Comparison of Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Diversity of Turkey and Neighboring Countries with Respect to Species Numbers and Endemicity

Özet

According to number of leaf beetle species and subspecies, Turkey is the most diverse country by far among its neighbors with 916 reported taxa. The species numbers of neighboring countries are as follows: Bulgaria 603, Ukraine 582, Greece 507, Romania 495, Iran 479, Russia (only the southern European part included) 441, Azerbaijan 373, Armenia 294, Georgia 273, Syria 254, Cyprus (whole island) 136, Iraq 120 and Moldova 103. As to number of endemic taxa, Iran and Turkey keep ahead with 103 and 88 endemics respectively. The closest country is Greece with 32 endemics and Moldova contains no endemic taxa. However, when we calculate the rate of endemism, Iran is unmatched with an endemism ratio of 21.50%, followed by Iraq and Turkey having 10.00% and 9.61% endemism ratios respectively.