Misolampus subglaber Rosenhauer, 1856

Rosas-Ramos, Natalia, Mas-Peinado, Paloma, Gil-Tapetado, Diego, Recuero, Ernesto, Ruiz, Jose L. & Garcia-Paris, Mario, 2020, Catalogue, distribution, taxonomic notes, and conservation of the Western Palearctic endemic hunchback beetles (Tenebrionidae, Misolampus), ZooKeys 963, pp. 81-129 : 81

Misolampus subglaber Rosenhauer, 1856

Misolampus subglaber Rosenhauer, 1856: 204. Terra typica: "in der Sierra de Ronda".

Studied material.

Spain - Andalucía: Córdoba: Córdoba: 1 ex.; Granada: Güejar Sierra: 1 ex.; La Sagra (Escalera 1900): 4 exx.; Puebla de Don Fadrique (Escalera 1900): 5 exx.; Puebla de Don Fadrique: Nablanca, 1517 m, 38°00'23.6"N, 2°28'28.2"W, 10-IV-2011: 2 exx.; Valdeiglesias, 975 m, 36°56'49.3"N, 4°04'29.6"W, 24-X-2019: 3 exx.; Jaén: 3 km SO Aldeaquemada, 38°23'53.7"N, 3°24'00.5"W, 7-III-2012: 5 exx.; [3 km al SO de] Aldeaquemada, 26-IV-1992: 2 exx.; Cazorla: 7 exx.; Vadillo de Castril, Sierra de Cazorla, 995 m, 37°55'14"N, 2°55'50"W, 8-V-2008 (D. Ruiz leg.): 1 ex.; Santa Elena, carretera hacia La Aliseda, 768 m, 38°20'18.0"N, 3°32'56.8"W, 11-IV-2011: 3 exx.; Santa Elena, carretera hacia La Aliseda, 795 m, 38°20'53.1"N, 03°33'20.6"W, 28-XII-2010: 1 ex.; Santiago de la Espada (J. Martínez): 1 ex.; Segura [de la Sierra]: 1 ex.; Sierra Morena (Laguna leg.): 1 ex.; Málaga: 3 km al E de Jubrique, 786 m, 36°33'37.5"N, 5°10'40.9"W, 14-IV-2013: 6 exx.; Nerja: 1 ex.; El Colmenar, Gaucín, P.N. Los Alcornocales, 255 m, 36°32'29"N, 5°23'22"W, 17-II-2018 (S. Yubero leg.): 3 exx.; Carril Llanada de Sedella-Bco. de Valdeinfierno, Sierras de Tejeda y Almijara, 1495 m, 36°53'15"N, 3°56'40"W, 4-I-2017: 2 exx. - Castilla - La Mancha: Albacete: Agramón: 2 exx., plus 1 without label; Alcaraz: 3 exx.; Calar del Mundo, V-1904 (G. Schramm leg.): 1 ex.; Cañadillas, 15-VI-1938: 1 ex.; Cañadillas, 16-VI-1938: 1 ex.; Cañadillas, 17-VII-1938: 1 ex.; Los Collados, 20-II-1938: 1 ex.; Molinicos: 1 ex., plus 4 exx. without labels; Riópar, 25-VII-1926: 1 ex.; San Juan de Alcaraz [ Fábricas de Riópar] (Paz leg.): 1 ex.; Ciudad Real: Solana del Pino: Puerto Madrona, 38°25'07.3"N, 4°03'33.1"W, 06-III-2012: 3 exx.; Cuenca: Puerto de Cabrejas, 1167 m, 40°04'17.9"N, 2°18'39.5"W, 10-XI-2012: 1 ex. - Murcia: Jumilla: 3 exx.

Diagnosis.

Total length 10-12 mm ( Reitter 1917; Español 1949). Species clearly characterised by the combination of the following traits: smooth silky appearance; antennae graceful, reaching the base of pronotum; pronotal punctation very fine and sparse on the disc, somewhat stronger and denser to the sides; elytral punctation very fine and irregular, not forming longitudinal series of points or striae ( Reitter 1917; Español 1949; Palmer 1998) (Fig. 11A, B ). Female genitalia figured by Palmer (1998). The species has been studied karyologically and presents 2n = 20 chromosomes ( Palmer and Petitpierre 1997). Morphological variability within this species seems limited to the depth and density of pronotal punctation, and it does not appear geographically structured.

Geographic distribution.

Endemism of southeastern Spain ( Löbl et al. 2008) (Fig. 12 ). Published records are scarce, but well distributed throughout Andalucía: Granada, Jaén, Málaga; Castilla - La Mancha: Albacete; Comunidad Valenciana: Valencia; and Murcia ( Rosenhauer 1856; Piochard 1866; Reitter 1917; De la Fuente 1934-1935; Cobos 1949; Español 1949, 1960; Molino Olmedo 1996; Palmer and Petitpierre 1997; Ibáñez Orrico 2002; Pérez and López-Colón 2010; López-Pérez 2014a sub M. erichsoni , 2014b; Grimm and Aistleitner 2009; Bujalance de Miguel 2015). Records are distributed through time in all areas, except for the recent one from Valencia region (Fig. 12A ).

