Calomera aulica (Dejean, 1831)

Assmann, Thorsten, Boutaud, Esteve, Buse, Joern, Gebert, Joerg, Drees, Claudia, Friedman, Ariel-Leib-Leonid, Khoury, Fares, Marcus, Tamar, Orbach, Eylon, Ittai Renan,, Schmidt, Constantin & Zumstein, Pascale, 2018, The tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) of the southern Levant and adjacent territories: from cybertaxonomy to conservation biology, ZooKeys 734, pp. 43-103 : 60-61

8. Calomera aulica (Dejean, 1831)

Habitat.

Mainly in salty habitats, such as sea shores and marshlands with salt crusts, or rocky habitats ( Abdel-Dayem 2004; Horn 1931; Werner 1991; 2000). Diurnal.

Phenology.

On the Sinai Peninsula from February until October ( Abdel-Dayem et al. 2003), in the Dead Sea region from May to December ( Matalin and Chikatunov 2016: 120; Nussbaum 1987).

Distribution range.

From Senegal through northern Africa and Greece to the Middle East and Pakistan ( Acciavatti and Pearson 1989; Arndt 2011; Horn 1931; Werner 2000).

Distribution in the southern Levant.

In northern and southern Sinai along the coasts of the Mediterranean and of the Red Sea, and along the Suez Canal. In Israel in the Dead Sea region ( Abdel-Dayem et al. 2003; Matalin and Chikatunov 2016; Nussbaum 1987). Rittner (pers. comm.) found a population in the vicinity of Akko on a rocky beach (documented by photographs, see the homepage Israel-nature-site 2017). The only known records from Jordan date back to the 1940s ( Matalin and Chikatunov 2016; 4 specimens in SMNHTAU). Now also recent records from Jordan: "JOR-at-Tafila, Hammam Afra, Hot Springs, 08.05.2010" (CGD), "Dead Sea, Wadi 'Atun, N Wadi Mujib, same date" (CSH).

Taxonomic notes.

The coloration can be useful for distinguishing some Calomera species, especially C. aulica , C. diania , C. littoralis and C. aulicoides ( Arndt 2011). Nevertheless, C. aulica is extremely variable in color, and the coloration of the elytra ranges from black to bronze or copper with a aditional colors also occurring.

The pale elytral pattern of C. aulica is similar to that of C. aulicoides . Although the tip of the copulatory pieces of median lobe of aedeagus is similar in both species, they can be easily distinguished from each other by the external shape of the aedeagus (Figs 40 , 41 ). A reliable character for differentiating C. aulicoides from related species is the number of teeth on the inner side of the left mandible: C. aulicoides has 4 teeth, while C. aulica and C. littoralis have only 3 ( Matalin and Chikatunov 2016) (Figs 51 , 52 ).

Conservation.

Rare and endangered in Israel. Few records exist from recent decades.

Figures

Figure 40. Median lobes of the aedeagus of species of the Calomera aulica group: a C. aulica b C. diania c C. aphrodisia.

Figure 41. Median lobes of the aedeagus of species of Calomera aulicoides (above) and C. littoralis winkleri (below).

Figure 51. Head of Calomera species in dorsal view: C. aphrodisia (left), C. aulicoides (right).

Figure 52. Head of Calomera littoralis winkleri: with regular form of left mandible (left) and a small fourth tooth on the inner side of left mandible (arrow, right).