Pogonus (Pogonoidius) meridionalis Dejean, 1828

Figs 1D–E, 3D, 4D

Pogonus (Pogonoidius) meridionalis Dejean, 1828: 17 .

Pogonus salinus Motschulsky, 1844: 89 .

Amara interstitialis Fairmaire, 1856: 523 .

Pogonus atrocyaneus Dieck, 1870: 60 .

Pogonus barthei Puel, 1923: 89 .

Diagnoses

Tegument bronze in most Ibero-Balearic individuals, but blue with metallic sheen in the southern populations of the peninsula. Pronotum markedly convex, with the base clearly wider than the anterior margin and small setae inserted in the anterior angles. Elytra sub-oval and slightly convex. Setigerous pores present in the 5 th, 7 th or both interstriae, in addition to those present in the 3 rd interstria.

Material examined

SPAIN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 2 specs; Pozuelo; MNCN • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Alicante, Elche, El Hondo; 6 Mar. 1988; J.M. Beltrán leg.; VMO • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 9 Mar. 1991; VMO • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Alicante, ctra. [road] La Marina-Elche (km 8); 23 Mar. 1996; J.M. Beltrán leg.; VMO • 3 ♂♂, 5♀♀; Alicante, Salinas, Laguna de Salinas; 20 Feb. 1993; J.M. Beltrán leg.; VMO • 5 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; 14 May 1993; VMO • 1 ♀; Alicante, Santa Pola; 2 Mar. 1983; T.G. Sempere leg.; VMO • 2 ♂♂; Cádiz, El Palmar, Conil de la Frontera; 29 Aug. 2001; J. Navarro leg.; VMO • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Cádiz, Jerez; Lauffer leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; L. Cepero leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂; Cádiz, Puerto de Santa María; Dieck leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Lauffer leg.; MNCN • 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Ciudad Real, Pozuelo de Calatrava; La Fuente leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; no leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂; Cuenca, Uclés; Pantiel leg.; MNCN • 1 ♀; Huelva; May 1911; Cendrero leg.; MNCN • 2 ♂♂; Madrid, Colmenar de Oreja, Laguna de las Esteras; 8 Jul 2020; J. Muñoz-Santiago leg.; JMS • 1 ♀; Murcia, Cartagena; 5 Jan. 1924; Escalera leg.; MNCN • 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀; 7 Jan. 1925; MNCN • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 22 Jan. 1905; G. Schramm leg.; MNCN • 2 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; Dec., no year; MNCN • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; Lauffer leg.; MNCN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; Ehlers leg.; MNCN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; Bolívar leg.; MNCN • 2 ♀♀; Toledo, Quero; 22 May 1929; Escalera leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂; 15 May 1999, Lauffer leg.; MNCN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; no date; MNCN • 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; 22 May 1934; C. Bolívar leg.; MNCN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; no date; no leg.; MNCN • 6 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Toledo, Quero, Laguna Grande; 9 Apr. 1993; V.M. Ortuño leg.; VMO • 1 ♂; Toledo, Quero, Laguna de Peña Hueca; 10 Jun. 1986; J.P. Zaballos leg.; VMO • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; Toledo, Villacañas, Salinas de Peña Hueca; 25 Apr. 1997; J.M. Beltrán leg.; VMO • 1 ♂; Toledo, Villacañas; 20 May 1934; C. Bolívar leg.; MNCN • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; no date; C. Bolívar leg.; MNCN .

Description

Habitus (Fig. 1D–E). Length: 5.5–7.0 mm. Antennae and palps dark brown, lighter at the base of antennomeres (from the second to the last) and at the apex of the last palpomeres. Pronotum with short lateral sinuosity and the base sub-rectilinear; lateral sulcus narrow; hind angles well marked and straight or slightly sharp. Legs brown, with the femora darkened (in southern populations, almost the entire legs darkened). Median lobe of the aedeagus arcuate, with the apex rounded and not narrowed (Fig. 3D).

Chorology

The subgenus Pogonoidius is well represented in the Palaearctic Region (Bousquet 2017). The species P. meridionalis is a Palaearctic element with a wide distribution from the Iberian Peninsula to Siberia (Bousquet 2017).

Ibero-Balearic distribution (Fig. 4D): in the Iberian Peninsula, the species is present in the meridional extreme, in the Segura basin (SE Spain), some localities of the Catalonian coast and in lagoons and saltmarshes of the Southern Sub-plateau (SE Spain) and Central Spain. It has been reported from Portugal, with no precise locality, by Serrano (2002).

Biology

The species can be found in saline areas colonised by plants of the Arthrocnemetea group and the genus Salicornia L. (Sauleda 1985; Vigna Taglianti & Bonavita 1994; J. Muñoz-Santiago pers. obs.) but also in non-saline environments, as it is less halobiont than other species of the genus (Sauleda 1985). This suggestion is supported by the presence of the species in the Embalse de Valmayor (Madrid, Spain; Ortuño & Toribio 1996), a freshwater body. The phenology of a population of P. meridionalis in Elton lake (Volgograd, Russia) was studied by Matalin & Makarov (2008): it had a peak of imaginal activity on spring (April–May), and the imagoes which emerged on one year coexisted with imagoes from the previous year, so it is not an annual species. The large number of imagoes in spring was also observed by Sauleda (1985).

Bibliographic Ibero-Balearic records

Aistleitner & Lencina 2018; Andújar et al. 2002; Baehr 1986; Cuní 1885; Jeanne 1968; López-Pérez et al. 2014; Mateu 1947; Ortuño & Toribio 1996; Prieto 2018; Sauleda 1985; Serrano et al. 2021; Vives & Vives 1976; Zaballos & Jeanne 1994.