Solter liber Navás, 1912

Badano, Davide, Funari, Rebecca & Di Giovanni, Filippo, 2024, First record of the antlion Solter liber Navás, 1912 in Italy (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae), Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 132510-e 132510 : e132510-

Solter liber Navás, 1912

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Filippo Di Giovanni; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 7F2F4D28-D50D-5F07-9D0E-E77D35AD77EF; Taxon: scientificName: Solter liber ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Neuroptera ; family: Myrmeleontidae ; genus: Solter ; specificEpithet: liber ; scientificNameAuthorship: Navás, 1912; Location: country: Italy; countryCode: IT; stateProvince: Sicily; county: Trapani; municipality: Pantelleria; locality: Contrada Khaddiuggia ; verbatimElevation: 115 m; verbatimCoordinates: 36.8228389 11.9759722; decimalLatitude: 36.8228389; decimalLongitude: 11.9759722; geodeticDatum: WGS 84; Identification: identifiedBy: Davide Badano; dateIdentified: 2022; Event: samplingProtocol: light; eventDate: 13-08 - 2022; Record Level: collectionID: DBC

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Filippo Di Giovanni; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: BF3C89B3-F6C5-5E0F-8B10-B4D4F8DE155D; Taxon: scientificName: Solter liber ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Insecta; order: Neuroptera ; family: Myrmeleontidae ; genus: Solter ; specificEpithet: liber ; scientificNameAuthorship: Navás, 1912; Location: country: Italy; countryCode: IT; stateProvince: Sicily; county: Trapani; municipality: Pantelleria; locality: Contrada Khaddiuggia ; verbatimElevation: 115 m; decimalLatitude: 36.8228389; decimalLongitude: 11.9759722; geodeticDatum: WGS 84; Identification: identifiedBy: Davide Badano; dateIdentified: 2023; Event: samplingProtocol: light; eventDate: 22-08 - 2023; Record Level: collectionID: DBC

Distribution

Solter liber is definitely known from the Iberian Peninsula ( Portugal, Spain) and northern Africa ( Morocco) (Fig. 1 ) ( Michel 2014, Monserrat and Acevedo 2014, Ábrahám 2017). Older records from Algeria ( Navás 1918, Navás 1919, Navás 1928), Egypt ( Navás 1926), Libyia ( Navás 1929, Esben-Petersen 1936) and Tunisia ( Navás 1930), predating the genus revision by Michel (2014), as well as those from the Middle East ( Israel, Turkey) ( Simon 1979, Ari and Kiyak 2000), need to be revised. This species is widespread in the arid habitats of the Iberian Peninsula, although it remains rare ( Monserrat and Acevedo 2014).

Biology

Solter liber inhabits dry Mediterranean habitats and desert-like environments. This antlion is usually found in rocky habitats with scattered vegetation covering ( Monserrat and Acevedo 2014). The adults are characterised by a brown, strongly patterned colouration characteristic of antlions commonly resting on rock surfaces (Fig. 2 ). The larvae, like other congeners, are found under overhangs in rocky outcrops where they remain motionless, buried under a thin layer of sand, acting as ambush hunters ( Badano et al. 2014).

Notes

The present findings are the first records of genus Solter in Italy, representing a significant addition to the lacewing fauna of Pantelleria.

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of Solter liber Navás, 1912, based on available georeferenced records, highlighting the new record from Pantelleria.

Figure 2. Solter liber Navás, 1912, male specimen collected in Pantelleria, Contrada Khaddiuggia, in 2022: A habitus; B live specimen at light; C detail of head and pronotum.