The Danacea of the Balkan Peninsula. A revision (Coleoptera Dasytidae)
Authors: Liberti Gianfranco 
Published: December 2013

This paper revises the systematics and taxonomy of genus Danacea Laporte de Castelnau, 1838 in the Balkan Peninsula. The territory here considered includes Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey (European). Determination keys, drawings of the median lobe of the aedeagus, description and distributional information are reported for each species. Twelve new species or subspecies are described: <em>D. angelinii </em>n. sp. of Ipiros (Greece), <em>D. brattiana </em>n. sp. of Bracˇ island (Croatia), <em>D. colligens</em> n. sp. of the Peloponnese (Greece), <em>D. iadrensis</em> n. sp. of the Zadar area (Croatia), <em>D. kydoniae</em> n. sp. of western Crete, <em>D. latipennis</em> ssp. occidua n. of western Crete, <em>D. messenica</em> n. sp. of the Peloponnese, <em>D. montalbidi</em> n. sp. of western Crete, <em>D. oliveti </em>n. sp. of Fokida (Greece), <em>D. pagasaica</em> n. sp. of Thessalia (Greece), <em>D. quintilis</em> n. sp. of Bulgaria, <em>D. sithoniae</em> n. sp. of the Halkidiki peninsula (Greece). Three changes of status are proposed: <em>D. cephalonica</em> Pic, 1901, which was described as a variety of <em>D. mutata</em> Pic, 1895, is a good species; <em>D. purkynei </em>Obenberger, 1916 described as a good species, is a subspecies of <em>D. iners</em> Kiesenwetter; 1859; <em>D. maculipennis</em> Pic, 1899 described as a variety of <em>D. marginata</em> (Kuester, 1851), is a good species. The following new synonymies are proposed: D. cylindricollis Schilsky, 1897, <em>D. insularis</em> Schilsky, 1897 and <em>D. maculicornis</em> Pic, 1914: all synonyms of <em>D. bleusei</em> Pic, 1895; <em>D. cervina</em> ssp. montenegrina Apfelbeck, 1911, <em>D. cervina</em> ssp. vulpina Apfelbeck, 1911, <em>D</em>. <em>intermedia</em> Apfelbeck, 1911, <em>D. valonensis</em> Apfelbeck, 1911: all synonyms of <em>D. cervina</em> (Kuester; 1850); <em>D. obscura</em> Schilsky, 1897 synonym of <em>D. championi</em> Marseul, 1878;<em> D. ganglbaueri </em>Prochàzka, 1894 synonym of <em>D. cretica</em> Kiesenwetter, 1859; <em>D. bulgarica</em> Pic, 1902, <em>D. monastirensis</em> Pic, 1917,<em> D. opulenta </em>Schilsky, 1897, <em>D</em>. <em>posterecta</em> Pic, 1902, <em>D. rambouseki</em> Roubal, 1909, <em>D. serbica </em>Kiesenwetter, 1863: all synonyms of<em> D. iners</em> Kiesenwetter, 1859; <em>D. winneguthi </em>Apfelbeck, 1911 synonym of <em>D. major </em>Pic, 1902; <em>D. amabilis</em> Sahlberg, 1903 synonym of <em>D. marginata</em> (Kuester; 1851); <em>D. zharadniki</em> Nigrin, 1986 synonym of <em>D. maculipennis</em> Pic, 1899; <em>D. bosnica</em> Pic, 1913 synonym of <em>D. nigritarsis </em>ssp. nigritarsis (Kuester, 1850); <em>D. consimilis</em> Schilsky, 1897 synonym of <em>D</em>. <em>oertzeni</em> Schilsky, 1897; <em>D. albanica</em> Apfelbeck, 1911 synonym of <em>D. pallidipalpis</em> Abeille, 1894; <em>D. cervina</em> var. diversipes Pic, 1936 synonym of <em>D. thessalonicensis</em> Apfelbeck, 1911;<em> D. syrensis</em> Pic, 1910 synonym of <em>D. vitticollis</em> Schilsky, 1897. The following names have not been associated with certainty to a known species and remain doubtful: <em>D. krueperi </em>ssp. varipes Schilsky, 1897, <em>D. limbata </em>Schilsky, 1897, <em>D. parnassia</em> Schilsky, 1897, <em>D. rostrata</em> Prochàzka, 1894, <em>D. shardagensis </em>Apfelbeck, 1918. However the Balkan peninsula has not been sufficiently explored, several new species are expected to remain undiscovered and the distribution range of the known species has not been sufficiently defined.