Nebrioporus kiliani ( Peyerimhoff, 1929 )

Toledo, Mario, 2009, Revision in part of the genus Nebrioporus Régimbart, 1906, with emphasis on the N. laeviventris-group (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae), Zootaxa 2040, pp. 1-111 : 20-23

Nebrioporus kiliani ( Peyerimhoff, 1929)

Fig. 8

Hydroporus (Potamonectes) kiliani Peyerimhoff (1929: 169) (orig. descr.).

Deronectes (Potamonectes) kiliani (Peyerimhoff) ; Gschwendtner (1939: 16).

Potamonectes (Zimmermannius) kiliani (Peyerimhoff) ; Guignot (1941: 60; 1959a: 445).

Nebrioporus (Zimmermannius) kiliani (Peyerimhoff) ; Angus & Nilsson (1992: 287); Nilsson (2001: 174; 2003: 67).

Type locality. Algeria > Hoggar > Amguid [actually Amguid is at the occidental end of Western Tassili]> Tin-Eselmâken .

Type material. Lectotype ♂ ( BMNH) here designated "Cotype [circular, yellow-bordered label] \ Sahara: El Hoggar. B.M. 1933-448 \ Mission du Hoggar Février–Mai 1928 \ Tin Eselmaken, Amguid \ Tanikonent [?, Hw.] fin avril 1928 \ Potamonectes kiliani Peyerh. cotype 1 Peyerimhoff det." plus my designation label. Paralectotypes: 1 ♂, 7 ♀♀ ( BMNH) same series, plus my designation labels. Most of the specimens lack the following labels "Mission du Hoggar Février–Mai 1928 \ Tin Eselmaken Anguid \ Tanikonent [?] fin avril 1928 \ Potamonectes kiliani Peyerh. cotype 1 Peyerimhoff det.". Additional syntypes, not seen, should stand in MNHN and must be considered as paralectotypes, accordingly to Recommendation F of Article 74 of the ICZN (1999).

Additional material examined. Algeria: Ahaggar , Tamanrasset, III.1980, leg. Margret (1 ex. ♂ HF); Tassili, Gelta Assareh, 17.X. 1975, A. Hoffer leg. (1 ex. ♀ PMB) .

Description. TL 6.0– 6.5 mm; MW mm 3.1–3.3 mm. Oblong-oval, poorly convex, dull. Colouration yellow, with poorly extended dark markings on pronotum and elytra.

Head yellow without dark markings. Antennae testaceous, with segments slightly darkened apically. Mouthparts reddish.

Pronotum covered by a coarse punctuation: very narrow in males, with maximum width at its base and lateral sides slightly sinuate; noticeably wider in females, with lateral sides rounded. In both sexes a gutterlike border is visible. Angle between pronotum and elytra well visible in both sexes.

Elytra oblong-oval, with maximum width near the middle of the length, covered by a fine pubescence and a coarse punctuation. Longitudinal rows of punctures not visible.

Dorsal colouration ( Fig. 8a) yellow or reddish-yellow, pronotum with two fine dark bands on anterior and posterior borders and two dark spots; elytra with five, thin, longitudinal lines, together with four or five lateral maculae.

Underside, black, proepisterna, prosternal pleuras, epipleuron and apex of last four sternites yellow, prosternal and metacoxal process reddish. Surface covered by a dense and coarse punctuation. Sternites without a visible apical comb of setae.

Legs reddish-yellow. Metafemora covered by a dense punctuation. Anterior face of metatibia with sparse punctures.

Male: Protarsi dilated. Anterior claws ( Fig. 8d,e) long and arcuate, with the inner slightly shorter than the outer. Median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 8g) thick. Parameres as in Fig. 8f.

Female: Pronotum wider than in male. Elytra apically produced.

Taxonomic position. The wide lateral expansions of metaventrite, general shape and colouration and apex of elytra produced in females suggest that N. kiliani is closely related to the strictly European N. canaliculatus ( Fig. 7). These two species are atypical in that they do not seem to have any firm affiliation with the other species of Nebrioporus . Assuming that N. kiliani and N. canaliculatus are closely related, their disjoint distributions may suggest an ancient and primitive lineage of Nebrioporus , actually represented by two isolated relict species. The only known fossil species of Nebrioporus , N. benzeli ( Heer, 1862) , is a beetle of the Upper Miocene from Germany, with canaliculate elytra, apparently close to the extant N. canaliculatus . Franciscolo (1964: 194; 1979: 452) proposed that N. canaliculatus may be an extremely ancient morphological form, due to its apparent proximity to N. benzeli .

Note. Male characters given in Peyerimhoff’s (1929) original description, are female characters.

Habitat. Collected in pools in the drying beds of mountain wadis ( Peyerimhoff, 1929).

Distribution ( Fig. 56). Known for the Saharian massifs, Ahaggar, Tassili, Tibesti.