Bembecinus acanthomerus (MORICE, 1911)

Bembecinus acanthomerus View in CoL lineage

R e m a r k: This lineage is part of the B. peregrinus species group sensu SCHMIDEGGER (2004) and is defined in males by one or more spines at innerside of hindfemur. The B. acanthomerus lineage or subgroup as part of this species group is characterized by unarmed sternites, by a single hindfemoral spine (fig. 3) and by an apically narrow hindfemur (figs 17. 34). It summarizes all males in the key of SCHMID- EGGER (2004) from couplet 51 (African species) and from couplet 55 (Asian species). Females cannot be put to such species lineages due to the lack of good morphological characters. Nevertheless, the here treated species are keyed so that they can still be assigned in connection with the diagnoses in the species description. Geographic distribution is also helpfull, because all species only have a small range. Bembecinus adeni and B. decoratus also belong to this lineage, but are excluded from this key because they are well characterized in SCHMID- EGGER (2004). Bembecinus bernardi from Central Sahara differs from the present lineage by an apically large hindfemur (as in figs 41, 52).

A genetic analysis of B. acanthomerus , B. decoratus , B. bamensis and B. jebelhafitensis based on the COI-barcoding (SCHMID- EGGER in preparation) revealed clearly separated clades in each case, which confirm their independence as a species. The other species mentioned here have not yet been examined genetically.