The Carabidae (Coleoptera) of Shada Al-A’Ala Nature Reserve, Southwestern Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species of Paussinae

Abstract

We report the Carabidae collected at the Shada Al-A’Ala Nature Reserve (SANR) in Baha Province in southwestern Saudi Arabia during 2013–2015. In total, 62 carabid species and subspecies representing 39 genera, 17 tribes, and 10 subfamilies were identified, including one new species, Paussusminutulus Nagel & Rasool, sp. n, four new country records, and 24 species that are new provincial records for Baha. The carabid fauna was dominated by the Lebiini with 19 species. A high number of species were rarely collected (34 species) in comparison to the more abundant and common species (9 species). The highest number of species (52 species) was collected during autumn. The carabids of SANR are represented by a large component of Afrotropical faunal elements (28.1%) and smaller numbers of Oriental species (3.5%) and endemic taxa (5.3%). In comparison to Garf Raydah Nature Reserve in Asir Province, also in southwestern Saudi Arabia, SANR had an equal number of carabids sharing 64.5% of the species but with lower number of endemic elements. Our study can serve as a component for implementing a conservation plan for SANR using carabid beetles as sentinel taxa. These research results may support future ecological studies on SNAR carabids.