Berberomeloe insignis, (CHARPENTIER, 1818)

BERBEROMELOE INSIGNIS ( CHARPENTIER, 1818)

Meloe insignis Charpentier in Germar, 1818: 258. Terra typica: ‘Spanien’.

Berberomeloe insignis ( Charpentier, 1818) : García-París, 1998: 99.

Diagnosis: Berberomeloe insignis can be distinguished from all other species of Berberomeloe by the following combination of characters ( Fig. 23): (1) entirely black abdomen; (2) presence of isolated symmetrical red blotches on the head temples; an additional red blotch on the frons is also present in some populations; (3) punctures on the head generally small to medium-sized, rounded, shallow and mostly isolated from each other; (4) pronotum surface heterogeneously punctured; with medium or large-sized punctures, deep and located mainly on the sides and along the midline area; disc region almost smooth, with isolated punctures; (5) fore angles of pronotum expanded, obtuse, well-marked; (6) antennomere XI slender (both in males and females); (7) antennomeres VII and IX strongly dentate on the inner apical side, especially in males; and (8) male genitalia with apex of the median lobe markedly narrow. A detailed description of the species was provided by García-París (1998).

Variability: Total length (frons–last abdominal ventrite) varies from 12 to 49 mm ( García-París & Ruiz, 2008). García-París (1998) figured the interpopulation variability regarding the shape and extension of the red blotch of the head temples. Populations from southern Almería, particularly the surroundings of Tabernas, present an additional single red blotch in the middle of the frons. Among examined specimens certain variability has been observed in head and pronotum puncturation density, as well as in male genitalia, i.e. in width and length of parameral lobes and in size and shape of apical hook of aedeagus ( Fig. 23D, F).

Distributionandnotesonnaturalhistory: Berberomeloe insignis is a species endemic to south-eastern Spain, including the coastal provinces of Murcia, Almería and Granada ( García-París, 1998; García-París & Ruiz, 2011a). It occurs mostly over the ‘Murcianoalmeriense’ phytochorological province, but it also extends westward to the Betic phytochorological province (see: Rivas-Martínez, 1987; Valle et al., 2004) along the southern foothills of Sierra Nevada, where the species reach its western distributional limit at the surroundings of Jete, Motril, Órgiva and Polopos (Granada) ( García-París & Ruiz, 2008, 2011a; Ruiz & García-París, 2013).

Berberomeloe insignis generally inhabits lowland areas, from sea level to 900 m of elevation at Fiñana (Almería) ( García-París et al., 1999, 2003; García-París & Ruiz, 2008, 2011a), at thermo- and meso-Mediterranean bioclimate levels, with semi-arid (200–350 mm average rainfall) to dry (350–600 mm average rainfall) conditions (see: Rivas-Martínez, 1987; Valle et al., 2004). The habitat ( Fig. 24) is mainly constituted by steppes and, to a lesser extent, by open fields with scrubs and no tree cover, with the exception of open Pinus View in CoL formations or almond fields ( García-París & Ruiz, 2008, 2011a). Most parts of its range are dominated by xerophytic flora, such as Periploca laevigata Ait. , Maytenus senegalensis View in CoL , Ziziphus lotus View in CoL , Pistacia lentiscus View in CoL , Chamaerops humilis View in CoL , Macrochloa tenacissima View in CoL , Anthyllis cytisoides View in CoL , Thymelaea hirsuta View in CoL (L.) Endl. and Thymus View in CoL , among others ( García-París & Ruiz, 2008, 2011a).

Adults are diurnal and feed on diverse plants, such as flowers of Convolvulus View in CoL L. ( García-París et al., 1999). Males search for females actively and courtship is similar to that of the B. majalis species group ( García-París & Ruiz, 2008). García-París et al. (1999) recorded several localities where B. insignis co-occur with B. indalo (referred to as B. majalis ), but interspecific courtship was not observed.