Diversity of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in Galicia, Northwest Spain: Estimating the completeness of the regional inventory

The diversity of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in Galicia, Northwest Spain was examined. A long-term sampling was conducted during 1996-2001 and 267 species were collected, but including bibliographic citations a total of 276 species were recorded. As a result of this study the regional inventory has grown from 83 taxa cited before 1998 to the current 276 species. Species accumulation models were used to measure the inventory completeness and estimate the actual species richness of Chrysomelidae occurring in Galicia. Estimates were generated by analyzing both the rarefaction curve from the long-term sampling and the cumulative number of species recorded from Galicia since 1866. Values of total richness predicted by these different methods range between 290 and 323 species. Therefore, it seems that between 85 and 95% of the leaf beetle fauna was recorded and thus the inventory has reached an acceptable level of completeness.