Lydomorphus (Lydomorphus) buettikeri ( Kaszab, 1983 )

Bologna, Marco A. & Turco, Federica, 2007, The Meloidae (Coleoptera) of the United Arab Emirates with an updated Arabian checklist, Zootaxa 1625 (1), pp. 1-33 : 7-8

Lydomorphus (Lydomorphus) buettikeri ( Kaszab, 1983)

Distribution. Recorded from Oman and Saudi Arabia. Previuosly cited from U.A.E. by Gillet & Howarth (2004) and Gillet & Gillet (2005).

New records. U.A.E.: Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA4, Al Bateen dunes, 4 Km W Al Aïn on the road to Abu Dhabi, 24,20491° N 55,61263° E, 195 m a.s.l., 13–15.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 26 exx., on Tribulus omanense (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, Al Aïn, Al Bateen dunes, 18.iii.2000, M. Gillet coll. 8 exx. (C. Krejcik). Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA5, Al Jahar-Al Saad on road Al Aïn-Abu Dhabi, 24,21940° N 55,52091° E, 180 m a.s.l., 12–14.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 5 exx., on Zygophyllum mandavillei (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA7, Al Aïn "Aïn Al Fayda" Hotel , 24,08863° N 55,72238° E 235 m a.s.l., 14.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 7 exx., at morning and 1 ex at night, on Zygophyllum mandavillei (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, Al Aïn "Aïn Al Fayda", 25.ii.2000, M. Gilet coll. 1 ex (C. Krejicik). Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA8, Al Aïn, 2 Km E Al Saad , 24,21241° N 55,50620° E, 145 m a.s.l., 13.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 2 ex. , on Eremobium aegyptiacum (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA9, Al Aïn, Al Bateen dunes, crossroad E22-road to Al Aïn Airport , 24,20080° N 55,59146° E, 195 m a.s.l., 13.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 4 exx., on Zygophyllum mandavillei (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA10, Al Aïn, 3–4 Km E Al Selimat on road Al Aïn-Abu Dhabi, 24,19263° N 55,58861° E, 220 m a.s.l., 12–15.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 28 exx., on Tribulus omanense (CB) . Abu Dhabi Emirate, EA11, 37 Km S Al Aïn on road Al Aïn-Al Wijan , 23,9108° N 55,49472° E, 150 m a.s.l., 14.iii.2005 M. Bologna & F. Turco coll. 3 exx. on Zygophyllum mandavillei (CB) .? Liwa (or Uwa ), 22.iii.1985 J.N.B. Brown coll. 1 ex. ( BMNH) .

Remarks. Kaszab (1983, as Cylindrothorax ) emphasized the phenetic similarities between this species and L. brittoni (Kaszab, 1953) , but referred it to the group XVIII rather than XV (sensu Kaszab 1955, as Cylindrothorax ), close to L. janczkyi ( Kaszab, 1959) , a species distributed in Iraq and Iran. Kaszab (1959) related L. janczkyi to L. csikii ( Kaszab, 1959) , a species from Somalia, which, according to Bologna & Aloisi (1992) is a synonym of L. cinnamomeus (Fairmaire, 1889) . Also Schneider (1991) considered L. buettikeri and L. brittoni as very difficult to distinguish from each other, and did not mention any diagnostic characters. Both authors examined only few specimens of L. buettikeri and were thus unable to define its variability.

Actually, L. buettikeri and L. brittoni are phenetically similar in size and colouration: the head and pronotum colour of the former is greatly variable and some specimens have the same pattern of red and black colouration of L. brittoni . Nevertheless, L. buettikeri is distinct because of its elongate (vs. greatly rounded) temples.

The examination of a great number of specimens of this species permits to define its relationships. The systematics of the genus Lydomorphus is still not defined, and this taxon seems to be polyphyletic (Bologna et al. unpublished), as previously indicated by Bologna & Pinto (2002); also some of the groups defined by Kaszab (1955) are not monophyletic. In our opinion, L. buettikeri is actually related to L. brittoni and both belong to a distinct Arabian-Sindian group of species, which includes also L. janczkyi but none of the species of both the XV and XVIII groups as defined by Kaszab (1955; 1959; 1983). In particular, L. cinnamomeus , previously included by Kaszab (1955 as csikii ) in the XVIII group, is close to L. angusticollis (group XV) (see Bologna & Aloisi 1992), but all the other species referred in the literature to the XV group [ L. femoralis (Kocher, 1955) , L. palaestinus (Kirsh, 1870) , L. reymondi ( Selander, 1988) , L. saharianus (Kaszab, 1961) , L. v errucicollis (Karsh, 1881)], probably belong to a distinct genus as well as most of those of the XVIII group [ L. pici ( Kaszab, 1955) , L. rufopectus ( Kaszab, 1955) , L. sudanicus (Pic, 1930) , L. casalei (Pic, 1914) , L. discolor (Haag-Rutenberg, 1880) ; see Bologna & Pinto 2002 for details].