Summary

We update the knowledge on the ground beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of the Desertas Islands and provide novel information on species distribution in the three islands (Ilhéu Chão, Deserta Grande and Bugio) following two entomological missions carried out in 2011 and 2012. An annotated checklist of the 33 species and subspecies known to occur in the Desertas Islands is presented, jointly with data on their distribution and ecology. Philorhizus melanocephalus (Dejean) is recorded for the first time for Madeira archipelago, four other taxa are new records for the Desertas Islands: Apotomus chaudoirii Wollaston, Ocys harpaloides (Serville), Paradromius (Manodromius) insularis oceanicus (Wollaston) and Syntomus fuscomaculatus (Motschulsky) and several species are for the first time recorded for specific Desertas’ islands. Furthermore, a new subspecies of the genus Orthomus Chaudoir, 1838 sampled by direct collection in Bugio is described: O. (Nesorthomus) bedelianus isambertoi Serrano & Boieiro, ssp. nov. with its habitus and aedeagus illustrated. The new subspecies is compared with the closely related Orthomus (Nesorthomus) bedelianus bedelianus (Lutshnik) from Madeira Island. A historical review of the research on the ground beetles of the Desertas Islands is presented, along with considerations on beetle species rarity and the conservation measures needed to protect them. This information will be helpful to support biodiversity conservation management in the Desertas Islands.