Micracanthia ornatula Reuter 1881

Micracanthia ornatula (Reuter, 1881)

= Saldula minor Hamid & Sultana, 1972 (syn. Lindskog 1995: 126).

Material examined. IRAN: Hormozgan: Shahvar, 12 km NW Mineb [= Minab] (27°14′N 57°01′E, Locality No. 202), 18.–19. v.1973, 1 ♀, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha, N. Vinokurov det. (NMPC). Sistan and Baluchistan: Sekand, 27 km ENE Sarbáz (26°39′N 61°15′E, Locality No. 144), 31.iii.–1. iv.1973, 1 ♂, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha, N. Vinokurov det. (NMPC). NEPAL: Central: Bagmati Province, Nagarjun (27.45°N 85.17°E), 1387 m a.s.l., forest, 29. vii.2000, 1 ♀, J. Farkač, D. Král & J. Schneider lgt., P. Kment det. (NMPC). OMAN: Dhofar: Wadi Al Mughsayl, 29.–31. viii.2007, 1 ♀, J. Horák lgt. (MMBC).

Habitat. In Iran this species has been collected in the following habitats: small fields near to an oasis watered by a salty brook, and small salty swamps in the oasis (locality Sekand), and gravel-sandy aluvial semi-desert (locality Minab).

Taxonomy. Hamid & Sultana (1972) described Saldula minor from Pakistan (holotype from Karachi, 5 miles before Korangi Creek) and compared it to Saldula dixoni (Distant, 1904), a taxon regarded as junior subjective synonym of Saldula ornatula (Reuter, 1881) by Drake & Hoberlandt (1951: 9). They listed the following differential diagnosis: ‘This species is allied to Saldula dixoni (Distant) but differs in the coloration of clavus and corium, also all antennal segments are unicolorous unlike S. dixoni. In some specimens the pale claval and corial spots near apex of clavus are very small and occasionally lacking but the median spots on corium are always present. Size also varies considerably in males from 2.3 to 3.3 mm and in females from 2.8 to 3.5 mm.’ (Hamid & Sultana 1972).

Lindskog (1995) transferred Saldula ornatula to the genus Micracanthia Reuter, 1912, and listed Saldula minor in its synonymy as new synomym, but providing no comment on these nomenclatural acts. Overlooking the actions of Lindskog (1995), Vinokurov (2012a) independently transferred S. ornatula to the genus Micracanthia based on examination of 3 males originating from Pakistan and Bangladesh (as East Pakistan), listed the morphological characters to support the new generic placement, and figured its paramere and parandria. He also stated: ‘ Micracanthia minor most likely is a junior synonym of M. ornatula, but the status of this form cannot be determined with confidence since the illustrations in the original description (Hamid and Sultana, 1972: fig. 4) are not quite exact.’ (Vinokurov 2012a). Finally, Polhemus & Polhemus (2012) did not list Saldula minor among synonyms of M. ornatula, however, they recorded M. ornatula from Pakistan based on two females from ‘Karachi, 5 mi. before Korangi Creek, no date, coll. A. Hamid’, the type locality of S. minor.

There seems little doubt that Saldula minor fits fully within the variability of the widely distributed Micracanthia ornatula and we therefore confirm S. minor as junior subjective synonym of the latter species.

Distribution. This species is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (Chen & Lindskog 1994; Lindskog 1995; Vinokurov 2012a, 2015; Polhemus & Polhemus 2012; Aukema et al. 2013). In Iran it was previously known only from Hormozgan (Linnavuori 2004); here it is first recorded from Sistan and Baluchistan. First exact record from Oman.