Nebrioporus insignis (Klug, 1833)

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 : 54-60

Nebrioporus insignis (Klug, 1833)

Fig. 38

Hydroporus insignis Klug , (1833: t. XXXIII, f. 10) (orig. descr.); Aubé (1838b: 520); Preudhomme de Borre (1871: 14). Deronectes insignis (Klug) ; Sharp (1882: 428); Branden (1885: 47).

Hydroporus (Deronectes) insignis Klug ; Régimbart (1895: 18; 1899: 197) (?partim); Peyerimhoff (1907: 10). Deronectes (Potamodytes) insignis (Klug) ; Zimmermann (1919: 189; 1920: 127); Alfieri (1976: 34).

Deronectes (Potamonectes) insignis (Klug) ; Zimmermann (1921: 87; 1933: 178) (partim).

Potamonectes (Zimmermannius) insignis (Klug) ; Guignot (1941: 60; 1959a: 444); Rocchi (1984: 446).

Zimmermannius insignis (Klug, 1833) ; J. Balfour-Browne (1951: 189).

Potamonectes insignis (Klug, 1833) ; Zaitzev (1953: 217) (partim); Brancucci (1980: 106; 1984: 235).

Nebrioporus (s. str.) insignis (Klug) ; Nilsson & Angus (1992: 288); Nilsson (2001: 171; 2003: 67); Angus (2003: 16).

Hydroporus semiclusus Walker (1871: 10) (orig. descr.).

Deronectes semiclusus (Walker) ; Sharp (1882: 809); Branden (1885: 48).

Hydroporus (Deronectes) semiclusus (Walker) ; Peyerimhoff (1907: 10).

Deronectes (Potamodytes) semiclusus (Walker) ; Zimmermann (1919: 189; 1920: 128); Alfieri (1976: 35).

Deronectes (Potamonectes) semiclusus (Walker) ; Zimmermann (1933: 180); J. Balfour-Browne (1951: 189) (synonymy of insignis Klug ).

Deronectes princeps Sharp (1882: 428) (orig. descr.); Branden (1885: 48); Severin (1892: 473).

Hydroporus (Deronectes) princeps (Sharp) ; Peyerimhoff (1907: 10).

Deronectes (Potamodytes) princeps (Sharp) ; Zimmermann (1919: 189; 1920: 128); Alfieri (1976: 34).

Deronectes (Potamonectes) princeps (Sharp) ; Zimmermann (1933: 177).

Nebrioporus (s. str.) princeps (Sharp) ; Nilsson & Angus (1992: 288); Zalat et al. (2000: 33) (synonymy of insignis Klug ); Nilsson (2001: 172; 2003: 66) (val. sp.).

Type locality. H. insignis : Sinai. H. semiclusus : Sinai> Wady Ferran. D. princeps : Sinai.

Type material. Hydroporus insignis : Lectotype ♂ ( ZMHB) here designated " insignis Kl. Sinai.Ehrenb [Klug hw.] \ 56 [print, small, white square label]" plus new ZMHB label with "Hist.-Coll. 10124 Sinai, Ehrenb. Zool. Mus. Berlin " ["Hist.-Coll." and "Zool. Mus. Berlin " are printed, the rest handwritten], and my lectotype designation red label. Paralectotypes ( ZMHB): 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀ same data as lectotype, but without "56" label; 1 ♀ same data as lectotype except for a printed additional label "10124"; a sixth specimen, with same data as lectotype, is a ♂ of N. crotchi , identified as N. insignis by Klug, and it should be considered paralectotype of N. insignis . All paralectotypes with my red designation labels, plus an additional identification label to the specimen of N. crotchi .

Hydroporus semiclusus : Lectotype ♂ ( BMNH), here designated "Type [circular BMNH, red boredered label] \ Wady Ferran \ Sharp coll. 1905-313 \ Hydroporus semiclusus " plus BMNH circular, blue bordered " Lectotype " label, added by me and my red designation label.

Deronectes princeps : Lectotype ♂ ( IRSNB), here designated "Sinaï, de Borre, det. Sharp. 82 [hw. —secondly glued on IRSNB label " Coll. R.I.Sc.N.B. Palestina "] \ Type 254 ♂ Type [ Sharp hw.] \ Sharp det. 1882 Deronectes princeps — Shp [species name in Zimmermann hw.] \ Sec. Zimm. Cat. Junk D. (Potamonectes) princeps — Sharp \ Type [red rectangular IRSNB label]", plus my designation red label.

