Clitobius ovatus ( Erichson, 1843 )

Purchart, Luboš & Kamiński, Marcin Jan, 2017, A taxonomic review of the genus Clitobius with description of a new species from Oman (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 57, pp. 139-163 : 150-151

Clitobius ovatus ( Erichson, 1843)

(Figs 3G, I, 4)

Opatrum ovatum Erichson, 1843: 249 (original description).

Clitobius ovatus ovatus: FAIRMAIRE (1885) : ccvi (checklist); SEIDLITZ (1891): 130 (key to Opatrini ); SEIDLITZ (1898): 452 (key to Melanimonina ); RAGUSA (1898): 126 (catalogue); REITTER (1904): 179 (key to species); ESCALERA (1914): 339 (new record); GEBIEN (1910): 340 (catalogue); GEBIEN (1920a): 133 (new record); GEBIEN (1920b): 234 (catalogue); KNEUCKER &ANDRES (1920): 73 (new record); EBNER (1923): 190 (new record); GRIDELLI (1930): 303 (new record); GRIDELLI (1933): 247 (new record); GRIDELLI (1954): 79 (new record); REICHARDT (1936): 201 (distribution); ESPAÑOL (1943): 141 (new record, with drawing of habitus); KASZAB (1963): 345 (new record); ARDOIN (1963): 385 (new record); ARDOIN (1971): 115 (new record); ALFIERI (1976): 197 (new record); GRIMM (1995):44 (distribution); GRIMM (1986): 11 (new record); ALIQUÒ & LEO (1999): 11 (new record); FERRER (2004): 205 (new record); ALIQUÒ & SOLDATI (2010): 88 (new record); LILLIG et al.(2012): 130, 139 (key to Tenebrionidae of Malta, biology).

Halonomus ovatus: WOLLASTON (1867) : 192 (redescription); FAIRMAIRE (1879c): 389 (discussion); ALLARD (1883): 30 (key to species); DESBROCHERS DES LOGES (1898): 2 (new record).

Halonomus grayii Wollaston, 1861: 203 (original description). WOLLASTON (1867): 193 (synonymy with Clitobius ovatus ).

Clitobius grayi: FAIRMAIRE (1885) : ccvi (checklist).

Clitobius immarginatus Fairmaire, 1888: 195 (original description). CHAMPION (1895): 111 (catalogue); GEBIEN (1910): 340 (catalogue); GEBIEN (1920a): 133 (synonymy with C. ovatus ).

Clitobius sabulicola Mulsant & Rey, 1859: 141 (original description). MULSANT & REY (1860): 49 (redescription); GEMMINGER (1870): 1927 (catalogue); FAIRMAIRE (1885): ccvi (synonymy with C. ovatus ); SEIDLITZ (1891): 130 (key to Opatrini ); SEIDLITZ (1898): 452 (key to Melanimonina ).

Halonomus salinicola Wollaston, 1861: 203 (original description). WOLLASTON (1864): 490 (redescription); WOLLASTON (1865): 415 (catalogue); FAIRMAIRE (1879a): 196 (redescription); FAIRMAIRE (1879c): 389 (discussion); ALLARD (1883): 31 (key to species); syn. nov.

Clitobius salinicola: FAIRMAIRE (1885) : ccvi (checklist); GEBIEN (1910): 340 (catalogue); REICHARDT (1936): 202 (distribution).

Clitobius ovatus salinicola: ESPAŇOL (1962a) : 212, 219 (drawing of aedeagus, key to subspecies); ESPAŇOL (1962b): 233 (new record); ESPAŇOL (1963): 208 (new record); ESPAŇOL (1967): 43 (new record); HÅK. LINDBERG (1962): 49 (habitus figure); OROMÍ (1982): 272 (checklist); FAUCHEUX (2011): 55 (new record).

Platydema subplumbea Fairmaire, 1856: 533 (original description). FAIRMAIRE (1879c): 389 (discussion); FAIRMAIRE (1885): ccvi (synonymy with C. ovatus ).

Halonomus subplumbeus: ROTTENBERG (1870) : 252 (redescription, with drawing of habitus); SEIDLITZ (1891): 130 (key to Opatrini ); SEIDLITZ (1898): 452 (key to Melanimonina ).

Clitobius subplumbeus: CHAMPION (1895) : 111 (catalogue).

Clitobius opacus Har. Lindberg, 1950: 12 (original description). GRIMM (1995): 44 (synonymy with C. ovatus ).

Clitobius ovatus opacus: ESPAŇOL (1962a) : 212, 219 (with drawing of aedeagus, key to subspecies); ESPAŇOL (1962b): 233 (new record); ESPAŇOL (1967): 43 (distribution); HÅK. LINDBERG (1962): 50 (habitus figure); OROMÍ (1982): 272 (checklist).

Type material. Halonomus salinicola Wollaston, 1861 . HOLOTYPE, sex undetermined ( ZSMG), labelled: Type Clitobius / salinicola / Woll // salinicola / typ Woll // Sammlung / Haag- / Rutenberg.

Additional material examined. 5 spec. ( MIIZ), labelled: Tunis // Clitobius / ovatus Er. / H. Gebien det. 1938.

Taxonomic remarks. During the present investigation of morphology and available literature concerning C. ovatus salinicola it was noted that there are no unambiguous characters to separate it from the nominotypical subspecies. This problem was also highlighted by some previous authors (see GRIMM 1995). Moreover, the analyzed distributional data suggest that both alleged subspecies occur sympatrically. Taking into account the above-mentioned facts it is clear that C. ovatus salinicola does not satisfy any criteria commonly used to designate subspecies, i.e. it is not allopatric and phenotypically distinct (e.g. BRABY et al. 2012, LAMB et al. 2013). Therefore, Halonomus salinicola is considered here a junior synonym of Clitobius ovatus .

Bionomy. According to WOLLASTON (1867) it is a strictly halophilous species. OROMÍ (1982) noted that in the Canary Islands C. ovatus inhabits beaches and white sand dunes (of mineral or organic origin). In the Maltese Islands it is generally found under stones close to salt marshes and coastal habitats having fine dust alluvial deposits ( LILLIG et al. 2012).

Distribution. Angola, Botswana, Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lobos, Lanzarote), Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Islands of the lake Chad, Italy (Sicily, Lampedusa), Libya, Maltese Islands, Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara ( Fig. 4 ).

MULSANT & REY (1859) described C. sabulicola from Bengal (‘Le Bengale’) an area that is extremely isolated from the known distributional area of the genus Clitobius and thus we consider this record highly improbable and believe that the type material was mislabelled. This assumption has also been supported by the conducted ecological niche modelling ( Fig. 4A ).

Figures

Fig. 4. Analysed localities and potential distribution of Clitobius ovatus (Erichson, 1843) (A) and C. oblongiusculus (Fairmaire, 1875) (B). Average AUC and habitat suitability threshold values for each analysis are presented.