Palaearctic distributions of Anthrenus pimpinellae (Fabricius) and Anthrenus isabellinus Küster (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Abstract

Distributions of Anthrenus pimpinellae (Fabricius, 1775) and A. isabellinus Küster, 1848, are presented using data from verifiable online images, posted by citizen scientists. Anthrenus pimpinellae is distributed from north-western Europe into eastern and south-eastern Europe, and just into eastern Asia. Anthrenus isabellinus in Europe (and north Africa) is largely distributed across regions around the Mediterranean Sea. The species distributions overlap in south-eastern Europe, but do not overlap in western Europe and northern Africa. Until recently, the taxonomy of these two species was confused – consequently our knowledge of their distributions poor. Anthrenus pimpinellae is still considered by some authorities to be cosmopolitan; the current study shows that this is probably not the case.