Trichocera (Saltrichocera) sardiniensis Petrasiunas 2009

Trichocera (Saltrichocera) sardiniensis Petrašiūnas, 2009

Fig. 3.

Trichocera (Saltrichocera) sardiniensis Petrašiūnas, 2009: 62.

Material examined. Morocco: Oued à 15 km de Fifi, 26. II.2012, 1 ♂; Affluent Oued Akrir, 23. XI.2012, 1 ♀, 2♂; Oued Amsemlil Site 2, 16. XII.2013, 1 ♂; Maison forestière, 06.II–17. III.2015, 1 ♂ (malaise trap).

Remarks. The specimens from Morocco (Fig. 3) do not differ from those of the terra typica in the details of male and female genitalia, tarsal claws in male, and the antennae with swollen first flagellomeres in the males and, to a greater extent, in the females.

This is only the second record of this newly described species, known till now only from Sardinia, where it also occurs in the mountains above 1000 m (compare Table 1). Petrašiūnas (2009) rightly noticed a great resemblance of this species to Trichocera (Saltrichocera) borealis Lackschewitz, 1931. The only differences are smaller tarsal claws in males of T. (S.) sardiniensis. This species also has longer antennae which may develop so in warmer climate (compare discussion in Krzemińska et al. 2009: 142–3). Undoubtedly both species are mutual closest relatives, although T. (S.) borealis is known from the northernmost regions of Europe Palearctic (ex. Dahl & Krzemińska 2008), while T. (S.) sardiniensis occurs in the southernmost region of the genus distribution. This wide geographical disjunction of both species suggests postglacial history of their speciation initiated by separation of populations in the glacial period, when fauna from northern Europe was pushed south to refugia in the Mediterranean area. Subsequent division of populations in isolated refugia, and various histories of their recolonization northwards resulted in allopatric speciation and distribution. Such patterns were discovered among various taxa of fauna and flora; for a synthetical review see Hewitt (1999).