Eremoxenus Semenow, 1892

Orbach, Eylon, 2020, The Brentidae of Israel (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea), Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 50 (2), pp. 53-68 : 61-62

Genus Eremoxenus Semenow, 1892

Eremoxenus chan Semenow, 1892 ( Figs 11–14, 16) Eremoxenus chan Semenow, 1892: 440 ; Schedl 1975 b: 84, 85 (redescription, drawings); Sforzi & Bartolozzi 2004: 300. Material examined: Israel: Southern Coastal Plain: 1♂ Holot Nizzanim Nature Reserve, 19.vi.2008, E. Orbach, MV light trap (EOC).

Distribution: Iran, Israel (new record), Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Biology: Myrmecophilous.

Comments: Schedl (1975 b: 83, 87) regarded this species “as a Caspian faunal element sensu de Lattin (1967) ”, and according to the habitat collecting data as “distributed in low steppe habitats”. However, the single specimen from Israel was collected in the area of sand dunes at an elevation of about 20 m.

Its occurrence in Israel is rather surprising, given a substantial distance from its known distribution. Further collecting in northwestward adjacent countries might fill the distributional gap for this species.

While studying the holotype of Eremoxenus algirus ( Bartolozzi, 1988) described from Algeria (Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen), a paratype of Eremoxenus maroccanus Mantilleri, 2012 described from Morocco (MZUF), a syntype of E. chan Semenow, 1892 described from “Transcaspian Prov.” (Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg) and the specimen collected in Israel, I found some very slight morphological differences between the last one and the typical E. chan , differences that nevertheless appear not of specific rank.