Odocnemis, Allard, 1876

Nabozhenko, M. V. & Tichý, V., 2019, Darkling beetles of the tribe Helopini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) of Jordan, Far Eastern Entomologist 384, pp. 1-9 : 6-7

Odocnemis (s. str.) praelongus (Baudi di Selve, 1876)

Odocnemis caudatus Allard, 1876: 36 (type locality: Syria) .

TYPE MATERIAL. Types of Helops praelongus Baudi di Selve were not studied. Holotype of Odocnemis caudatus ( NHML), male, with labels: “ Syria ”,

“ Odocnemis caudatus ”, “ Odocnemis caudatus type All.”, “F. Bates Coll. 81–19”.

MATERIAL. Jordan: 10 km N, NE of Jerash, 20.IV 2002, 1♀, leg. M. Snížek.

( CVT).

DISTRIBUTION. Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan (Katbeh-Bader, 1996; Waitzbauer et al., 2004; Nabozhenko & Löbl, 2008).

NOTES. This species was twice described in 1876, by Baudi di Selve (1876)

from Damascus and by Allard (1876) from Syria. Allard (1877) later recognized the priority of Baudi’s taxon. This species is distinctly differs from all Middle East

Odocnemis Allard, 1876 by the presence of the large caudal projection (mucron) at the elytral apex. Both Baudi’s and Allard’s descriptions include this clear character.

Seidlitz (1896) didn’t study type specimens and distinguished these taxa by long (O.

praelongus) or very short (O. caudatus) caudal projection and sparse (O. praelongus)

6

or dense (O. caudatus) hair brush on male abdominal ventrite 1. But Seidlitz erro-

neously interpreted characters of O. caudatus. Reitter (1922) repeated Seidlitz’s key. The holotype of O. caudatus has long caudal projection; density of male abdominal hair brush is variable in different populations. So, both these taxa are conspecific. These two taxa are listed under the name O. praelongus by Nabozhenko and Keskin (2016). Here we again confirm that Odocnemis caudatus Allard,

1876 is not a distinct specis but must be considered as synonym of Odocnemis praelongus (Baudi di Selve, 1876).