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. 2017 Feb 7:(653):1-78.
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.653.10252. eCollection 2017.

The beetle fauna (Insecta, Coleoptera) of the Rawdhat Khorim National Park, Central Saudi Arabia

Mahmoud S Abdel-Dayem  1 , Hassan H Fad  2 , Ashraf M El-Torkey  3 , Ali A Elgharbawy  4 , Yousif N Aldryhim  1 , Boris C Kondratieff  5 , Amin N Al Ansi  1 , Hathal M Aldhafer  1
Affiliations

The beetle fauna (Insecta, Coleoptera) of the Rawdhat Khorim National Park, Central Saudi Arabia

Mahmoud S Abdel-Dayem et al. Zookeys. .

Abstract

This study was conducted as a part of a comprehensive baseline survey of insect biodiversity of Rawdhat Khorim National Park (RKNP), Central Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). During this study a total of 262 Coleoptera species belong to 182 genera in 35 families were identified, of which 247 are named at a species level. Fifteen species (6.0%) are apparently endemic to KSA. Thirty-eight species are new to the known beetle fauna of KSA, including 25 species reported from the Arabian Peninsula for the first time. The families Tenebrionidae (45 species), Scarabaeidae (34 species), and Carabidae (27 species) were the most species rich families. About 37% of the beetle abundance was represented by species of Scarabaeidae, especially Aphodius ictericus ghardimaouensis Balthasar. Karumia inaequalis Pic (Dascillidae) was also an abundant species. Approximately 43.5% of beetle species collected during this study are considered very rare taxa in RKNP. The RKNP beetle fauna shows more affinity to Sahro-Arabian (36.4%), Afrotropical-Sahro-Arabian (17.4%) and Palaearctic-Sahro-Arabian (10.5%). Twenty-three species (9.3%) are considered cosmopolitan or subcosmopolitan. The data on month of collection, method of collection, and abundance status within RKNP, together with the distribution within KSA and the general distribution (zoogeography) of each species are presented.

Keywords: Arabian fauna; distribution; endemic species; new records; zoogeography.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
a Map showing the provinces and geographic location of Rawdhat Khorim National Park within the Central Region of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia b Photo of Rawdhat Khorim National Park (Produced by ArcMap 10.4).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The general distributions frequency of the beetle fauna of Rawdhat Khorim National Park, Central Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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