Tag Archives: Yemen

Psiadia schweinfurthii Balf. f.

Schweinfurth’s Psiadia (Psiadia schweinfurthii)

This species comes from the island of Socotra; it was collected in the 19th century near Kishan in the north of the Haggeher Mountains, in a botanically well-known and -studied area, and has not been found since; it is therefore very likely extinct. 

***

The author of the species, Isaac Bayley Balfour, mentions that it is very similar to the Arabian Psiadia (Psiadia punctulata Vatke) (see photo below), a species widespread in eastern Africa and mainland Arabia, from which it differs in the absence of sticky glandular hairs.

*********************

Arabian Psiadia (Psiadia punctulata)

Photo: Floyd E. Hayes
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/floydehayes
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

*********************

edited: 12.02.2024

Xenephias socotranus Kevan

Socotra Cone-headed Katydid (Xenephias socotranus)  

The Socotra Cone-headed Katydid was described in 1973 based on specimens that had been collected in 1967 at the Adho Dimellu pass on the island of Socotra at an elevation of about 1000 m above sea level.

The species reaches a body length of about 2 to 3 cm; it is generally testaceous and strongly mottled and speckled with sepia-brown markings; the head bears a narrow, postocular, grey streak, the eyes are brown, the antennae are greyish.

It seems that this taxon has never been recorded subsequently and that it may be extinct.

*********************

References:

[1] D. Keith McE. Kevan: A new genus of Pyrgomorphidae (Acridoidea: Orthoptera) from the island of Socotra. The Canadian Entomologist 105(9): 1169-1173. 1973

*********************

edited: 30.01.2024

Gazella saudiya Carruthers & Schwarz

Saudi Gazelle (Gazella saudiya)  

The Saudi Gazelle, described in 1935, was native to the Arabian Peninsula, where it inhabited sandy acacia plains.

The species disappeared due to excessive hunting and was declared extinct in the wild in 1980 when it very probably was already globally extinct, because all captive individuals were subsequently shown to represent hybrids or different species. 

*********************

edited: 18.10.2020

Gazella bilkis Groves & Lay

Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle (Gazella bilkis)  

Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle aka. Yemen Gazelle was for some time believed to be a subspecies of the Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica (Lichtenstein)) (see photo below) but is now considered a distinct species.

The species inhabited the mountains near city of Ta’izz in southwestern Yemen where it was last seen in 1951 when it apparently still was quite common.

***

In 1985, a photograph of gazelles taken in a private collection, the Al Wabra Wildlife Farm in Qatar, might show this species, however, this has apparently never been confirmed, nor seems the subsequent fate of these animals to be known.

***

Queen of Sheba’s Gazelle is now considered extinct with the cause of its extinction being uncertain, however, it most likely was hunted to extinction.

*********************

Arabian Gazelle (Gazella arabica (Lichtenstein))

Photo: Ubm007

(under creative commons license (4.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

*********************

edited: 18.10.2020