Anthelephila paolii ( Krekich-Strassoldo, 1928 )

Kejval, Zbyněk & Cz, Domažlice, 2012, Studies on the genus Anthelephila (Coleoptera: Anthicidae). 12. Review of the species from Yemen, including Socotra Island, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 52, pp. 347-363 : 357

Anthelephila paolii ( Krekich-Strassoldo, 1928)

( Fig. 21 )

Remarks. Species described by KREKICH- STRASSOLDO (1928) from the southern part of the Somali Republic (‘ Somalia Italiana’). In Yemen recorded from Wadi Dareija [SW of Dhala], Usaifira [N of Ta’izz], and from the vicinity of Ta’izz and Sana’a ( PIC & HAWKINS 1957).

Anthelephila paolii belongs to a small, almost exclusively Afrotropical group of species characterized by the presence of a conspicuous, longitudinal median sulcus on the pronotal disc ( Fig. 21 ). Having examined the relevant Yemeni specimens from the BMNH, I can agree with remark made by J. Balfour-Browne in PIC & HAWKINS (1957) on identification. However, based on the African specimens of my collection, it seems that the figures of the male characters by KREKICH- STRASSOLDO (1928) are rather sketchy, and / or there is variation in the detailed morphology of male sternite VIII.

Figures

Figs. 17–24. Anthelephila spp., body in dorsal view. 17 – A. anceyi rathjensi (Pic, 1957), female, Wadi Zabid; 18 – A. bispilifasciata bispilifasciata (Pic, 1897), female, Turbah; 19 – same species, male, Lawdar; 20 – A. caeruleipennis (LaFerté-Sénectère, 1849), male, Lawdar; 21 – A. paolii (Krekich-Strassoldo, 1928), male, Sana’a; 22 – A. pilitarsis sp. nov., holotype; 23 – A. praefecta sp. nov., paratype, female, Jabal Bura; 24 – A. walkeri (Pic, 1895), male, Al Mukalla.