Speonomus (Batinoscelis) diabolicus ( Jeannel, 1911 )

Casale, Achille, Grafitti, Giuseppe & Latella, Leonardo, 2009, The Cholevidae (Coleoptera) of Sardinia *, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 290-316 : 302-304

Speonomus (Batinoscelis) diabolicus ( Jeannel, 1911)

Literature records. Nuoro prov.: between Ussassai and Seui, Monte Arquerì, Grotta de is Diavulus (- Sa/NU) ( Jeannel 1911, as Bathysciola Lostiai subsp. diabolica, 1924 ; Müller 1930; Cerruti 1968; Casale 1970, 1974;

Puddu & Pirodda 1974; Cassola 1982; Sbordoni et al. 1982; Baccetti 1983; Grafitti 2001a, 2002a; Pisano et al. 2003; De Waele & Grafitti 2004; Zoia & Latella 2006; Grafitti 2007a, 2009).

Distribution. Central-Southern Sardinia, known only from the type locality.

Chorotype. W-Mediterranean (Sardinian endemic).

Remarks. The above unregistered cave, very difficult to access, is definitely located on Mount Arquerì, where it was firstly mentioned by Gestro (1904) regarding the collection of a cholevid by the entomologists A. Dodero and U. Lostia di S. Sofia. The specimens were described by Jeannel (1911) as Bathysciola Lostiai subsp. diabolica , with the correct locality (see also Porta 1926, 1934; Wolf 1938). Later, Dodero (1916) described the carabid beetle Reicheia elegans (today Typhloreicheia elegans ), collected at the entrance of the same cave “located in a forest”, and this information was used correctly in several later publications on Carabidae (see Magistretti 1965). A. Casale was the last biospeleologist who, in 1970 with the guidance of a shepherd, was able to locate and explore the cave ( Casale 1974), where he collected one specimen of S. diabolicus and the spider Tegenaria armigera Simon, 1873 (Agelenidae) (see Brignoli 1971, 1972). Errors in the localization of this cave started with Jeannel (1924), who mentioned the cave as located on Mount Tricoli, a granitic-porphiric massif in the Gairo area; later citations by some other authors, such as Müller (1930), reported Jeannel’s wrong information.