Lebia raeesae Rasool & Abdel-Dayem & Felix & Aldhafer 2018, sp. n.
Creators: name: Rasool, Iftekhar
name: Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S.
name: Felix, Ron F. F. L.
name: Aldhafer, Hathal M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Lebia
Lebia raeesae

description: Lebia raeesae Rasool, Abdel-Dayem & Felix sp. n.
Type material. Total 16 specimens: Holotype, male in KSMA, pin-mounted, genitalia in micro tube underneath [labeled] “ KSA, Al Baha, Al Makhwa, Shada Al Aala, N19°50.575' E41°18.691' Alt. 1666 m, 2. IX.2015, (LT), H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgharbawy & Soliman, A.” / “ Holotype Lebia raeesae Rasool, Abdel-Dayem & Felix sp. n. ” [red label]. Paratypes: Total 15 specimens, sex and label data as follows. 1 ♀ same as holotype except “ 27.I.2015 ”, H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey & A. Elgharbawy ”. 1 ♀ same as holotype except “ 2.III.2015 ”, H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H.H. Fadl, A. El Turkey & A. Elgharbawy ”. 1 ♀ same as holotype except “ 21.IV.2014 ” H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey & A. Elgharbawy ”. 2 ♂ 4 ♀ same as holotype except “ 02.IX.2015 ”. Asir: 1 ♂ 1 ♀, same as Holotype except “ KSA, Asir, Abha, Rayda, N 18°11.749' E42°23.345' Alt. 1614 m, 17.XI.2015, (LT)”. 1 ♀, “ N18°11.695' E42°23.818' Alt. 1897 m, 18.XI.2015, (LT), H. Al Dhafer., M.S. Abdel-Dayem., H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey, A. Elgharbawy & A. Soliman [KSMA]”. 1 ♀ same as holotype except, [Labelled] “ KSA, Al Baha, Al Makhwa, Shada Al Aala, “ N19°50.411' E41°18.686' Alt. 1611 m, 21.IV.2014, (LT)., 1 ♂ same as holotype N19°50.575' E41°18.691' Alt. 1666 m, 23. VIII.2014, (LT)., H. Al Dhafer, M.S. Abdel-Dayem, H. H. Fadl, A. El Turkey & A. Elgharbawy ”. 1 ♀, Yemen, Al Lahima, “ N15°24' E43°32' Alt. 1200 m, 14–17.XI.2001, (malaise trap), A. van Harten leg [RMNH]”. All paratypes with second label reading “ Paratype Lebia raeesae sp. n. [yellow label]
Type locality. Shada Al Aala Nature Reserve (N19°50.575' E41°18.691'), 20 km northwest the city of Al Makhwa, Al Baha Province, southwest of Saudi Arabia.
Etymology. The specific epithet is a Latinized noun in the genitive case in the feminine form based on honorific mother’s name “Raeesa” of Iftekhar Rasool.
Recognition. Adults of Lebia raeesae sp. n. can be distinguished from other members of Lebia from Arabian Peninsula by the following combination of external features: large body size, mentum with suture dividing the lateral lobes and epilobes, crenulated inner apical mesotibiae in male, smooth apical margin or elytra, longer antennae which surpass pronotal base by four and half antennomeres and reaching first quarter of the elytra, last abdominal sternum feebly notched medially and bi-setose in females, tarsomere IV incised and by shape of aedeagus.
Description. Habitus. Body form (Figs. 21, 22), TBL Holotype 9.1 mm, TBL Paratypes 8.4–9.3 mm.
Colour. Dorsum of head, mandibles, pronotum rufo-brunneous, lateral margin of pronotum rufo-testaceous; palpi, first three antennomeres, femora and tibiae pale brunneous; rest of antennae, base of tibiae, tarsomeres dark brunneous; elytra pale testaceous with dark brunneous transverse macula at apical third, extended near the suture, laterally narrowed but not reaching to margin, suture dark brunneous; epipleurae testaceous; thoracic ventrum rufobrunneous; abdominal sterna II–IV dark brunneous laterally, rufo-brunneous medially; last three abdominal sterna V–VII dark brunneous.
Microsculpture. Head and pronotum with isodiametric mesh pattern between wrinkles, few microlines at lateral margin of pronotum near posterior angles; elytra with mesh pattern isodiametric on intervals; ventral mesh pattern transverse, sculpticells narrow.
Luster. Head, pronotum, elytra and ventrum including abdomen glossy.
