Metadromius brittoni (Basilewsky, 1948)

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 brittoni (Basilewsky, 1948) Figures 7, 15, 27, 41, 51

Philorhizus brittoni Basilewsky, 1948: 129.

Type locality.

Yemen, Dahla

Type depository.

Holotype in BMNH

Material examined.

Total 1,362 specimens: Al Baha: 1♂, "KSA, Al Makhwa, Shada Al Aala, 19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 27. I.2015, (LT)., 1♀, "19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m, 16.II.2014, (LT), M.S. Abdel-Dayem & I. Rasool". 1♂, 1♀, “19°50.329N’ 41°18.604'E Alt. 1563 m, 21.IV.2014, (LT)., 2♂, 3♀, "19°51.066'N 41°18.037'E Alt. 1325 m, 21.IV.2014, (LT)., 17♂, 9♀, "19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 21.IV.2014, (LT)., 1♀, "19°50.710'N 41°18.267'E Alt. 1474 m, 21.IV.2014, (LT)., 12♂, 8♀ "19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m, 23.IV.2014, (LT)., 21♂, 16♀, "19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 03.VI.2014, (LT)., 8♂, 5♀, "19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 23.VIII.2014, (LT)., 13♂, 9♀, 19°51.066'N 41°18.037'E Alt. 1325 m, 23.VIII.2014, (LT)., 1♂, 19°50.710'N 41°18.267'E Alt. 1474 m, 23.VIII.2014, (LT)., 1♂,, "19°50.411'N 41°18.686'E Alt. 1611 m 23.VIII.2014, (Sucking), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgrbaway & I. Rasool". 2♂, 4♀, "19°51.066'N 41°18.037'E Alt. 1325 m, 16.X.2014, (LT), I. Rasool". 24♂, 14♀, "19°52.598'N 41°18.672'E Alt. 892 m 17.X.2014, (LT), I. Rasool & M. Al Harbi". 3♀, "19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 17. X.2014, (LT)., 1♀, "19°51.762'N 41°18.089'E Alt. 1225 m, 18. X.2014, (PT)., 2♂, 5♀, "19°51.066'N 41°18.037'E Alt. 1325 m, 17. X.2014, (LT)., 1♂, "19°50.710'N 41°18.267'E Alt. 1474 m, (LT)., "19°50.411'N 41°18.686'E Alt. 1611 m, (LT)., 1♀, "19°50.411'N 41°18.686'E Alt. 1611 m, 18. X.2014, (PT)., 1♂, "19°50.391'N 41°18.634'E Alt. 1562 m, 03.XI.2013, (HP), I. Rasool". 1♀, "Wadi Neera, 19°44.870'N 41°20.008'E Alt. 471 m, 10.XII.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool". 1♀, "Al Mandaq, Wadi Turbah, 20°12.937'N 41°17.176'E Alt. 1793 m, 10.V.2011, (HP), M.R. Sharaf". 4♂, 2♀, Wadi Saad, 20°07.605'N 41°21.459'E 17.X.2014, (HP), I. Rasool". Asir: 2♂, 2♀, "KSA, Abha, Wadi Maraba, 18°19.79'N 42°40.952'E Alt. 1467 m, 23.II.2014, (HP)., 1♂, "Wadi Rida, 18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 24.II.2014, (LT), I. Rasool". 6♂, 21♀, "Wadi Rida, 18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 24.III.2014, (LT), S. A. El-Sonbati". 2♂, "Rayda, 18°11.766'N 42°24.315'E Alt. 2285 m, 26.IV.2014, (LT)., 26♂, 28♀, "18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt. 1614 m, 26.IV.2014, (LT)., 1♀, "18°11.679'N 18°11.679'E Alt. 1851 m, (LT)., 1♂, 2♀, "18°11.695'N 42°23.818'E Alt. 1897 m, 26.IV.2014, (LT)., 1♀, "18°11.618'N 42°23.42'E Alt. 1772 m, 26.VIII.2014, (LT)., 1♂, 2♀, "18°11.749'N 42°23.345'E Alt.1614 m, 20.X.2014, (LT)., 1♂, "18°11.679'N 42°23.691'E Alt. 1851 m, 06.VI.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool". 509♂ 455♀, "Al Hubail, Wadi Reem, 18°06.981'N 42°13.939'E Alt. 451 m, 20.X.2014, (LT), I. Rasool & M. Al Harbi". 20♂, 14♀, "Al Magardha, Wadi Yabah, 19°14.911'N 41°47.255'E Alt. 402 m, 11. X.2013, (LT), I. Rasool, M. Al Harbi, S. Soonbati & S. Khan". 5♂, 3♀, "Rayda 18°11.766'N 42°24.315'E Alt. 2285 m, 11.XII.2014, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgarbway & I. Rasool". Jazan: 1♀, "KSA, Fifa, Al Absia, 17°15.831'N 43°60.498'E Alt. 1770 m, 20.III.2014, (LT), 30♂, 12♀ "17°15.831'N 43°60.498'E Alt. 1770 m, 23.III.2014, (LT)., 2♀, "Jazan Road, 17°20.223'N 43°07.539'E 1770 m, 21.III.2014, (LT)., 1♀, "Fifa, Agricultural research station, 17°28.671'N 43°14.39'E Alt. 879 m, 06.IV.2013, (HP), M.R. Sharaf" [KSMA].

