Systematics of the genus Berberomeloe Bologna, 1988 (Coleoptera, Meloidae) and diagnosis of an overlooked Iberian endemism

Abstract

A review of 376 individuals of Berberomeloe, an African-Iberian genus of Meloidae described by Bologna (1988), reveals that the genus is composed of two species: B. majalis (Linnaeus, 1758) and B. insignis (Charpentier, 1818). The geographic range of B. majalis covers most of Spain and Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula, a portion of Southern France, and the northern regions of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in northwestern Africa. B. insignis is a little known taxon endemic of a narrow coastal zone in southeastern Spain, along the provinces of Granada, Almería and Murcia. Although B. insignis has been usually included as a synonym of B. majalis, its distinctive morphology, which includes among other traits, elongate IV to X antennae segments markedly dentate in males, prominent anterior angles of the pronotum, and a red-orange coloration on the posterior portions of the head, favour its recognition at the species level.