Bombyliidae, also known as "Bee flies", is one of the dipteran families that have species of potential use as biological control agents, as their larvae are predators or parasitoids of eggs, larvae, prepupae or pupae of other insects. The hosts of Bombyliidae are found within six orders of insects: Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Neuroptera, in addition to the arachnid order Araneae (Spiders). However, almost half of all host records are from bees and wasps (Hymenoptera). The present work provides a catalogue of bee flies (Family Bombyliidae) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Old World synonymies, type localities, world distributions by biogeographic realm(s) and country, Saudi Arabian localities and dates of collection are provided. A total of 116 species belonging to 40 genera, 12 tribes and 10 subfamilies has been catalogued. Hosts and/or habitat data, where known, are given under the proper genera and/or species. Colored photographs of some species are provided.
This study was conducted as a part of a comprehensive baseline survey of insect biodiversity of Rawdhat Khorim National Park (RKNP), Central Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). During this study a total of 262 Coleoptera species belong to 182 genera in 35 families were identified, of which 247 are named at a species level. Fifteen species (6.0%) are apparently endemic to KSA. Thirty-eight species are new to the known beetle fauna of KSA, including 25 species reported from the Arabian Peninsula for the first time. The families Tenebrionidae (45 species), Scarabaeidae (34 species), and Carabidae (27 species) were the most species rich families. About 37% of the beetle abundance was represented by species of Scarabaeidae, especially Aphodius ictericus ghardimaouensis Balthasar. Karumia inaequalis Pic (Dascillidae) was also an abundant species. Approximately 43.5% of beetle species collected during this study are considered very rare taxa in RKNP. The RKNP beetle fauna shows more affinity to Sahro-Arabian (36.4%), Afrotropical-
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Launched to accelerate biodiversity research
A peer-reviewed open-access journalMahmoud S. Abdel-Dayem et al. / ZooKeys 653: 1-78 (2017) 2 Sahro-Arabian (17.4%) and Palaearctic-Sahro-Arabian (10.5%). Twenty-three species (9.3%) are considered cosmopolitan or subcosmopolitan. The data on month of collection, method of collection, and abundance status within RKNP, together with the distribution within KSA and the general distribution (zoogeography) of each species are presented.
Study of ground beetles of the Garf Raydah Nature Reserve, located in the Asir Mountains of southwestern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) resulted in one species, Paussus abditus Nagel, sp. n. described as new to science. Thirteen species (21.3%) are reported as new country records and fifteen species (24.6%) are new records for Asir Province. Adult beetles were collected from 2013 to 2017. The determination of this material yielded a total of 61 species in 40 genera and 17 tribes belonging to nine subfamilies of Carabidae. The species richness represented approximately 36.1% of carabid species previously reported from KSA. The most species rich tribes were the Lebiini (20 species), the Harpalini (10 species), and the Bembidiini (6 species). The life form analysis of adults indicated 18 life form types that are grouped into three categories, Zoophagous (77.1%), Mixophytophagous (18.0%), and Myrmecophilous (4.9%). Zoogeographical analyses indicated that the Afrotropical (19.3%) and the Saharo-Arabian (19.3%) species dominate the carabid fauna of this region of KSA. Coryza cf. maculata (Nietner, 1856) is considered the only Oriental representative. Only one cosmopolitan species, Perigona nigriceps (Dejean, 1831), was collected. Eleven endemics were identified; six species are considered KSA endemics and five are Arabian Peninsula endemics.
We revise the taxonomy of the myrmicine ants of the Monomorium monomorium species-group for the Arabian Peninsula. Six species are recognized: Monomorium aeyade Collingwood & Agosti, 1996, M. clavicorne André, 1881, M. exiguum Forel, 1894, M. holothir Bolton, 1987, M. mohammedi sp. n., and M. sarawatense Sharaf & Aldawood, 2013. On the basis of the worker caste, we describe Monomorium mohammedi sp. n. from the southwestern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We designate a neotype for Monomorium aeyade Collingwood & Agosti and redescribe and illustrate the worker caste. Furthermore, we provide a worker-based species identification key, distribution maps for the treated species, and ecological and biological notes, if available. Monomorium holothir is recorded for the first time from the KSA. Also, we propose M. clavicorne var. punica
Santschi, 1915a as a junior synonym of M. clavicorne, as well as M. dryhimi Aldawood & Sharaf, 2011 and M. montanum Collingwood & Agosti, 1996 to be treated as junior synonyms of Monomorium exiguum.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.