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The species of Aphaniosoma Becker, 1903 described from Egypt by Collin in 1949 are reviewed and lectotypes designated for Aphaniosoma creperum Collin, 1949, A. fissum Collin, 1949, A. lamellatum Collin, 1949 and A. sodalis Collin, 1949. All species known from the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East are reviewed, with annotations, distributions and a key to species. The following 19 species are described as new and illustrated: A. acitergum sp. nov., A. aegyptium sp. nov., A. angulitergum sp. nov., A. captiosum sp. nov., A. cristatum sp. nov., A. curvistylus sp. nov., A. daedalum sp. nov., A. denticulosum sp. nov., A. flavipyga sp. nov., A. freidbergi sp. nov., A. interispina sp. nov., A. kravchenkoi sp. nov., A. longilingua sp. nov., A. lucidum sp. nov., A. meltseri sp. nov., A. miricercus sp. nov., A. palestinense sp. nov., A. praeditum sp. nov. and A. yaromi sp. nov. Biology and ecology are commented upon.
"War-torn Ecologies, An-Archic Fragments: Reflections from the Middle East" identifies a conceptual intersection between war, affect, and ecology from the Middle East. It creates a counter archive of texts by ethnographers and artists, and enables divergent worlds to share a conversation through the crevices of mass violence across species. Delving into vital encounters with mulberry trees, wild medicinal plants, jinns, and goats, as well as bleaker experiences with toxic war materials like landmines, this volume expands an ecological sensorium that works through displacement, memory, endurance, and praxis.
The Sultanate of Oman is a country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, near the intersection of the Afrotropical, Palaearctic, and Indomalayan biogeographic realms. We surveyed ants at 18 sites between 16 and 22 November 2017 using beating sheets, hand picking, Malaise traps, sifting trays, sweeping net, and light traps on the coastal plains and monsoon slopes of Dhofar Governorate in southwest Oman, an area that is relatively verdant due to its exposure to monsoons between June and September. We collected 37 ant species, including 11 species recorded for the first time from Oman: Camponotus diplopunctatus Emery, 1915, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899, Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel, 1890), Carebara arabica (Collingwood & van Harten, 2001), Leptanilla islamica Baroni Urbani, 1977, Monomorium clavicorne André, 1881, Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), Monomorium sahlbergi Emery, 1898, Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869, Anochetus sedilloti Emery, 1884, and Hypoponera ragusai (Emery, 1894). In total, 130 ant species are now known from Oman, including 53 from Dhofar. The known ants of Dhofar are primarily of Afrotropical origin (23 species, 43%), followed by Palearctic (20 species, 38%), and Indomalayan (4 species, 8%), and a single species from both the Malagasy and Neotropical Regions (1%). Five species (9%) are apparently endemic to Dhofar, Lepisiota dhofara Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, Lepisiota elbazi Sharaf & Hita Garcia, 2020, Crematogaster jacindae Sharaf & Hita Garcia, 2019, Meranoplus mosalahi Sharaf, 2019, and Nesomyrmex micheleae Sharaf, 2020. The zoogeography of the Omani ant fauna reflects a clear dominance of faunal elements from the Palearctic Region (68 species, 53%) followed by Afrotropical faunal elements (45 species, 34%), and five species that are broadly spread throughout both the Palearctic and the Afrotropical Regions (4%). There are nine species (6%) from the Indomalayan Region, two species from the Neotropical Region (2%), T. melanocephalum, C. emeryi, and a single species Ph. megacephala (1%) from the Malagasy Region. The number of endemic species (15 species, 12%) is relatively low compared to the large geographical area of Oman and the broad diversity of habitats that characterizes the country.
One new genus, Zagrotes gen. nov., and 19 new species of ground spiders (Gnaphosidae) are described from Iran: Berinda bifurcata sp. nov. (♂, Bushehr, Khuzestan; southwestern and southern Iran), Berinda hoerwegi sp. nov. (♂♀, Fars, Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan; western and southcentral Iran), Berlandina artaxerxes sp. nov. (♂ Yazd; central Iran), Cryptodrassus iranicus sp. nov. (♂, Kermanshah; western Iran), Drassodes persianus sp. nov. (♀, Kermanshah, Sistan & Baluchistan; western and southeastern Iran), Echemus caspicus sp. nov. (♀, Golestan; northern Iran), Gnaphosa qamsarica sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), Haplodrassus medes sp. nov. (♂, Fars; southcentral Iran), Haplodrassus qashqai sp. nov. (♂♀, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan; southwestern to southern Iran), Marinarozelotes achaemenes sp. nov. (♀, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern Iran), Marjanus isfahanicus sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), Nomisia ameretatae sp. nov. (♂, Tehran; northern Iran), Prodidomus inexpectatus sp. nov. (♂, Hormozgan; southern Iran), Scotophaeus anahita sp. nov. (♀, Isfahan; central Iran), Scotophaeus elburzensis sp. nov. (♀, Tehran, Zanjan; northwestern and northern Iran), Sosticus montanus sp. nov. (♀, Ilam; western Iran), Synaphosus martinezi sp. nov. (♂♀, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern Iran), Zagrotes apophysalis sp. nov. (♂♀, Hormozgan, Kohgiluyeh & Boyer-Ahmad; southwestern to southern Iran) and Zelotes hyrcanus sp. nov. (♀, Mazandaran; northern Iran). These are the first records of the genera Berinda Roewer, 1928, Echemus Simon, 1878 and Marjanus Chatzaki, 2018 in Iran. Additionally, the previously unknown female of Callipelis deserticola Zamani & Marusik, 2017 is described and illustrated, and Berlandina mesopotamica Al-Khazali, 2020 is recorded in Iran for the first time. Furthermore, Berinda idae Lissner, 2016 syn. nov. (Greece, Cyprus) is synonymized with Berinda infumatus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872) comb. nov. (ex. Heser Tuneva, 2004; Greece, Tanzania, Egypt, Israel, introduced to Japan).
