Abacetus (Astigis) cf. quadrisignatus Chaudoir, 1876

Felix, Ron F. F. L., Farkač, Jan & Suleiman, Ahmed Saeed, 2012, Annotated checklist of the Carabidae (Coleoptera) of the Socotra Archipelago, Insect biodiversity of the Socotra Archipelago. (Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52), pp. 75-106 : 80-81

Abacetus (Astigis) cf. quadrisignatus Chaudoir, 1876 ( Fig. 1 )

Material examined (1 spec.). YEMEN: SOCOTRA ISLAND: Hadiboh env., 12°65′02″N [sic!], 54°02′04″E, 10–100 m a.s.l., 21.xi.–12.xii.2003, 1 spec., lgt. D. Král, det. R.F.F.L. Felix ( NMPC).

Diagnosis. ( Fig. 1 ). Body length 9.5–10.0 mm. Head, pronotum and elytra shiny piceous brown.Antennae testaceous, legs and mouthparts yellow. Base of pronotum coarsely punctured between basal furrows. Each elytron with testaceous subhumeral spot and yellow subapical spot, that sometimes tends to divide. Elytral microsculpture fine and transverse.

Comments on classification. The status of the material from Socotra is not certain. It seems to be very similar to Abacetus quadripustulatus ( Peyron, 1858) , mentioned from Albania, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, but no specimens were examined. STRANEO (1961) characterised A. quadripustulatus as follows: “Lati del pronoto non o pochissimo sinuate all’indietro, di modo che gli angoli basali risultano sempre nettamente ottusi”. This characterization fits exactly specimens of A. quadrisignatus from Eritrea and Ethiopia, and also the material from Socotra and mainland Yemen. Abacetus quadrisignatus is not yet known from Yemen. Also the short description of PEYRON (1858) of A. quadripustulatus fits both species. Maybe A. quadripustulatus and A. quadrisignatus are synonyms, or both species occur in mainland Yemen.

Distribution. Ethiopia and Eritrea. First record from Socotra Island.

Chlaeniini

Figures

Figs.1–5. 1 – Abacetus (Astigis) quadrisignatus Chaudoir,1876 (Socotra, Hadiboh env); 2 – Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) laeviplaga laeviplaga Chaudoir, 1856 (Socotra, Wadi Mathif), elytra with extended yellow apex; 3 – Ch. (Chlaeniellus) obscurus Klug, 1832 (Yemen, Wadi Maytam), elytra narrowly yellow bordered; 4 – Ch. (Chlaeniostenus) canariensis seminitidus (Dejean, 1831) (Yemen, Beni Mansour env); elytra dull, with flat intervals, finely punctured; 5 – Ch. (Chlaeniostenus) cherensis Kirschenhofer, 1999 (Socotra,Wadi Ayhaft), elytra shiny, intervals convex, more coarsely punctured. Photos: 1, 4–5 Tim Faasen; 2–3 Ron F.F.L. Felix.