Description.

Small beetle (Fig. 27) TBL 2.13-2.75 mm. Color: Head, lateral margin of abdominal sternite and posterior half of epipleurae dark brown; pronotum, elytra, anterior half of epipleurea and antennae testaceous; legs, ventrum of thorax and abdominal sternite pale testaceous; elytra with dark brown pattern covering the posterior half of elytra, leaving the testaceous round spots near apex and suture, suture dark brown throughout. Microsculpture: head, clypeus, labrum, pronotum, and elytra with mesh isodiametric pattern; last abdominal sternum with transverse microlines, rest of the sternites with depressed microlines. Head: As long as wide, narrower than pronotum; HL 0.45-0.52 mm and HW 0.46-0.52 mm; dorsum densely and coarsely punctate (Fig. 15). Pronotum: Transverse, PW 0.55-0.58 mm and PL 0.40-0.44 mm, pronotum narrowed posteriorly with sharp basal angles, base lobate at middle, incised near the angles; dorsum of pronotum densely and coarsely punctate (Fig. 15). Elytra: Subparallel, slightly widened posteriorly, EL 1.34 mm EW 0.95 mm apical margin obliquely truncate, sparsely punctuate, claws dentate. Abdomen: All visible sternite sparsely and finely punctate; last sternum Tetra–setose, incised in males and rounded in females. Aedeagus: It is elongate (Fig. 41), AL 0.45 mm; in lateral view flat throughout, very thin and equally broadened from base to apical end; apical lamina broadened, end strongly rounded.

Affinities.

This species is similar to M. arabicus and M. ephippiatus in general from but it can be differentiated by: densely punctated head and pronotum, presence of microsculptures on whole body, Tetra–setose apical margin of abdominal sternum in male, and apical lamina of aedeagus broad.

Ecological notes.

This species is attracted to UV–light. Living from low to high elevated areas from 402-2761 m (Fig. 51). It is collected from various kind of habitats, sand dunes covered with light vegetation, near the water streams and under the shade of small shrubs where it lives with variety of arthropods (Hemipetra, Collembola , Staphylinidae , and spiders), while in valleys of mountains, it is hidden under leaves and stones.

Geographical distribution.

It was described from Yemen (Basilewsky 1948), then recorded from Jordan and Saudi Arabia ( Mateu 1979, Kabak 2003, 2017, Anichtchenko 2017). Metadromius brittoni is Arabian element that exemplifies Arabian chorotype.