Una nueva especie de <em>Meloe</em> Linnaeus, 1758 del suroeste de Marruecos incluida en el grupo de <em>M. (Eurymeloe) rugosus</em> Marsham, 1802 (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

Abstract

The scientific collections of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid) hold an extense set of entomological materials collected in Morocco along the first decades of the XXth century by the preeminent naturalist M. Martinez de la Escalera. Morphological studies of the specimens of the genus Meloe Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera: Meloidae) reveals the existence of populations morphologically differentiated along the coastal regions of Essaouira and Ifni. These populations are included within the Meloe rugosus Marsham, 1802 species group in the subgenus Eurymeloe Reitter, 1911. Their differential traits with respect to all other North African and European species of the Meloe rugosus species group are constant, and permit considering these populations as a taxonomic independent unit described herein, Meloe baamarani n. sp. This new species is characterized by having a black, opaque, general coloration all over the body and appendages; black short vestiture; broad head with broadly rounded temples, without median longitudinal groove; long antennae, with segments III to VIII subcylindrical and longer than wide; pronotum transverse, with convergent sides toward the base, without median groove; head and pronotum punctuation dense; aedeagus narrow, median lobe wide and strong, dorsally sinuous, with ventral hooks close to the apex. Meloe baamarani can be only confused on the western regions of northern Africa with Meloe mediterraneus Muller, 1925. This species shares a general appearance with M. baamarani , but differs in many morphological traits. Among those, tegument micro-reticulation, absence of median groove along the head, pronotum morphology and macrosculpture, and configuration of the male genitalia, are included.