Revision of the East Mediterranean Orthomus (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Pterostichini), with description of Parorthomus gen. n. socotranus sp. n. from Socotra Island and key to the Old World genera of subtribe Euchroina

Abstract

The East Mediterranean species of Orthomus Chaudoir, 1838 are revised. The type series of Feronia longula Reiche & Saulcy, 1855, F. berytensis Reiche & Saulcy, 1855, F. proelonga Reiche & Saulcy, 1855, Orthomus longior Chaudoir, 1873, O. sidonicus Chaudoir, 1873, and O. berytensis akbensis Mateu, 1955 were studied and lectotypes for the first four are designated. Also, the following nomenclatural acts are proposed: Feronia proelonga Reiche & Saulcy, 1855, syn. n. of Orthomus berytensis (Reiche & Saulcy, 1855); Feronia elongata Chaudoir, 1859, syn. n. of Orthomus berytensis (Reiche & Saulcy, 1855); Orthomus sidonicus Chaudoir, 1873, syn. n. of Orthomus longior Chaudoir, 1873; Orthomus velocissimus andalusiacus Mateu, 1957, syn. n. of Orthomus velocissimus akbensis Mateu, 1955, new assignment for Orthomus berytensis akbensis Mateu, 1955. As a result, three species of the genus inhabit the East Mediterranean biogeographical region: O. berytensis, O. longior, and O. longulus. A key to these three species is given. O. longior is recorded for Turkey and Syria for the first time. In addition, a new synonymy of two West Mediterranean taxa is proposed: O. szekessyi (Jedlička, 1956), syn. n. of O. balearicus (Piochard de la Brûlerie, 1868), and a new genus and a species are described: Parorthomus gen. n. socotranus sp. n. (type locality: Republic of Yemen, Socotra Archipelago, Socotra Island, Fimihin env., 530 m.a.s.l.). Illustrations of the species dealt with here are provided including external characters, habitus, mentum and submentum, and genitalia are provided.Nine genera of the “African Series” of subtribe Euchroina Chaudoir, 1874 are keyed for the first time. Checklists of the species of Orthomus and of the Old World euchroine genera are given.

A new genus and two new species of Pterostichini from China, with “sphodrine-like” parameres (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

“…The new genus is distinct from the genera of subtribe Euchroina (sensu Will 2006c, Guéorguiev et al 2014; contrasting characters for Euchroina in parentheses) in: right paramere elongate styloid (right paramere reduced, peg-like); lacking parascutellar stria (parascutellar stria present in most taxa); sternites 4-6 without transverse sulci (sternites 4-6 with transverse sulci in most taxa). However, the last two groups share the following significant character states which deserve further consideration to decide if reliable evidence for a relationship between them exists: 1/ large and prominent eyes compared to the size of the head; 2/ well-impressed frontal furrows of head, not or hardly attaining the level of anterior supra-orbital punctures; 3/ submentum without lateral setae; 4/ metacoxa with arcuate anterior marginal sulcus; 5/ metatrochanter without seta; 6/ tarsomere 5 in all legs setose beneath; and 7/ median lobe of aedeagus with dorsal ostium.…”

On the Identity of Orthomus Hespericus Motschulsky, 1849 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichini)

“…Feronia (Argutor) rectangulus Fairmaire, 1859, described from Batna, Algeria, probably is to fall into synonymy with another species of Orthomus, rather than with O. barbarus barbarus, though it was recently provisionally placed under the last taxon (see Guéorguiev et al 2014: 40, Note 1). According to the present knowledge (Bousquet 2003;Pupier & Coulon 2013), the latter species does not occur outside Europe, so it makes no sense to let the former in synonymy with O. barbarus.…”

“…In a recent work (Guéorguiev et al 2014) on genus Orthomus Chaudoir, 1838, we revised the taxonomy of O. velocissimus akbensis Mateu, 1955, a subspecies of O. velocissimus (Waltl, 1835). As we could not obtain and study type material of O. hespericus Motschulsky, 1849, this taxon was placed as a questionable synonym of O. velocissimus akbensis (Guéorguiev et al 2014). However, later we received type material of O. hespericus from the Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow.…”

The genus Orthomus Chaudoir, 1838 in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco

“…Serrano [2003Serrano [ , 2013Serrano [ , 2020 and Aguiar and A. Serrano [2013]. Bousquet [2017] also kept on this criterion in the last Palearctic Catalogue, as did Wrase and Jeanne [2005] and Guéorguiev et al [2014].…”