New Record Of Soft-Winged Flower Beetles, Malachius Scutellaris Erichson, 1840 (Coleoptera: Melyridae: Malachiinae) From Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan, Iraq

A new record of soft-winged flower beetles, the Malachius scutellaris Erichson, 1840, is described for the first time in Erbil governorate, Kurdistan, Iraq. The specimens were collected from the Silybum marianum (L.) flowers, Malva pusilla Sm., and Cardaria draba (L.) using an air net. The main characteristics of the species include mandibles with bidentics of equal length. The dark-brown antennas consist of 10 antennomeres, of which the 1st - 4th antennomeres are cup-shaped, while the 5th - 10th are almost tubular. The 9th antennomere is 1.1 times as long as the 10th, elytra pale brown, with one-fourth of the basal part black. The protarsus is five-segmented, of which the 1st to 4th segments are nearly serrate-shaped, and the 5th tubular-shaped, 1.2 times longer than the 2nd, with the eighth abdominal sternite black and triangular-shaped; the posterior margin has profound medial margination. The eighth abdominal tergite is black and rectangular, with the posterior margin somewhat emarginate medially. The aedeagus is tubular-shaped, slightly curved, with a spear-like apical part. The habitus and the photos of essential parts were taken, and the sites, dates, and host plants of sample collections were reported