Metophthalmus hispanicus, Reitter, 1908

Metophthalmus hispanicus

was described from Madrid ( Spain) by REITTER (1908) and is currently known from France ( Corsica), Spain (mainland) and Morocco ( REITTER, 1908; ESCALERA, 1914; JOHNSON, 2007; RÜCKER, 2011; ROSE & VINCENT, 2014 1; OTERO & L̎PEZ, 2016 2). It should be noted thAt RÜCKER (2021) included MAinlAnd FrAnce (“ FrAnkreich: Pyrénées OrientAles”) in the distribution of M. hispanicus . However, this seems to be a confusion with the range of M. ragusae Reitter, 1875 , which is indeed recorded from that French department (cf. ROSE & VINCENT, 2014). Furthermore, while RÜCKER (2021) also included the Canary Islands in the distribution range of M. hispanicus , we were unable to trace any primary records from that Spanish archipelago.

The Iberian distribution ( Map 1 View Map 1 ) includes the Spanish provinces of (only the earliest record for each province is presented): Madrid and Cádiz ( REITTER, 1908), Seville ( DAJOZ, 1970), and Barcelona (TR̎COLI & DIÉGUEZ, 2023).

Material examined and iNaturalist Portuguese records

PORTUGAL;

Évora district;

— Reguengos de Monsaraz municipality:

x Campinho (38.342701 -7.455037; MGRS: 29SPC 3544, 170 m a.s.l.), 31/12/2023 [1 ex., Axel Gosseries leg., MHNC-UP col.: MHNCUP-ART-41230; photographed by A. Gosseries (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/195445186)].

GoogleMaps

x Campinho (38.344392 -7.450113; MGRS: 29SPC 3545, 179 m a.s.l.), 2/04/2024 [1 ex., Axel Gosseries leg. under the bark of Punica granatum L., MHNC-UP col.: MHNCUP-ART-41233; photographed ( Fig. 1 View Fig ) by A. Gosseries (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/205145980)]. GoogleMaps

The two specimens studied were identified with the monograph of OTERO & L̎PEZ (2016) and were easily determined as M. hispanicus by the 10-segmented antennae typical of the nominal subgenus (the second Iberian species, M. niveicollis , has 9-segmented antennae, characteristic of the subgenus Bonvouloiria Jacquelin du Val, 1859 ).

While only two of the specimens were collected and identified to species level, the second author observed Metophthalmus specimens ten times in Campinho between November 2023 and April 2024. They were found under stones, but also under the bark of small dry Quercus rotundifolia Lam. branches and behind bark scales of small living Punica granatum trees. Under stones, they were in very close proximity of e.g. Palpimanus gibbulus Dufour, 1820 ( Araneae : Palpimanidae ) and Anthrenus isabellinus K̡ster, 1848 ( Coleoptera : Dermestidae ). Under P. granatum bark scales, one of them was, as shown in Fig. 1 View Fig , in the middle of other beetles such as Boromorphus tagenioides (Lucas, 1849) ( Coleoptera : Tenebrionidae ) and Typhaea stercorea (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Coleoptera : Mycetophagidae ). We suspect that given the abundance of Metophthalmus in the Campinho montado, the species must be under-detected elsewhere, at least in southern Portugal, probably due to its minute size. The first specimens were actually only discovered once zooming on pictures of other invertebrates, which then led the second author to begin to search for them more actively.