Paussus (Edaphopaussus) thomsonii Reiche, 1860

Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Rasool, Iftekhar, Elgharbawy, Ali A., Nagel, Peter & Aldhafer, Hathal M., 2018, Faunistic inventory and zoogeographical analysis of the ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of Garf Raydah Nature Reserve, Southwestern of Saudi Arabia, and description of a new species of Paussinae, Zootaxa 4514 (3), pp. 341-371 : 360

Paussus (Edaphopaussus) thomsonii Reiche, 1860

Material examined. WMR: 1150 m: 04.IV.2017, LT, 1 ex.

Distribution. This taxon is distributed in the AFR_SAR realms. It has a circum-saharan distribution, occurring in North, West and East Africa (DZ, EG, ER, ET, KE, LY, MA, ML, NE, SD, TN, TZ), the Levant Region (EG (Sinai), IL, SY) and the Arabian Peninsula (SA, YE).

Life forms and Remarks. Myrmecophilous (M) species.

Despite its large distribution area host ants were reported only twice: Tapinoma erraticum (Latreille 1798) (Dolichoderinae: Dolichoderini), Morocco (see Geiselhardt et al. 2007) and Pheidole pallidula (Nylander 1849) (Myrmicinae: Pheidolini), Tunisia (reported as Paussus saharae Bedel, 1900 ( Normand 1933) . The subgenus name was established by applying the concept proposed by Robertson and Moore (2016).

This species was previously known from Asir and Najran provinces ( Nagel 1982). Further records from Saudi Arabia are Makkah Province (Wadi Daykah, 600 m, 04.IV.1980, leg. Büttiker; Nat. Hist. Mus. Basel, Nagel vidit) and Jizan Province (Fifa, 18.XI.1981; Nat. Hist. Mus. Basel (Nagel vidit).

This specimen was collected from an area dominated by Acacia trees at the bottom of GRNR.