title: A contribution to the knowledge of the mountain entomofauna of Mexico with a description of two new species ofOnthophagusLatreille, 1802 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae).
abstract: Recent intensive samplings carried out across the mountainous regions of El Pinal (Puebla, Mexico) have provided new insights into the main environmental factors that affect the geographic distribution of the scarabaeinae beetles of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt above 2500 m a.s.l. This study is part of an ongoing project investigating the diversity and biogeography of copro-necrophagous beetles (Scarabaeinae, Aphodiinae, Geotrupinae and Silphidae) in the easternmost areas of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Previous experience allows us to propose a series of predictions that we expect will provide possible explanations for current distribution patterns observed in Scarabaeinae and other groups of insects found in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. This mountain range has a primarily biogeographic importance, limiting the Mexican High Plateau in the South and connecting the western and eastern Sierra Madre mountain chains, which are considered the most important routes for dispersal of mountain fauna of northern origin. The taxonomic and biogeographic study of the species collected so far in El Pinal (includingOnthophagus clavijeroisp. n.andOnthophagus martinpieraisp. n.described here), along with their possible relationships with other known species, allows us to answer the preliminary assumptions proposed.
authors.affiliation: Red de Ecoetología; Instituto de Ecología A.C. - Carretera antigua a Coatepec, 351 - 91070 XALAPA (VER) - México.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moctezuma
authors.affiliation: Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari (DISB), via A. saffi, 2, 61029, Urbino, Italia; Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biologia e Zoologia, Av. Fernando Corrêa da Costa, 2367, Boa Esperança, 78060-900 - Cuiabá, MT, Brazil.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.affiliation: Universitá di Urbino Carlo Bo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, della Vita e dell'Ambiente (DiSTeVA), Campus Scientifico "Enrico Mattei", via Ca´ Le Suore, 2, 61029 URBINO (PU), Italia.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zunino
authors.affiliation: Red de Ecoetología; Instituto de Ecología A.C. - Carretera antigua a Coatepec, 351 - 91070 XALAPA (VER) - México.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Halffter
keywords: Mexican Transition Zone; Onthophagus; Scarabaeinae; Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt; mountain fauna