Haplidia tarsensis Kraatz, 1882

Montreuil, Olivier, Uliana, Marco & Sehnal, Richard, 2020, The genus Haplidia Hope in Lebanon (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Rhizotrogini), Zootaxa 4718 (4), pp. 536-548 : 543

Haplidia tarsensis Kraatz, 1882

Figs. 3 A–O

Haplidia tarsensis Kraatz, 1882: 37 ; Reitter, 1902: 185 (new data, key to species); Dalla Torre, 1912: 210 (catalogue); Baraud, 1988: 564 (new data, key to species); Montreuil, 2005: 131 (new data); Keith & Lo Cascio, 2005: 142 (catalogue).

Material examined. LEBANON: 4 males, Bcharre, North Lebanon, Alt. 1300 m, JULY 2011, Andre Kairouz lgt. ( NMPC, RSCV) ; 1 male, Tannourine El Faouka, Casa El Batroun 1420 m, Aout 2011, A. Kairouz Nord Liban ( COM) ; 2 males, 1 female, Bahnès , VI.2004, O. Montreuil leg. ( COM) ; 1 male, Baskinta ( Metn ), 3.IV.2005, M. Moubarak leg. ( ULB) ; 1 male, 2 females, Aarsal , 09.VII.1997 ( NHM, CMU) ; 5 males, 1 female, North. Gov., Tannourine, 2 Km N Harissa, Cedars Nat. Res. , 1750 m, 34°12’34”N, 35°55’45”E, 18.VI.2016, A. Kotan leg. ( NHM, CMU) ; 1 male, Tannourine , 23.III.2001 N. Nemer leg. ( HNHM) ; 11 males, 2 females, Jbeil, Laqlouq , 1300 m, 34°09’N 35°51’E, 02.VII.2009, A. Kairouz leg. ( CGS) ; 5 males, 1 female, same data, 17.VII.2009 ( CGS) ; 8 ex, Bcharre , 14.VI.1998, D. Baiocchi leg. ( CGS) ; 1 male, Mtein, Matn , 33°53’N 35°44’E, V.2009 ( CGS) . SYRIA: 2 males, Damas ( CGS) . TURKEY: 1 male, 1 female, prov. Mersin, Taurus (city) 50 m, 36.917, 34.896, 29.4.2018 ( CMU) ; 4 males, Gaziantep, 30km NW, 7.6.2001, Snížek leg. ( RSCV) ; 5 males, 3 females, Iskanderun , 10. 6. 1999, R. Sehnal leg. ( RSCV) ; 30 males, 15 females, Aslani , 35 km N of Erdemli, 6.-14.VI.1996, Martin Johanides ( RSCV) ; 5 males, 5 females, Mersin, Kuzucubelen , 1.6.2001, M. Šárovec leg. ( RSCV) ; 1 male, Taurus, Erdemli , 25.V.1995 R. Reitmaier lgt. ( RSCV) ; 2 males, 2 females, Erdemli - Aslanli , 4.-8. VI. 1996. P. Viktora lgt. ( CPV) .

Remarks. Study of 108 specimens referable to Haplidia tarsensis from the full span of its geographic distribution ( Turkey, Lebanon, Syria) enabled us to critically evaluate the characters that have been used in the keys to species ( Baraud 1988). Our observations show that characters such as setation and punctation of the head, pronotum and elytra, the shape of paramere apex, and the shape of sclerites in the endophallus are markedly variable, which could lead to difficulties in routine identification of specimens.

Such situation can also cast some doubts on the current taxonomic treatment of such populations. However, in specimens of H. tarsensis collected at the same time (IV. 1996) in Erdemli, Turkey, all the said characters were found variable. Setation of the pronotum and humeral area of the elytra varied from none (due to wear) to short and recumbent ( Figs. 3 A–E), punctation of the pronotum varied from fine and even to coarse and uneven ( Figs. 3 A–E), and the shape of the parameres ( Figs. 3 F–J) and of the sclerites in the endophallus ( Figs. 3 K–O) were also considerably variable. A similar variability was also present in other populations from Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. We therefore regard all the examined populations as belonging to a single species, H. tarsensis .

These findings suggest that the variability of conditions usually regarded as diagnostic should be scored across the entire genus, similarly to what has recently been done for the Cypriote fauna of Haplidia by Miessen (2016), resulting in the identification of two new synonymies. It would of course be ideal to combine the traditional morphological approach with molecular analyses, but we are not aware of any molecular study of Haplidia in progress at the present time.

Distribution. Lebanon ( Fig. 4 ), Turkey (Tarsus, type locality), Syria.

Figures

FIGURES 3A–O. Haplidia tarsensis Kraatz, 1882, characters variation, all males from Turkey, Erdemli, 4.-6.VI.1996. A–E, detail of pronotum and elytron; F–J, left paramere, left lateral view; K–O, lamella copulatrix.

FIGURE 4. Distribution map of Haplidia Hope species in Lebanon.