Pseudomesolestes quadriguttatus Mateu, 1979

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

Pseudomesolestes quadriguttatus Mateu, 1979 Figures 4, 9, 20, 34, 35, 46, 53

Pseudomesolestes quadriguttatus Matue, 1979: 148.

Type locality.

Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Wadi Mizibl.

Type depository.

Holotype male in NHMB.Material examined. Total 18 specimens: Holotype (Fig. 35): Male labeled "Type [red label]" / "Saudi Arabien, W. Büttiker” / "Wadi Mizbil, 13.4.1977" / " Pseudomesolestes quadriguttatus n. sp J. Mateu det. 1977". [NHMB]. Al Baha: 1♀, "KSA, Al Baha, Al Makhwa, Shada Al Aala, 19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m, 26.I.2015, (LT), I. Rasool". 1♂, 19°51.066'N 41°18.037'E Alt. 1325 m, 2.III.2015, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway, A. Al Ansi & I. Rasool". 1♂, 2♀, "19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m, 18.X.2014, (LT), I. Rasool". 1♀, 17.X.2014, (LT)., I. Rasool and M. Al Harbi". 1♀, "19°50.329'N 41°18.604'E Alt. 1663 m, 17.X.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool". 2♀, "Raghadan, Wadi Saad dam, 20°07.605'N 41°21.459'E 17.X.2014 (LT)., 1♂, "Wadi Turaba 20°10.430'N 41°19.365'E 17.X.2014, (HP), I. Rasool". 1♂, 1♀, "19°52.685'N 41°18.663'E Alt. 851 m, 15.XI.2015, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & A. Soliman". Asir: 1♀ "KSA, Abha, Wadi Rayda, 18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 24.II.2014, (LT), I. Rasool". 1♂, "18°12.315'N 42°24.607'E Alt. 2761 m, 11.XII.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool" [KSMA]. 1♂, "KSA, Al Baha, Al Makhwa, Shada Al Aala, 19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m, 18.X.2014, I. Rasool" [RMNH].

Description.

Small beetles (Fig. 34), TBL 2.75-3.30 mm. Color: Frons and vertex black; clypeus, labrum, thorax, posterior half of epipleurae and dorsum and ventrum of head dark brown; elytra -dark brown with pale testaceous inverted comma shaped spot at humeri and oval shaped after half of elytra, not reaching the lateral and apical margins; legs, mouthparts, antennae, ventrum of abdomen and anterior half of epipleurae pale testaceous. Microsculpture: Head, clypeus, labrum, pronotum and elytra with irregular isodiametric pattern, neck with suppressed microlines; ventrum of head, thorax, and abdomen with microlines. Head: Almost as long as wide HL 0.58-0.71 mm and HW 0.59-0.67 mm, as wide as pronotum, tempora short (Fig. 20). Pronotum: Transverse, PW 0.56-0.64 mm PL 0.47-0.53 mm, narrowed posteriorly, sinuate before basal angles, base of pronotum straight in the middle with weak angles (Fig. 20). Elytra: Broadened posteriorly, EL 1.56-1.77 mm, EW 1.06-1.35 mm; intervals II with few scattered fine punctures, claws smooth. Abdomen: apical margin of last sternum in both males and females notched in the middle. Aedeagus: Shape of aedeagus (Fig. 46), AL 0.58 mm; in lateral view, aedeagus slightly curved dorsally, straight ventrally, broad from base to apical lamina; apical lamina narrowed, elongate and slightly curved before end with a small tooth dorsally; base of aedeagus also with a small tooth; internal sacs finger-like.

Affinities.

Pseudomesolestes brittoni is the only other species recorded from Saudi Arabia and is close to P. quadriguttatus in shape of head and pronotum, but can be distinguished by elytra of P. quadriguttatus considerably widened posteriorly with pale testaceous inverted spot at humeri and round spot after middle, legs completely pale testaceous, aedeagus with three elongate endophallus armatures.

Ecological notes.

This species was collected from hilly and mountainous zones of 892-2761 m elevation range (Fig. 53). It was collected during day time from root zones of superficial vegetation and small shrubs, while during night it fly to UV–light. The species was collected during January, February, March, September, and December.

Geographical distribution.

It is endemic to Saudi Arabia ( Mateu 1990, Kabak 2017).