Review of jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) of the Kazakh part of the Tarbagatai range (Kazakhstan)

In the Kazakh part of the Tarbagatai range, 44 species and subspecies of jewel beetles from 13 genera, 10 tribes and 5 subfamilies were identified. Of these, three species, Anthaxia godeti Gory & Laporte, 1839, Sphenoptera egena Mannerheim, 1952 and Trachys fragariae Brisout de Barneville, 1874, are reported for the first time for Kazakhstan. According to species richness at the subfamily level, jewel beetles are distributed as follows: Julodinae (1 species), Polycestinae (4), Chrysochroinae (13), Buprestinae (2), Agrilinae (24). At the genus level, the most species rich are Agrilus (15 species), Sphenoptera (9), Acmaeoderella (4), Meliboeus and Cylindromorphus (3 species each). Jewel beetles, which trophic association was established, occur on woody and shrubby plants from 16 families. Among them are Salix (8 species of jewel beetles), Populus (5 species), Artemisia (6 species), Rosa and Caragana (3 species each). The greatest species diversity was found on the arid lowlands and mountain shrub-steppe belt (19 species each), mountain-floodplain (13) and deciduous forests (5); the least number of species was found in mid-mountain forb meadows and in populated areas (1 species each); no jewel beetles was found in subalpine tall-grass meadows and alpine short-grass meadows. The fauna of jewel beetles of the Tarbagatai range is significantly poorer compared to the fauna of the neighboring, more southern mountain system of Zhetysu Alatau, but is noticeably richer than fauna of the Kazakhstan Altai. Jewel beetle fauna of Tarbagatai range is intermediate between West- and East Palaearctic faunas.