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Urbanization affects all elements of the pre-urban environment, including soils, hydrology, vegetation, and microclimate. Recently, Saudi Arabia has experienced rapid urbanization and growth. Thus, the country's biodiversity has been threatened. In Riyadh, beetle assemblages were assessed along a rural-suburban-urban gradient. A total of 2,791 individuals from 94 species belonging to seven families were collected at 15 sites along three different gradients of urbanization in Wadi Hanifa. Tenebrionidae dominated abundance (60.1%) and richness (38%). Beetle abundance, evenness, and diversity were not different among habitats; however, species richness was higher in rural habitats. DCA and CCA analyses showed distinct differences among sites along gradients. Urbanization intensity, soil variables, and land cover were significantly correlated with DCA axis 1, while elevation and flora were significantly correlated with DCA axis 2. The most critical operating environmental variables in Wadi Hanifa were buildings, elevation, soil organic carbon, litter cover, and litter depth, as well as plants such as Launaea capitata, Lycium shawii, Alhagi graecorum, and Heliotropium currasavicum. Ten species in our study are associated with urban habitats, six with suburban habitats, and seven with rural habitats. Consequently, expanding urban areas may negatively affect the richness and composition of beetles and may result in the loss of some native species.

Two genera Dendrothrips Uzel and Pseudodendrothrips Schmutz are recorded from Saudi Arabia. A key is provided to eight members of Dendrothrips that have antennae with 9-segments and D. saudicus sp. n. is described in this group. P. aegyptiacus (Priesner) and P. stuardoi are newly reported from Saudi Arabia, with P. stuardoi rev. stat. from the leaves of Ficus carica being newly distinguished from P. mori (Niwa) that lives on the leaves of Morus alba. Some published records of P. mori from Mediterranean countries are possibly misidentifications of P. stuardoi.

In this study, the Saudi Arabian Thorictinae beetle species,Thorictus riyadhensisHáva & Abdel-Dayem,sp. nov.,T. shadensisHáva & Abdel-Dayem,sp. nov.,T. sharafiHáva & Abdel-Dayem,sp. nov.,T. hanifahensisHáva & Abdel-Dayem,sp. nov.are described, illustrated, and compared with related species. Three other species:T. castaneusGermar, 1834;T. foreliWasmann, 1894; andT. peyerimhoffiChobaut, 1904 are excluded from the fauna of Saudi Arabia. A list of Thorictinae species from the Arabian Peninsula is provided.

The Farasan Archipelago is a group of small coral islands and islets in the southern Red Sea, offshore of the southwestern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). These islands are internationally important as breeding sites for turtles and bird species and regionally for its threatened, rare, and endemic flora and other fauna. The beetles (Coleoptera) of the Archipelago have not been previously surveyed. This study presents the first data on the beetle fauna based on a recent survey of the Farasan Archipelago. In total, 179 beetle species (including three synanthropic species) in 145 genera and 31 coleopteran families were determined. The Carabidae are represented by 31 species, followed by the Tenebrionidae (22 species), Chrysomelidae (17 species), Scarabaeidae (13 species), and Coccinellidae (12 species). The genusLasioceraDejean, 1831 and the speciesAmblystomus villiersanusBruneau de Miré, 1991 (Carabidae) are new for the beetle fauna of the Arabian Peninsula, and eighteen species are new country records for KSA. Sand dune habitats on the islands were inhabited by the greatest number of species in comparison with other habitats. Zoogeographically, the beetle fauna of the Archipelago was dominated by the representatives of the Saharo-Arabian and Afrotropical elements (74 spp., 41.0%). Fourteen species (7.8%) were recognized as cosmopolitan and subcosmopolitan. No species was known to be exclusively endemic to Farasan Archipelago. Eighteen species (10.1%) were endemic to Arabian Peninsula and KSA. Approximately 64.8% (116 spp.) of the archipelago beetle species is found on the KSA mainland and is most closely allied to the south and southwestern KSA regions (sharing 91 spp.). Comparisons of the beetle faunas of the Farasan and Socotra archipelagos indicate that 30 families, 70 genera, and 28 species are shared.

The dramatic increased rates of uncontrolled urbanization in various parts of the World have resulted in loss of native species and overall threats to biodiversity. Over the last few decades Saudi Arabia has witnessed a remarkably rapid population growth and unparalleled levels of urbanization, leading to threats to biodiversity. Ants were pitfall-trapped across an urban-rural gradient to evaluate ant assemblage responses to urbanization in Wadi Hanifa, Riyadh, Central Saudi Arabia. Fifteen sampling sites were selected along three different urbanization gradients, each traversing urban, suburban and rural zones. Within each site 10 traps were distributed and operated for 7 consecutive days, at 3-monthly intervals throughout one year. Vegetation, ground cover, and chemical and physical soil variables at sampling sites were analyzed concurrently. Ant abundance, species richness, evenness, and diversity indices of Shannon and Simpson were calculated for each site using PC-ORD to demonstrate diversity patterns along the urbanization gradients. Ant assemblages were assessed by detrended corresponding analysis (DCA), canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) using PC-ORD. Indicator species analysis was conducted to define representative species along the urbanization gradient. A total of 42 ant species were identified. The diversity parameters were consistent across the urbanization gradient. However, significant differences were observed in the ant assemblages between rural and urban, suburban and urban, but only marginal between rural and suburban. Eleven ant species were identified as indicator species (IV values between 50.7-80.7%). The ant assemblages were influenced by flora, ground cover, and soil variables.

In this paper, species of the subtribe Dromiusina Bonelli, 1810 from southwestern Saudi Arabia are revised. Eleven species in six genera (Calodromius, Dromius, Mesolestes, Metadromius, Microlestes, and Zolotarevskyella) are recognized. Dromiussaudiarabicus Rasool, Abdel-Dayem and Felix, sp. n. is newly described species from Rayda Nature Reserve Asir province. The presence of Metadromiusephippiatus in Saudi Arabia is doubtful. A key is also provided to genera and species level for Dromiusina of Saudi Arabia.

This study was conducted as a part of a comprehensive baseline survey of insect biodiversity of Rawdhat Khorim National Park (RKNP), Central Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). During this study a total of 262 Coleoptera species belong to 182 genera in 35 families were identified, of which 247 are named at a species level. Fifteen species (6.0%) are apparently endemic to KSA. Thirty-eight species are new to the known beetle fauna of KSA, including 25 species reported from the Arabian Peninsula for the first time. The families Tenebrionidae (45 species), Scarabaeidae (34 species), and Carabidae (27 species) were the most species rich families. About 37% of the beetle abundance was represented by species of Scarabaeidae, especially Aphodius ictericus ghardimaouensis Balthasar. Karumia inaequalis Pic (Dascillidae) was also an abundant species. Approximately 43.5% of beetle species collected during this study are considered very rare taxa in RKNP. The RKNP beetle fauna shows more affinity to Sahro-Arabian (36.4%), Afrotropical-Sahro-Arabian (17.4%) and Palaearctic-Sahro-Arabian (10.5%). Twenty-three species (9.3%) are considered cosmopolitan or subcosmopolitan. The data on month of collection, method of collection, and abundance status within RKNP, together with the distribution within KSA and the general distribution (zoogeography) of each species are presented.