Microlestes glabrellus (Reitter, 1901)

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

Microlestes glabrellus (Reitter, 1901) Figures 17, 30, 43, 52

Blechrus glabrellus Reitter, 1901: 380.

Microlestes arabicus Mateu, 1956.

Microlestes flavipes Holdhaus, 1912.

Type locality.

Egypt.

Type depository.

Holotype in MNH.

Material Examined.

Total 7 specimens: Asir: 1♀, "KSA, Abha, Rayda, "18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 30. I.2015, (LT)., 1♀, "4.III.2015, (LT)., 1♀, "18°11.695'N 42°23.818'E Alt. 1897 m, 31.VII.2014, (LT)., 1♂, "18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 26. VIII.2014, (LT)., 1♂ "18°11.618'N 42°23.42'E Alt. 1772 m, 26.VIII.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool". 1♂, 1♀, "18 10.293'N 42 22.195'E Alt. 1150 m, 16.IV.2016, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, B. Daniele, A. Al Ansi, A. Soliman & I. Rasool" [KSMA].

Description.

Subparallel sized beetle (Fig. 30), TBL 3.12-3.60 mm. Color: Overall black, dorsum and ventrum of head, pronotum and abdomen, mouthparts and femora black; antennae, epipleurae, tibiae and tarsomeres -dark brown; coxae dark brown; elytra bronze to black. Microsculpture: Head along with clypeus and labrum with isodiametric mesh pattern; elytra, epipleurae, ventrum of thorax and abdominal sternite with transverse microlines. Head: As long as wide, almost as wide as pronotum, HL and HW 0.65-0.71 mm; eyes large, tempora short (Fig. 17). Pronotum: wider than long, PL 0.49-0.56 mm, PW 0.68-0.75 mm; pronotum narrowed posteriorly with weak basal angles; base of pronotum lobed (Fig. 17). Elytra: Subparallel sized, EL 1.61-1.77 mm EW 1.15-1.21 mm; apex of elytra transversally truncates; claws weakly dentate. Abdomen: apex of last abdominal sternum bi–setose and rounded in both males and females; Aedeagus: Shape of aedeagus (Fig. 43), AL 0.56 mm, in lateral view, aedeagus curved dorsally, straight in the middle ventrally, broad from the base to apical lamina; apical plat long narrowed with elongate and blunt end; internal sac broad and flat.

Affinities.

This species is similar to M. discoidalis in general appearance, elongate and slender, antennae, eyes large with short temples, but can be distinguished by black color of whole body (except tibiae and tarsomeres), strong transverse microlines on elytra, and endophallus armature of aedeagus broad and flat.

Ecological notes.

Members of this species were found in steep slopes in Rayda Nature Reserve (Asir Provence). They were collected from 1614-1897 m of elevation (Fig. 52), adult beetles were fly to UV-light. The adults were collected from places covered by different vegetation that dominated by Cactus shrubs Opuntiaficus indica .

Geographical distribution.

This species was described from Egypt ( Reitter 1901), and then reported from Chad, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen ( Mateu 1986, Kabak 2003, 2017, Anichtchenko 2017). Its geographical range exemplifies Saharo - Sahelo - Arabian Chorotype.