Jan Muilwijk

Two new species of ground beetle from Iran are described and illustrated. Zuphium seiedyae sp. nov., collected from the Zagros Mountains in the Fars Province, and Chlaenius (Trichochlaenius) shimbarensis sp. nov., found in Khuzestan Province, are presented with detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations. In addition, identification keys and images of all Iranian species are provided. The country record for Chlaenius (T.) gotschii Chaudoir, 1846 is corrected from Iran in Azerbaijan, Chlaenius (T.) albissoni Reitter, 1908 is recorded for the first time from Jordan.

Until now, the subgenus Lyrothorax Chaudoir, 1838 (genus Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810) in the Western Palaearctic included only the type species, P. caspius (Ménétriés, 1832), distributed along the southern Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan and Iran and, as an introduced species, in the Czech Republic. Studying rich material, including the types, it was found that under the name P. caspius there is a species complex comprising three closely related species, two of these are described in this paper: P. fritzei sp. n. from Iran (type locality Naharkhoran, Gorgan) and P. vagus sp. n. from Iran, which was also introduced to the Czech Republic (type locality Shaskola, Gorgan). These new species differ clearly from each other, as well as from P. caspius, mainly in the features of the median lobe of the aedeagus and its endophallus. A lectotype of P. caspius is designated to ensure the stability of the nomenclature. An identification key, images of all three species and distribution maps are provided. The occurrence of species of Lyrothorax in the Iranian province of North Khorasan and Turkmenistan is not obvious and requires confirmation.

A contribution to the knowledge of the ground beetles in Iran is given. The ground beetle diversity in Iran is rich, with 1135 known species and subspecies in total so far, and 20% percent of them are endemic. However, the Iranian fauna is still not well known. In this paper, five new taxa of ground beetles are described: Leistus (Pogonophorus) spinibarbis zagrosensis ssp. n., Trechus kouroshi sp. n., Atranus dariushi sp. n. from Zagros, and Philorhizus flavocorpus sp. n. and Philorhizus kermanus sp. n. from Kerman; four new synonyms are established: Poecilus (Ancholeus) aeneolus (Chaudoir, 1868) syn. n. and Poecilus (Ancholeus) hafezi (Morvan, 1975) syn. n. = Poecilus (Ancholeus) puncticollis (Dejean, 1828); Poecilus (Ancholeus) iranicus (Morvan, 1974) syn. n. = Poecilus (Derus) advena (Quensel, 1806), and Olegius turkmenicus Komarov, 1996 syn. n. = Pogonopsis pallida Bedel, 1898; and the first records of nine species for Iran are provided: Porotachys ottomanus ssp. ottomanus Schweiger, 1968, Tachyura (Tachyura) shahinei (Schatzmayr & Koch, 1934), Tachyura (Tachyura) conspicua (Schaum, 1863), Polyderis algiricus (Lucas, 1846), Polyderis impressipennis (Motschulsky, 1860), Pogonopsis pallida Bedel, 1898, Chlaenius (Trichochlaenius) albissoni Reitter, 1908, Philorhizus crucifer ssp. crucifer (Lucas, 1846), and Demetrias monostigma Samouelle, 1819.

The peculiar lebiine genus Disciferella gen. n. is described as a representative of the subtribe Dromiusina Bonelli, 1810. The genus is very distinct habitually and could be easily recognized among other lebiines already by its appearance. In combination of its distinctive features, it is most similar to the enigmatic monotypic genus Brachynopterus, but distinguished from it by several sufficient characters, including the shape of the gonocoxite which is very characteristic (elongate and slightly arcuate) in the latter genus and typical for Dromiusina (short and wide) in Disciferella gen. n. The new genus includes two newly described species: D. kabakovi sp. n. (type species) from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and D. psammophila sp. n. from south-eastern Iran. The very characteristic habitus of the two new species with their wide discoidal elytra is similar to that of some species of the genera Discoptera Semenov, 1889 and Graphipterus Latreille, 1802 living in sandy habitats. This resemblance suggests a similar specialized mode of life, most likely in sandy deserts and dunes. The systematic position of the new genus is discussed.

A new species of the genus Microdaccus Schaum, 1864, M. bushehricus sp. n., is described from Bidkhun in Bushehr Province, southern Iran.

(2016). First record of Oodes irakensis Andrewes (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Harpalinae: Oodini) in Iran and a new synonym in Oodes. Zoology in the Middle East: Vol. 62, No. 1, pp. 93-94.