Abstract
A new rock-dwelling (petrophilous) tiger beetle, Amblycheila katzi Duran & Roman, sp. nov. is described from calcareous canyons and steep hillsides in the Trans-Pecos region of western Texas. It is distinguished from all other Amblycheila based on multiple morphological characters, biogeography, and ecology. A revised key to the genus Amblycheila is provided.
Highlights
The New World tiger beetle genus Amblycheila Say, 1829 includes seven currently recognized species (Wiesner 1992; Erwin and Pearson 2008; Pearson et al 2015) exclusively within the Nearctic Realm, and is distributed from central and southwestern US to central Mexico
Type material is deposited in the following institutional and private collections: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA (NMNH), Texas A&M University Insect Collection (TAMUIC), American Museum of Natural History Insect Collection (AMNH), Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Collection of David W
No other North American tiger beetle is apparently associated with vertical rock walls, and this unusual behavioral characteristic may further contribute to the lack of known specimens
Summary
The New World tiger beetle genus Amblycheila Say, 1829 includes seven currently recognized species (Wiesner 1992; Erwin and Pearson 2008; Pearson et al 2015) exclusively within the Nearctic Realm, and is distributed from central and southwestern US to central Mexico. They are found in desert or grassland ecosystems, with habitats including rolling hillsides in dry grasslands, rocky washes in deserts, and semi-open brush. We describe A. katzi sp. nov., an inhabitant of steep rock canyons in the Trans-Pecos region of western Texas, part of the Chihuahuan Desert
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