Cybister (Cybister) tripunctatus lateralis (Fabricius, 1798)

Ribera, Ignacio, Hernando, Carles & Cieslak, Alexandra, 2019, Aquatic Coleoptera of North Oman, with description of new species of Hydraenidae and Hydrophilidae, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 59 (1), pp. 253-272 : 257

Cybister (Cybister) tripunctatus lateralis (Fabricius, 1798)

Material examined. Oman, Al Hadd, 22°26′03″N 59°38′49″E, 20.xi.2016, S. Carranza, M. Simó & D. Fernández leg.: 1 ♁.

Notes. New record for Oman. The last edition of the World catalogue of Dytiscidae ( NILSSON & HÁJEK 2018a) recognises three subspecies of C. tripunctatus in addition to the nominal form, two of them present in the Arabian Peninsula (C. t. africanus and C. t. lateralis). HÁJEK & BRANCUCCI (2011) recorded the subspecies C. t. lateralis from the UAE based on specimens with a brown venter, in contrast to C. t. africanus , which has a black venter. However, GUIGNOT (1961) only recognised the nominal form, with brown venter and a wider posterior part of the elytra, and C. t. africanus , with a black venter and narrower elytra. We follow HÁJEK & BRANCUCCI (2011) in considering this specimen, which has a brown venter, as C. t. lateralis, although the taxonomic status of the subspecies of C. tripunctatus may need to be revised.