The material studied or collected by us includes specimens from all provinces reported in the literature, except from Valencia. In addition, we studied material from the provinces of Córdoba, Ciudad Real and Cuenca; specimens of Ciudad Real and Cuenca are represented by recent collections (2012). According to these data, M. subglaber is located in the Betic Mountain range (Sierras del Campo de Gibraltar, Serranía de Ronda, Sierra Nevada, Sierras de Tejeda and Almijara, Sierra de Cazorla, Sierra de Alcaraz, Sierra de Cartagena), eastern and central Sierra Morena mountain range, and two apparently isolated populations in the Southern Iberian mountain range ( Serranía de Cuenca and Sierra de Malacara, separated between them by ca. 150 km). There is a gap of records in the arid regions of the southeastern end of Spain, throughout the provinces of Almería and southern Murcia, including the eastern half of Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Filabres. The record from Cartagena, Murcia ( Reitter 1917), requires further confirmation (Fig. 12A ). The potential distribution map identifies the Betic Mountain ranges as the most suitable area for the species. The coastal areas of Almería, Granada, and Málaga provinces are however not included as very suitable. The southern Iberian Plateau and the northwestern African mountain ranges are also suggested as areas of high suitability for the species occurrence (Fig. 12B ).

Notes on natural history.

Misolampus subglaber behaves as a low-medium altitude montane element, distributed within an altitudinal range of 56 to 1662 m a.s.l. (with 61% of its records above 800 m). Geological substrates along its distribution area are diverse, both acid and basic, including mainly sandstones, limestones, dolomites, slates, gneisses, schists and mycaschists ( Sanz de Galdeano 1997; Vera 2004; Oliveira and Quesada 2019a, 2019b). Misolampus subglaber occupies mostly the thermo- and meso-Mediterranean thermoclimatic belts and locally supra-Mediterranean, in areas with ombrotype semiarid, dry, subhumid and, exceptionally, humid ( Rivas-Martínez 1987; Rivas-Martínez et al. 2002; Valle 2003; Rivas-Martínez 2007). It occurs on an extensive variety of pre-forest and forest systems, more or less dense and open, including oaks (deciduous: Quercus pyrenaica , Q. canariensis and Q. faginea ; perennial: Q. suber and Q. ilex ) and pines (natural or reforested: Pinus nigra , P. pinaster , P. halepensis , and P. sylvestris ), all of them usually with diverse undergrowth (Alcaraz Ariza and Peinado Lorca 1987; Peinado Lorca and Martínez Parras 1987; Laguna 1997; Valle 2003; Costa Tenorio et al. 2005) (Fig. 11C, D ).

Adult specimens of M. subglaber have been found at the base and under mosses of old oak trunks and inside hollow branches on the ground ( Q. suber , Q. pyrenaica , Q. canariensis , Q. faginea ) (Fig. 11D ), inside rotten logs, and under stones and leaf litter in pine forests ( P. nigra , P. pinaster , P. halepensis ) ( Piochard 1866; Español 1960; Molino Olmedo 1996; Ibáñez Orrico 2002; pers. obs.). Pérez and López-Colón (2010) found a specimen inside a natural cavity in the province of Jaén, where it possibly came by stochastic passive dispersal. Often found in groups ( Español 1960; pers. obs.).

Molino Olmedo (1996) found larvae inside decaying wood of branches and logs of Q. pyrenaica , Q. canariensis , Q. faginea , Q. suber , Q. ilex and P. pinaster and Ibañez Orrico (2002) on rotten logs of P. halepensis (however, the larva of M. subglaber has not been described yet). According to Molino Olmedo (1996), M. subglaber is a typical saproxylic species.

The general distribution area occupied by M. subglaber (Fig. 12 ) is largely coincident with that of M. ramburii (Fig. 8 ), however they have not been found in microsympatry, a possible indication of ecological segregation between them. Adults are mainly active in fall, winter and spring, but can be found all year round (pers. obs.). Large larvae and pupae have been observed at the end of August in Valencia ( Ibañez Orrico 2002).

Figures

Figure 8. A Geographic distribution of Misolampus ramburii. Map of the Iberian Peninsula depicting the geographic distribution of Misolampus ramburii (purple spot), an endemic species to Spain. Blue dots correspond to the species records, including both recent and old, as well as previously published data B potential geographic distribution of Misolampus ramburii: Red indicates areas of high suitability, and blue, areas of low suitability. Species distribution model was generated using MaxEnt v 3.4.1 (Elith et al. 2006) and the set of WorldClim v 2.0 (Fick and Hijmans 2017) environmental variables.

Figure 11. Live specimens and habitat of Misolampus subglaber A, B live specimens of Misolampus subglaber from Spain (A Valdeiglesias, Sierra Tejeda, Granada B Miranda del Rey, Sierra Morena, Jaen) C, D general habitat occupied by M. subglaber (C limestone outcrops with Pinus nigra along the Sierra de Alcaraz, Albacete D Quercus suber forests at Cortes de la Frontera, Sierra de Grazalema, Malaga). Photographs by MGP.

Figure 12. A Geographic distribution of Misolampus subglaber. Distribution range of Misolampus subglaber (green spot). Blue dots correspond to the species records, including both recent and old, as well as previously published data. Cuenca population is isolated from all other known populations by a distance of 150 km. The old bibliographic record from Cartagena (province of Murcia, south western Spain) requires confirmation B potential geographic distribution of Misolampus subglaber: Red indicates high suitable areas, and blue, areas of low suitability. Species distribution model was generated using MaxEnt v 3.4.1 (Elith et al. 2006) and the set of WorldClim v 2.0 (Fick and Hijmans 2017) environmental variables.