by Michael P.T. Gillett
(The following article appeared in the May, 1994, Newsletter of the Al Ain
chapter of the Emirates Natural History Group.)
Several trips were made to Wadi Aboule (10 km ENE of Mahdah, Sultanate of
Oman) before and during the Eid al Fitr period, mainly to service a series of
"fermenting-malt traps" for beetles and as part of the Al Ain Meloid
Survey. The traps had been placed to capture further examples of a new species
of geotrupid beetle, a single damaged example of which had been dug up towards
the end of Ramadan. However, the traps were singularly unsuccessful, yielding
mainly non-domestic cockroaches as well as a few ants, tenebrionid and aphodiine
beetles. However, the visits served to collect other information particularly on
the flora and the first meloid records for 1994 were made.
Flora
The following list of flowering plants (excluding grasses and sedges) was
made in the area near Aboule village and in the wadi and cultivated patches
above the village. Whilst not pretending to be exhaustive, the list does give a
good indication of the variety of plants to be found in this type of terrain:
| Urticaceae |
Forsskaolea tenacissima* |
| Moraceae |
Ficus salicifolia** |
| Polyonaceae |
Pteropyrun scoparium*
Rumex vesicarius* |
| Aizoaceae |
Aizoon canariense* |
| Caryophyllaceae |
Cometes surattensis* |
| Nyctagiinaceae |
Boerhavia elegans* |
| Chenopodiaceae |
Chenopodium album* |
| Amaranthaceae |
|
| Cruciferae |
Diplotaxa harra*
Erucaria hispanica*
Morettia parviflora*
Physorrhnchus chamaerapistrum*/**
Zilla spinosa* |
| Resedaceae |
Ochradenus aucheri*
Reseda aucheri* |
| Leguminosea |
Acacia tortillis
Argyrolobium roseum*/**
Cassia italica*/**
Crotalaria aegyptiaca*
Tephrosia appollinea*/**
Vicia sp** |
| Zygophyllaceae |
Fagonia indica*
Zygophyllum hamiense
Zygophyllum simplex |
| Euphorbiaceae |
Chrozophora oblongifolia*
Euphorbia larica
Euphorbia hirta* |
| Rhamnaceae |
Zizyphus spina-christi** |
| Malvaceae |
Malva parvifora |
| Cucubitaceae |
Citrullus colocynthis**
Cucmis prophetarum*/** |
| Primulaceae |
Anagallis arvensis* |
| Rutaceae |
Haplophyllum tuberculatum* |
| Gentianaceae |
Ccntaurium pulchellum* |
| Apocynaceae |
Rhazya stricta* |
| Asclepiadaceae |
Calotropis procera* |
| Rubiaceae |
Gaillonia aucheri*
Pseudogaillonia hymenostephana |
| Convulvulaceae |
Convulvulus prostratus*/** |
| Boraginaceae |
Gastroctyle hispida*/**
Heliotropium calcareum*
Heliotropium kotschyi* |
| Scrophulariaceae |
Kickxia ramosissima*
Scrophularia deserti*/** |
| Acanthaceae |
Blepharis ciliaris*/** |
| Plantginaceae |
Plantago ciliata* |
| Compositae |
Echinops aff. spinosissima*
Launaea capitata*
Launaea massauensis*/**
Pulicaria glutinosa*
Reichardia tingitana*
Sonchus olearaceus*/**
Veronia arabica* |
| Liliaceae |
Asphodelus tenuifolius* |
Butterflies
Quite a few of the visits were made on cloudy/overcast days and butterfly
sightings were fewer than expected. However, all of the species recorded during
January at nearby Wadi Masah were present with the following additions:
| Common Swallowtail |
Papilio machaon |
| Brown-veined White |
Anaphaesis aurota |
| Sahel Orange Tip |
Coloris liagore |
| African Ringlet |
Ypthima asterope |
| Small Cupid |
Chilades parrhasius |
Examples of the Figtree Blue (Myrina silensus) were seen on two
occasions - once near to the foodplant and secondly on a stretch of shingle
beach. On the second occasion, the weather was very overcast and the butterfly
was seen flying over the shingle and then diving abruptly into a crevice between
two small rocks leaving the hind wing tails sticking up into the air. The
underside coloration of the butterfly provided almost perfect camouflage and the
butterfly was reluctant to fly away from its hiding place even when gently poked
with a finger. When it did fly away, it repeated its behaviour of darting into
cover amongst the shingle, which suggests that this is a normal type of resting
behavior during overcast conditions quite in contrast from the resting behavior
on fig leaves or rocks when the sun is out, when the bright colors of the upper
surface are exposed and the butterflies appear to be sunning themselves.
Beetles
Interesting beetles recorded during March from the wadi and associated with
water or the edges of water include the following:
| Tiger beetles |
Cicindela melancholica
C. histrio |
| Burrowing ground beetle |
Scarites |
| Metallic ground beetle |
Chaelaniussp (the third species of this genus recorded so
far from the Hajar mountains around Al Ain) |
| Bombardier beetle |
Pherosophus africanus (a spectacular species newly recorded
from Oman in December, 1993, January and February 1994, and which has been
written up for publication in Tribulus) |
| Diving beetle |
Cybister |
| Whirygig beetle |
Gyrinus |
| Crawling water beetle |
fam. Haliplidae |
Other beetles included:
| Mylabris aff. gratiosa |
(four examples were recorded of this either bright orange-red
or yellow meloid beetle and each had different patterns of black markings.
Associated with Convulvulus prostratus) |
| Nemognatha sp |
(a large meloid blister beetle on Ochradenus aucheri flowers) |
| Adesemia |
(a large diurnal tenebrionid beetle with a taste for fallen sidr fruits) |
| Cryptocephalus |
(a small chrysomelid leaf beetle associated with the poisonous oleander
plant - Nerium) |
Dragonflies/Damsel Flies
I am not an expert on the Odonata, which is a pity because Wadi Aboule, like
all of the other wadis which I have visited in the Hajar Mountains, has a
spectacular and very colorful variety of these graceful insects. Perhaps some
other group member could be persuaded to make a study of these, but for the
moment the following are tentative identifications:
| Powderblue Damselfly |
Arabicnumis caerulea |
| Blue-banded Damselfly |
Ischnura evansi |
| Emperor Dragonfly |
Anax imperator |
| Orange Darter |
Trithemis kirbyi |
| Purple-blushed Darter |
T. annulata |
| Carmine Darter |
Crocothemis erythraea |
Toads
Whilst many toads were seen in the water or hopping about on land, others
were discovered beneath rocks. Since two species of toad are known from this
region of Arabia -- the mainly diurnal Bufo arabicus and the
nocturnal B. dhofarensis, all specimens that could be caught were
carefully examined. About twenty specimens were caught and all turned out to be B.
arabicus. Many tadpoles were also present and presumably they belong to
the same species.