Bolivaremia domenichi Morales Agacino, 1949

Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), Zoosystema 44 (10), pp. 227-258 : 237-239

El Kantara: Rio de Oro, type locality of Bolivaremia domenichi Morales Agacino, 1949

El Kantara is the Arabic name for a bridge, a pass; this toponym is unknown on the Spanish maps of the 1940s and in today’s Moroccan maps. To find out that Al Gantra means a bridge in the Sahrawi language has been a challenge! Interpretation of the route followed by Morales Agacino in 1946 showed that he went through Al Gantra (Fig. 3). Al Gantra is a broad, flat strip of land, 20 × 5 kilometres wide, which separate the Aridal and Aarred sebkhats, a pass for caravans to the sea, confirmed on a 1926 map of the French army available on the website of the Université Montaigne, Bordeaux. The translation of El Kantara by Al Gantra on modern maps is explained by the fact that the Sahrawi pronounce the ‘k’ as a ‘g’ (Taine-Cheikh 1989: 2). So, the type locality has to be labelled El Kantara = Al Gantra (26°03’24”N, 14°04’17”W). El Kantara is the origin of a large and rich Acridomorpha community (Tables 6; 7).

Two localities named Aserifa

Aserifa (SH) is the name given by Morales Agacino to the paratype locality of Bolivaremia domenechi var. laevigata Morales Agacino, 1949. It is also the collection site of 32 species of Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera . The location of Aserifa near Cap Boujdour, as deduced from the 1943 mission schedule in the Saquia Al Hamra region, is supported by two sketch maps ( Giner Marí 1944; Mateu Sanpere 1947). The relevant toponym on the 1:500 000 map of 1949 is Asreifa to the north-east of the Sebkhat Arridal. Asreifa is a diminutive of Aserfa, which, according to the booklet attached to the map, means a hard terrain covered with a layer of loose soil, which could represent wind-blown sand deposits, on which the stones of the Aftout plain are outcropping. On the topographic map of 1993 (1/250 000 scale), the toponym Asserfa replaces Asreifa in the north-east of the Sebkhra Aridal.

Aserifa (SH) in the Saquia Al Hamra region is homonym of a place visited by Mateu Sanpere in the Oued Dra region named Aserifa (D) by Morales Agacino. These two homonymous localities have led to confusions over collection dates ( Morales Agacino 1947a). On May 24th, 1944, during his visit to this place, Mateu Sanpere collected 12 species, including Glauia (Glauvarovia) mendizabali (Table 6). The route followed by Mateu Sanpere, detailed in Giner Marí (1945), is consistent with the toponyms Asreifa mentioned on the Spanish map and Asrifa on the 1/250000 Moroccan map. Asrifa is near the coast and north of the mouth of the Cheibeca wadi. It is the steeply sloping edge of the Hameidia El Gueblia (meaning a small hammada).To differentiate the two Aserifa localities, their proper toponyms should be retained: Aserifa (SH) = Asserfa (26°19’00”N, 13°41’60”W); Aserifa (D) = Asrifa (28°17’24”N, 11°24’37”W), 300 km away to the north (Table 6).