This revision concerns a small group of Western Palaearctic Copris species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea:
Scarabaeidae) distinguished by having three lateral teeth on the foretibae. According to the literature, this group consists of four taxa: Copris armeniacus Faldermann, 1835, C. felschei Reitter, 1892, C. pueli Mollandin de Boissy, 1905 and C. umbilicatus Abeille de Perrin, 1901. Copris armeniacus is herein deemed a species inquirenda, and C. felschei, for which a neotype is designated, is deemed valid. Copris umbilicatus is recorded for the fi rst time from Turkey. A key to all species of the genus Copris known from the Western Palaearctic is provided. Variability of the cephalic and pronotal armature, and morphology of the parameres are illustrated.
The genus Dasydorylas Skevington, 2001 is recorded from two provinces in Iran (Sistan-o Baluchestan and Kermanshah Provinces). Dasydorylas derafshani sp. nov. and D. zardouei sp. nov. are characterized morphologically by DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial COI gene. Eudorylas antennalis Kapoor, Grewal & Sharma, 1987 is transferred to Dasydorlyas (comb. nov.). An existing identification key to the males of the western Palaearctic species of Dasydorylas is complemented to include the newly described species.
Daddy-long-leg giants: revision of the spider genus Artema Walckenaer, 1837 (Araneae, Pholcidae)
(2017)
This is the first revision of Artema Walckenaer, 1837, a genus consisting of large and phylogenetically interesting species. Even though Artema is not species-rich (now eight nominal species), it has suffered from poor descriptions and synonymies. Our main goal was to gather all available material and to clarify species limits. Four species are easily distinguished from other congeners: Artema atlanta Walckenaer, 1837, the type species; A. kochi Kulczyński, 1901 (revalidated); A. bunkpurugu Huber & Kwapong, 2013; and A. nephilit sp. nov. All other species are problematic for varying reasons: species limits are unclear between A. doriae Thorell, 1881 and A. transcaspica Spassky, 1934; A. magna Roewer, 1960 and A. ziaretana (Roewer, 1960) are problematic because they are based on female and juvenile types respectively and little new material is available. The material available to us suggests the existence of a few further species; however, they are not formally described, either because of small sample sizes (Artema sp. a and A. sp. b are represented by only one specimen each) or because of unclear species limits (between Artema sp. c, A. transcaspica and A. doriae).This study is the first serious step towards understanding the genus. Intensive collecting effort is needed in order to fully clarify species limits.
The Middle East biting midges of the tribes Palpomyiini (20 species in three genera) and Sphaeromiini s. lat. (six species in five genera) are reviewed. Three new species are described and illustrated: Bezzia libanensis Alwin & Szadziewski sp. nov., B. sharjahi Alwin & Szadziewski sp. nov. and Palpomyia freidbergi Alwin & Szadziewski sp. nov. Bezzia aegyptia Kieffer, 1925 is recognized as a new junior synonym of B. albicornis (Meigen, 1818) (syn. nov.) and B. omanensis Boorman & van Harten, 2002, is recognized as a junior synonym of B. (Sivabezzia) pachypyga Remm, 1974 (syn. nov.). Keys to the genera and species of the tribes Palpomyiini and Sphaeromiini of the Middle East are also provided.
A new Iranian, probably pholeophilous species of the scarabaeine genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802, O. roessneri n. sp., is described, illustrated, and its placement in the semicornis group within the subgenus Palaeonthophagus Zunino, 1979 is discussed. A key to the species of the group is presented.
Recent collections of pseudoscorpions resulted in a first record and a new species from Iran. Olpium omanense Mahnert, 1991 originally described from Oman is recorded for the first time from Iran. Three congeneric species with similar morphometric characters and trichobothrial patterns, Olpium intermedium Beier, 1959, O. lindbergi, Beier, 1959 and O. omanense can be separated by the setal numbers on the posterior margin of the carapace and tergite I. Also, specimens reported as Olpium lindbergi Beier, 1951 from Pakistan were probably misidentified and belong to O. omanense. The new species Cardiolpium bisetosum sp. nov. is described based on males from Markazi province, western Iran. Morphometric data are given in comparison to related species.