The ground beetle tribe Platynini Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the southern Levant: dichotomous and interactive identification tools, ecological traits, and distribution

Thorsten Assmann; Esteve Boutaud; Jörn Buse; Claudia Drees; Ariel-Leib-Leonid Friedman; Ingmar Harry; Fares Khoury; Eylon Orbach; Ittai Renan; Constantin Schmidt; Kilian Schmidt; David W Wrase; Pascale Zumstein

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1044.62615

The ground beetle tribe Platynini Bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the southern Levant: dichotomous and interactive identification tools, ecological traits, and distribution

Zookeys. 2021 Jun 16:1044:449-478. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1044.62615. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, D-21335 Lüneburg, Germany Leuphana University Lüneburg Germany.
² Ecosystem Monitoring, Research and Wildlife Conservation (SB 23 Invertebrates and Biodiversity), Black Forest National Park, Kniebisstraße 67, D-72250 Freudenstadt, Germany Black Forest National Park Freudenstadt Germany.
³ School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, United Kingdom University of Sussex Brighton United Kingdom.
⁴ Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Klauzner 12, Tel Aviv, IL-69978, Israel Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel.
⁵ Office for Conservation Biology ABL, Egonstraße 55, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany Office for Conservation Biology Freiburg Germany.
⁶ Department of Biology and Biotechnology, American University of Madaba, P.O.Box 2882, Amman, JO-11821, Jordan American University of Madaba Madaba Jordan.
⁷ Remez St. 49, IL-36044 Qiryat Tiv'on, Israel Unaffiliated Qiryat Tiv'on Israel.
⁸ Gartenstr. 8, 21354 Bleckede, Germany Unaffiliated Bleckede Germany.
⁹ Oderstraße 2, D-15306 Gusow-Platkow, Germany Unaffiliated Gusow-Platkow Germany.

Abstract

The carabids of the tribe Platynini from the southern Levant (Egypt: Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Jordan) and adjacent regions of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia are reviewed in terms of species taxonomy, ecological, distributional traits, and conservation biology. In addition to a classical dichotomous identification key to the 14 species of the region, identification tools are made freely available via the Xper3 knowledge database "Platynini, southern Levant". Besides an interactive identification key, a matrix with character states for the species and single access identification keys are available. A database including all available records from the southern Levant is also provided. First faunistic records are recorded for Anchomenusdorsalisinfuscatus from Sinai (Egypt), Olisthopusfuscatus from Lebanon and Iraq, and for O.glabricollis from Iraq. Threatened species are discussed, also with regard to the reasons of their decline. The majority of species lives in wetlands, especially on the shore of winter ponds and streams, which have been extremely degraded in the last decades.

Keywords: Agonum; Anchomenus; Atranus; Olisthopus; Orthotrichus, power of dispersal; Xper3; ecological traits; interactive key; phenology; winter ponds.

Thorsten Assmann, Estève Boutaud, Jörn Buse, Claudia Drees, Ariel-Leib-Leonid Friedman, Ingmar Harry, Fares Khoury, Eylon Orbach, Ittai Renan, Constantin Schmidt, Kilian Schmidt, David W. Wrase, Pascale Zumstein.