Metadromius Bedel, 1907

Rasool, Iftekhar, Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Felix, Ron F. F. L. & Aldhafer, Hathal M., 2018, The Dromiusina Bonelli, 1810 of southwestern Saudi Arabia with description of a new species (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini), ZooKeys 771, pp. 73-103 : 73

Metadromius Bedel, 1907

Type species.

Dromius myrmidon Fairmaire, 1859

Metadromius is a complex genus that comprises about 30 species that are distributed in Afrotropical and Palaearctic regions ( Anichtchenko 2017). A revision of the genus in the Middle East is in preparation, with some new species. Fifteen species inhabit Palaearctic region, three are mentioned from within the territories of Arabian Peninsula ( Mateu 1979, Kabak 2003, 2017 Anichtchenko 2017). The genus can be differentiated from other genera in the subtribe Dromiusina by: small body size range from 2-3 mm; mentum with median tooth; antennae stout, antennomere II as long as III, pubescence starts from antennomere IV; anterior margin of labrum slightly rounded; pronotum transverse, base of pronotum weakly incised, sinuate posteriorly with sharp angles; apex of elytra obliquely truncate; tarsomeres I longer than V in hind legs, claws dentate. In Saudi Arabia, M. arabicus Mateu, 1979; M. ephippiatus Fairmaire, 1884; and M. brittoni Basilewsky, 1948 are mentioned up to now ( Mateu 1979, 1986, Kabak 2003). However, the record of M. ephippiatus is a doubtful one. Its occurrence is based on a probably false identification by Mateu (1979).