Paragus (Pandasyophthalmus) abrogans Goeldlin de Tiefenau 1971

Paragus (Pandasyophthalmus) abrogans Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1971

(Figs 45–46)

Paragus (Pandasyophthalmus) abrogans Goeldlin de Tiefenau, 1971: 272–278

Examined specimens. 1♂, Asir, Abha, Hay Al-Nusub (Abha Farm Centre), 19.vi–9.vi.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah (CERS); 1♂, Asir, Abha, Hay Al-Menhel, 24.vii.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah (CERS); 1♂, same locality but 13.v–3.vi.2015 (CERS); 1♂, Asir, Abha, Madenate Al-Ameer Sultan, Hay Al-Sad, 1–20.xi.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah (CERS); 1♂, Abha, Al-Souda, Bani Mazen, 10.vi.-9.vii.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah (CERS).

Distribution. This is the first record from Saudi Arabia. It was described from Iran (Polur) and is further recorded from Greece, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbeckistan (Speight 2020).

Remarks. The biology of P. (Pandasyophthalmus) abrogans is unknown. This species was erroneously synonymized with P. rufocinctus (Brunetti) by Thompson & Ghorpadé (1992). Claussen & Weipert (2004) provided the most comprehensive and reliable key separating this species from other European Paragus (e.g. Pandasyophthalmus species). Vujic et al. (1998) and Claussen & Weipert (2004) provided figures of the male terminalia of P. abrogans and P. rufocinctus, which clearly separated the two species. Also Speight (2020) disagreed with Peck (1988) who considered P. abrogans as a synonym of P. albipes Grimmerthal (described from Estonia and Latvia and not subsequently cited elsewhere), as this synonymy had no explanation or justification. In consequence Speight (2020) considered P. (Pandasyophthalmus) abrogans to be a distinct species and not a junior synonym of P. albipes as suggested by Peck (1988).