Additional material examined. Egypt: " Sinai, Sharp coll. 1905-313, type mihi" (2 exs. BMNH) ; Sinai, Wadi Isla , 28.II.1935, W. Wittmer, (1 ex. MIZIT) ; " Aegyptus ", Hydroporus insignis Klug (1 ex. MIZIT) ; " Sinai Halbinsel , 17.VIII.1976 " (1 ex. NMW) ; Sinai, W. Tlach [or Teach ?], 1.V.1977, leg. Barkai (1 ex. NMW) ; Sinai, W. Tarjanya , 3.V.1977, leg. Barkai (1 ex. NMW) ; Sinai, W. Zawatin , 5.VII.1977, leg. Barkai (1 ex. NMW) ; Sinai, W. Arbeein , 29.VIII.1977, leg. Barkai (4 exs. NMW) ; Sinai, Wadi Tala , 1350 m, 26.IX.1992 (3 exs. HF) ; Sinai, St. Catherine Distr., Wadi el Noqra , 23.IV.1994, leg. Angus, Salah & Zalat (11 exs. RAL) . Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia, W. Talham , 1440 m, 27–28.IX.1980, W. Bütticher (2 exs. HF) .

Yemen: Aden Port, Mukeiras , 85 mls. NE of Aden, 7000 ft., 29.XII.1939 – 6.I.1940, G. K. Hebbert, B. M. 1940-36 (7 exs. BMNH); "Arabia, Yemen, 44026, Millingen, Fry coll., 1905-100" (1ex. BMNH) .

Description. TL 5.2–6.1 mm; MW 2.9–3.0 mm. Rounded-oval, convex, dark, rather dull. Angle between pronotum and elytra almost invisible.

Head reddish, with a very extended black area around eyes and on front, often extended on whole head. Mouthparts reddish, with last article of maxillary palps dark; antennae reddish-yellow, often with last articles darkened apically.

Pronotum transverse, maximum width near base. Sides almost straight, bordered, strongly converging inward. Posterior side sinuate. Posterior angles almost acute. Surface rather dull and rough, due to a deep punctuation.

Elytra oblong-oval, with maximum width near middle, covered by fine yellow pubescence. Longitudinal rows of punctures not or hardly visible.

Dorsal colouration ( Fig. 38a): pronotum almost completely black, except for yellow lateral sides; elytra testaceous, with a characteristic dark pattern: cross-like, with two little pale spots inside and two transverse spurs reaching the humerus. This pattern rather constant, althought dark colouration in some speciemens more or less extended.

Underside shiny, black. Surface covered by dense and finely impressed punctuation. Reticulation hardly visible between punctures. Sternites with small apical comb of setae. Epipleuron reddish-yellow.

Legs: pro-and mesothoracic legs reddish-yellow, with darkened tarsi. Hind legs darker, with black tarsi. Metatibiae with a long row of setigerous punctures.

Male: Protarsi dilated. Anterior claws as in Fig. 38b,c: inner claw short and curved, outer claw about twice as long as inner, curved and apically acuminate. Median lobe of aedeagus and parameres large ( Fig. 38d,e).

Female: Duller. Lateral sides of pronotum often more rounded and with base slightly narrower than elytra.

Taxonomic remarks. In the previous literature the name insignis has been misinterpreted for different species of Nebrioporus living in the same area. This species can easily be confused with N. mascatensis and less so with N. crotchi . The characters given in the key should be sufficient for separating these three species. From N. mascatensis , N. insignis is distinguishable by the male foreclaws, but also the different convexity and the rougher surface of pronotum is a useful character. Nebrioporus crotchi , which is sympatric in Saudi Arabia and Sinai, is larger, with dorsal colouration predominately brown instead of black, different yellow patterns on elytra and very distinctive male characters. Nebrioporus seriatus looks quite similar to N. insignis in shape and colouration, but is smaller, flatter and, again, has completely different male characters; N. millingeni could also be superficially confused with N. insignis , with its dark colouration, but the rounded lateral sides of its pronotum and male characters provide no doubt as to their separation. Finally, N. lanceolatus and N. banajai live in the same area as N. insignis , but the pale pronotum should be enough to avoid any confusion.

Notes on synonyms. a) Hydroporus semiclusus: The possibility of this synonymy was discussed by Zimmermann (1933) and confirmed by J. Balfour-Browne (1951), following examination of the types.

b) Deronectes princeps: This synonymy was estabilished by Zalat et al. (2000) based on the original description. With the examination of the herein designated lectotype, there is no doubt that this is clearly a specimen of N. insignis , with distinctive parasutural puncturation and slightly more rufinous colouration.

c) Although the type series of Hydroporus insignis includes a specimen of what is now N. crotchi , the illustration given in the colour plate of the original description undoubtedly matches the concept of N. insignis given here.

Habitat. Zalat et al. (2000) give the following notices for Egypt: "spring-fed streams with sparse vegetation and coarse bottom. Months of abundance: February, April, August, October".

Distribution ( Fig. 52). To date, this species is known from western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sinai, Egypt. Zimmermann (1919; 1933) and Guignot (1959a) quote also "Nubia", which is possible. Data for Syria remain unconfirmed ( Zimmermann 1919, 1933; Guignot 1959a; J. Balfour-Browne 1951). Records for Iran and Baluchistan must be referred to N. mascatensis (see below).