Dyschiriodes (Dyschiriodes) cariniceps (Baudi di Selve, 1864)

Bulirsch, Petr, 2009, Contribution to the Asian and Afrotropical species of the genus Dyschiriodes (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Scaritinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 49 (2), pp. 559-576 : 575

Dyschiriodes (Dyschiriodes) cariniceps (Baudi di Selve, 1864)

Dyschirius cariniceps Baudi di Selve, 1864: 201

Dyschiriodes (s. str.) cariniceps: FEDORENKO (1996) : revised generic placement

Dyschirius kalalae Mařan, 1935: 211 . Synonymy confirmed

Dyschiriodes (s. str.) cariniceps (?ab. kalalae ): FEDORENKO (1996): revised generic placement, new synonymy proposed

Type material examined. Dyschirius kalalae : HOLOTYPE: ‘ IRAK [= Iraq], Bagdad [= Baghdad] / Coll. Kálalová // Typus // Dyschirius / Kalalae m. / det. Mařan, 1935 ’ ( NMPC).

Additional material examined. IRAQ: 4 spec. ‘ IRAQ, 80 km SW / Baghdad, Shi ta tha / oaza, koryto potoka [oasis, stream-bed] / 21.v.1989 / J. Boháč (lgt.)’ ( NMPC, PBPC) ; 1 spec. ‘ IRAQ / Mosul / 28.vii.1956 ’. IRAN: 2 spec. ‘S IRAN, 30.iii.1999 / 21km E of Bandar-e-Abbas / prov. HORMOZGAN / S. Kadlec leg. ’; 1 spec. ‘ IRAN mer. occ. / Bandar-e Ganave / 11.v.1999 / L. Klíma leg. ’; 2 spec. ‘ IRAN mer. oc. 9.v.1999 / Siraaz env./ Dary Ače-ye [=Daryacheh-ye] Maharlu / L. Klíma leg. ’; 1 spec. ‘ IRAN mer. / Kühha Ye, Zágros mts. / Daryače-ye [= Daryachehye] Maharlu / 1400 m, 9.v.1999 / Václav Kocourek lgt.’ (all PBPC). In addition I saw several hundreds of specimens from the western part of the distribution area of this species: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Jordan to Greece, Italy (Sardinia, Sicily), Tunesia , Libya, Algeria and Egypt (all PBPC).

Comment. Dyschiriodes kalalae ( Mařan, 1935) was described from a single specimen which differs from typical D. cariniceps (Baudi di Selve, 1864) only by a slightly shorter reflexed lateral margin of the pronotum, i.e., the margin disappears before the posterior setiferous puncture. FEDORENKO (1996) studied the holotype of D. kalalae and treated it as an ‘abberant specimen’ of D. cariniceps . The study of five additional specimens from Iraq (see above), collected mostly near the type locality, showed that three of them are fully consistent with the holotype of D. kalalae whereas two are typical D. cariniceps . Also among six specimens from south-western Iran, two have shortened and four have complete pronotal reflexed lateral margin. Specimens from Iraq and south-western Iran vary in the length of the pronotal margin from slightly shortened to complete, whereas in all specimens from other areas the margin always reaches the posterior setiferous puncture. Both from Iraq and south-western Iran are otherwise identical in other characters (such as measurements, habitus, aedeagus) and the single distinguishing character is not sufficient to separate both taxa. For this reason, I treat D. kalalae as a junior synonym to D. cariniceps .