "ROSCI0206 Porțile de Fier".  Verdugo (2010) includes Romania in the distribution of this species, citing Kubáň (2006). After examination of this publication, Romania is not mentioned in this version of the catalogue, so we consider it was erroneously cited. Obregón (2012) also includes Romania among the countries where this species is present, mentioning Kubáň (2006) as source 1 .
This species is generally uncommon, protected in Hungary (Magyar joganyagok) and in the Krasnodar territorry (Volkovitsh and Nikitski 2017), its presence in the Iron Gates Natural Park, contributes to the enrichment of the biodiversity value of this region.
1 Both Verdugo (2010) and Obregón (2012) included Romania in the countries lists of the distribution of Kisanthobia ariasi. This information was overtaken by the site "Fauna Europea". All of them cited Kubáň (2006)  A new species and a new genus was recorded in the Romanian fauna of Buprestidae (Coleoptera). Future studies are necessary for the establishment of its status in Romania.