Calomera aphrodisia (Baudi di Selve, 1864)

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 : 61-62

10. Calomera aphrodisia (Baudi di Selve, 1864)

Habitat.

Rocky habitats in the littoral zone ( Austin et al. 2008; Aydın 2011c; Franzen 2001a; Horn 1931). Larval development also occurs in this habitat ( Lisa 2002).

Phenology.

May to August ( Franzen 2001a; database Gebert; Lisa 2002).

Distribution range.

From Sicily and Greece to Turkey and Syria ( Wiesner 1992).

Distribution in the southern Levant.

The first verifiable record from Israel was found by the cicindelid expert A. Putchkov (pers. comm.). He saw an old specimen from northern Israel (label information: <Izrael: Khaifa env.>), together with an old record from Syria (label information: <N Syrien, Ladyk env.); both specimens are preserved in ZISP. No recent records from Israel, but suitable habitats still exist in northern Israel (e.g. close to Akko and to Hadera).

Conservation.

Declining in Turkey due to touristic activities on the beaches ( Aydın 2011c; Aydın et al. 2005). As the species occurs only locally and in habitats which tend to be under strong human pressure, the species should be classified at least as threatened. Data are deficient for the southern Levant.

Taxonomic notes.

Three subspecies are known, with the nominate form occurring in Turkey and in Syria ( Wiesner 1992).