Head. Slightly wider than long (Fig. 33), HL 1.50 mm and HW 1.60 mm, narrower than pronotum; dorsum with deep and moderately coarse punctures on frons and vertex; frons depressed between eyes and provided with irregular wrinkles; eyes prominent; neck strongly constricted with tempora short; clypeus strongly transverse, sparsely and finely punctate; labrum slightly wider than long, rounded anteriorly and laterally; last labial palpi fusiform; mentum with median blunt tooth and with epilobes; antennae surpassing pronotal base by four and half antennomeres and reaching first quarter of the elytra, antennomere II shortest, XI longest, rest of the antennomeres equal in length.
Pronotum: Strongly transverse (Fig. 33), PL 1.42 mm, PW 2.14 mm, maximum width just posterior of anterior lateral setae; anterior margin of pronotum slightly concave, anterior angles strongly rounded; lateral margin anteriorly rounded, obliquely straight after anterior lateral setae, not sinuate in front of posterior angles; posterior angles right; base of pronotum strongly incised and lobate at the middle; anterior, lateral and basal margins marginate, lateral margin explanate throughout, marginal channel widened posteriorly; surface of pronotum irregularly wrinkled except lateral margin, median longitudinal impression weak; anterior lateral setae located about at apical third, posterior lateral setae located at basal angle.
Elytra: Elongate, widened posteriorly, EL 5.75 mm, EW 3.75 mm, maximum width after middle; humeri rounded, lateral margin obliquely convex, apical margin obliquely truncate; striae complete, deep and coarsely punctate; striae V and VI joint apically; intervals convex throughout; 1 setiferous puncture on interval II near scutellum; 2 setiferous punctures on intervals III, first at anterior fourth and second at posterior edge of transverse band margin of elytra with series of 14-setiferous pores interrupted medially, pores become bigger posteriorly; hind wigs fully developed.
Legs: Long and slender, tarsomeres I–III dilated in fore leg of male; inner side of mesotibiae crenulated at apical edge; tarsomere I shorter than V in fore leg, as long as V in mid leg and hind leg; claws pectinate.
Abdomen: Sterna with scattered pubescence dense laterally; last sternum feebly notched medially, bi-setose in male, tetra-setose in females.
Aedeagus: (Fig. 41), AL 1.60 mm, in lateral view, gently curved, strongly narrowed towards apex, dorsal and ventral margins slightly curved, thickened at the base and middle; apical lamina rounded and long.
Affinity. Lebia raeesae sp. n. apparently is similar to L. auberti, from which it can be differentiated by smooth apical margin of elytra, not serrate; labrum as long as clypeus; round anterior margin of labrum; aedeagus dorsal and ventral margins curved, not sinuate near base as in L. auberti.
Ecological notes: Members of Lebia raeesae sp. n. live at elevations of 1611–1897 m in Shada Al Aala and Rayda nature preserves in Saudi Arabia, also one specimen was collected from Yemen at 1200 m. Adult beetles were collected by UV-light traps from steep slopes covered by different vegetation that are dominated by Cactus plant Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (Cactaceae) (Figs. 45, 46) and wild olive trees Olea europaea. Also, it is collected by Malaise trap. Adults were collected during January, March, April and August.
Geographical and Local distribution. This species is known from its type locality, in the Mountains of the southwestern Saudi Arabia, at Shada Al Aala (in Al Baha) and Rayda (in Asir) nature reserves (Fig. 43); and from Yemen at Al Lahima.
Comment s. According to data base of Carabidae of the world (Anichtchenko, 2016), Lebia auberti, L. melanacra and L. melanura are placed under the subgenus Nematopeza Chaudoir, 1871. According to Felix (2014), Nematopeza is characterized by single deep incision on inner epical edge of mesotibiae, lateral lobes of mentum are divided by suture forming epilobes and complete basal margin of elytra. But the former three species differ in apical incision on mesotibae that is crenulated in L. auberti, two incisions in L. melanacra and a single incision in L. melanura. The new species L. raeesae shares the character of epilobes divided by suture with these species, but mesotibiae are similar to L. auberti and such character state also present in Pseudopachylebia Mateu, 1971 according to Felix (2014). The incomplete subgeneric classification and characters in the genus Lebia need an extensive examination of all relevant species. Thus L. raeesae sp. n. is not assigned to any subgenus of Lebia and until the data on the subgenera becomes complete, the authors consider this species as “ Incertae Sedis ”.
description: Published as part of Rasool, Iftekhar, Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S., Felix, Ron F. F. L. & Aldhafer, Hathal M., 2018, A review of the Subtribe Lebiina Bonelli (Lebiini, Carabidae, Coleoptera) from Southwest of Saudi Arabia, pp. 87-102 in Zootaxa 4379 (1) on pages 92-95, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4379.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/1172356