Meliboeus parvulus (Küster, 1852)

Niehuis, Manfred, 2020, A review of the jewel beetles of the genus Meliboeus in Israel (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 50 (2), pp. 159-176 : 172

Meliboeus parvulus (Küster, 1852)

( Fig. 14)

Meliboeus violaceus (Kiesenwetter, 1857) .

Théry (1929) classified M. violaceus as a variety of M. amethystinus (Olivier, 1790) . Cobos (1986) regarded Meliboeoides as a genus and came, like Schaefer (1949: 218), to the conclusion, that M. violaceus is a morphologically valid species, separate from M. amethystinus . Today Meliboeus parvulus is considered a valid name.As there were several similar described species from the Middle East, records from Israel (most of them sub M. violaceus ) cannot be used without examination of the beetles. In Israel mainly M. adlbaueri and M. oliveri may be mixed with M. parvulus , but M. parvulus occurs in Israel and adjacent states too.

Material examined: Israel: Har Hermon : 1♂ 1♀ Mt Hermon, 3 km NW Majdal al-Shams, 33°17.68"N 35°45.65"E, 1450 m, 29.v.2012, M. & O. Niehuis (SMNHTAU). Upper Galilee : 1♂ 5♀ Meron , W Zefat, 21.iv.1992, M. & O. Niehuis (4♀ CNA, 1♂ 1♀ SMNHTAU) . Jordan: 1♂ NW, Ajlun env., 30 km W Jarash , 32°19’9’’ N / 35°43’1’’ E, 1.v.2006, F. et L. Kantner ( CNA) ; 2♂ 2♀ Amman reg., 5 km N Madaba, Hisban vil. circ., 600 m, [.] 1.iv.2003, I. G. Pljushtch ( CNA) . Lebanon: 1♀ Nord Libano, Wadi Qadisha ( Becharre dist. ), 3.vi.1997, D. Gianasso ( CNA) . Syria: 1♀ Jabal an-Nusayryah, Slinfah env., 1200 m, 19.v.2002, KoštÁl & VořÍšek ( CNA) .

Distribution: East Mediterranean and Middle Asia. First record for Jordan.

Host plants: Meliboeus parvulus undoubtedly develops in thistles. According to Volkovitsh et al. (2000), its host plant in Israel is unknown but in other countries it breeds in Cirsium sp. , Onopordum sp. , and Carduus spp. ; however, observations on Echinops might be referred to M. oliveri (s. o.). Halperin and Argaman (2000) reported Cirsium polycephalum .