Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from the Sakar-Tundzha biogeographical region in Bulgaria

Carabus scabrosus is included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria as Vulnerable. Beetles belong to 56 genera and 23 tribes. This represents, respectively, about 21% of all established for Bulgarian carabid fauna species, 45% of the genera and 64% of the tribes.

There are five species reported for the first time in the Sakar Mountain. The richest tribes are Harpalini (47 species), Pterostichini and Lebiini (16 species each), Carabini, Bembidiini and Amarini (13 species each). Zoogeographical analysis shows that the Mediterranean and the European-Asiatic complexes prevail.

Ground beetles are also characterised and classified according to their life forms, wing morphology and humidity preferences. The insufficient research in the area suggests that future targeted studies would contribute to the enrichment of the species list presented here.