The Coleopterists Bulletin, 69(4): 639–644. 2015.
NEW RECORDS
OF
CURCULIONOIDEA (COLEOPTERA) SAUDI ARABIA
IN THE
KINGDOM
OF
MAHMOUD SALEH ABDEL-DAYEM King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Plant Protection Department College of Food and Agriculture Sciences King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, SAUDI ARABIA
[email protected]
ENZO COLONNELLI Via delle Giunchiglie, 56 00172 Roma, ITALY
[email protected]
HASSAN HAMADNA ALLAH FADL,
AND
HATHAL MOHAMED
AL
DHAFER
King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Plant Protection Department College of Food and Agriculture Sciences King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, SAUDI ARABIA
[email protected],
[email protected]
ABSTRACT Intensive sampling in Rawdhat Khorim National Park located in the central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia yielded additional new country records of Curculionoidea. Twelve species of Curculionidae and one of Nanophyidae are reported for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Key Words: distribution, weevils, Curculionidae, Nanophyidae, Palaearctic, new records
The weevil fauna of the Arabian Peninsula in general, and of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in particular, has so far been relatively poorly studied (Magnano et al. 2009). The few available studies of KSA curculionoids either summarize collecting data (Colonnelli 1984; Wanat 1990; Caldara 1993; Meregalli and Colonnelli 2006) or are checklists or catalogues of known KSA taxa (Löbl and Smetana 2011, 2013; El-Hawagry et al. 2013). At present, 92 species in 58 genera in nine families of Curculionoidea, according to the world supraspecific taxa catalogue by Alonso-Zarazaga and Lyal (1999), are known from KSA (Löbl and Smetana 2011, 2013). From October 2011 to September 2013, entomologists from the King Saud University Museum of Arthropods (KSMA), King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA, carried out ecological and taxonomic studies of insects in Rawdhat Khourim National Park (RKNP), an alluvial basin comprising an area of 24 square kilometers and located in the central part of KSA (25°23′N, 47°17′E, 560 m elevation). These collections included several species hitherto not reported from KSA. In this paper, we give a list of new country records of Curculionidae and Nanophyidae from RKNP.
MATERIAL
AND
METHODS
Specimens were collected by the first, third, and fourth authors as part of a project to study the insect biodiversity in RKNP, which is located 95 km northeast of Riyadh (Fig. 1). The RKNP is an important component in the natural conservation network of KSA (Tag El-Din et al. 1994; Alfarhan 2001) and characterized by a distinctive floral diversity (Al-Farraj et al. 1997; Alfarhan 2001). The vegetation consists of perennial and annual herbs (Matricaria aurea (Loefl.) Sch.-Bip. (Asteraceae), Plantago boissieri Hausskn. & Bornm., (Plantaginaceae), Plantago ciliata (Desf.) Sch. Bip, and Phalaris minor Retz. (Poaceae) being the most dominant annual herbs), shrubs, and trees (Acacia gerrardii Benth, (Fabaceae) Lycium shawii Roem. & Schult (Solanaceae), Rhazya stricta Decne (Apocynaceae), and Ziziphus nummularia (Burm. f ) Wight & Arn. (Rhamnaceae)). The climate is arid with an average annual temperature of 26°C and 33% average relative humidity. Intensive bi-weekly sampling from October 2011 to September 2013 was conducted in different botanical habitats of RKNP. Adult weevils were collected using various methods including beating of plant branches using a beating sheet (BS), pitfall traps (PT), ultraviolet light traps (LT), and 639
