Aphodius (Phalacronothus) botulus Balthasar 1945

Aphodius (Phalacronothus) botulus Balthasar, 1945 Figs 1–4 Aphodius (Paragolius) botulus Balthasar, 1945: 43. Type locality “Mandschukuo, circum oppidium Charbin” [= China: Heilongjiang]; Balthasar, 1964: 281. Aphodius (Phalacronothus) botulus: Kim, 1989: 3; Takahashi, 1999: 34; Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2006: 134; Murata et al., 2011: 84; Kim, 2012: 126. Phalacronothus botulus: Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2016: 145. Aphodius (Orodalus) naraensis Nakane, 1956: 120. Type locality “ Nara, Yamato, Honshu” [= Japan: Honshu]; Balthasar, 1964: 201; Stebnicka, 1980: 239. Synonymized by Stebnicka, 1982: 78. Aphodius (Amidorus) manschuriensis Petrovitz, 1958: 138. Type locality ”Manschurei: Charbin” [= China: Heilongjiang]. Synonymized by Balthasar, 1964: 281. Liothorax plagiatus auct.: Shabalin, 2020: 188; Shabalin, 2021: 625; Shabalin, 2022: 477; Shabalin, 2023: 20; Shabalin, 2024: 256. MATERIAL. Russia: Primorskii krai: valley of Ryazanovka River (42°82' N, 131°23' E), 29. V 2018, 19 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 7. VI 2018, 9 specimens in sheep and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 15. VI 2018, 5 specimens in sheep and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 6.VII 2018, 1 specimen in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; Safari-Park (43°32' N, 132°40' E), 8. VI 2020, 3 specimens in deer dung, leg. S. Shabalin; 5 km E Romanovka (43°23' N, 132°52' E) 15. V 2019, 6 specimens in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; vicinity Peretino (43°00' N, 133°14' E), 15. V 2019, 1 specimen in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; 16 km SSE Partizansk (43°06' N, 133°18' E), 15. V 2019, 19 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 24. V 2019, 11 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 3. VI 2019, 8 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 12. VI 2019, 2 specimens in sheep dung, leg. S. Shabalin; 15 km NNE Partizansk (43°26' N, 133°17' E), 15. V 2019, 202 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 24. V 2019, 8 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 3. VI 2019, 7 specimens in horse and cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; Novogordeevka (44°03' N, 133°14' E), 15. V 2020, 1 specimen in horse dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 23. V 2020, 1 specimen in horse dung, leg. S. Shabalin; vicinity of Kornilovka, 15. V 2020, 2 specimens in cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin; same locality, 23. V 2020, 1 specimen cow dung, leg. S. Shabalin. Four specimens from the valley of Ryazanovka River are deposited in the collection of the Zoological Institute (Saint Petersburg), but the rest material deposited in the collection of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity (Vladivostok). DISTRIBUTION. Russia (first record, Primorskii krai), Japan (Honshu, Kyushu), North Korea, China (Heilongjiang, Jilin). NOTES. Adults of Aphodius botulus can be separated from other species of subgenus Phalacronothus recorded from Russia, namely A. biguttatus Germar, 1824, A. citellorum Semenov et Medvedev, 1928, and A. quadrimaculatus, by denser and coarser punctation of head, pronotum and elytra, and by the shape of the parameres. In Primorskii krai, A. botulus occurs along with the more abundant A. pusillus, and can be confused with it. It differs from the latter, apart from the characters mentioned above, also in having a hooked protibial spur in males and in a smaller average size. In North Korea, the beetles were found in sheep and cow dung (Stebnicka, 1980). In addition to the dung of abovementioned animals, in Russia the beetles were also found in horse and deer dung. Our data suggest that A. botulus is a generalist coprophagous species with imago active mostly in late spring and early summer.