On the footsteps of Théodore Monod: biogeographical and ecological implications of an insect assemblage from the hottest spot on earth (in central Lut Desert, SE Iran)
Résumé
We present the entomological results of a geological and biological exploration in the Lut desert, performed in 2014 by the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences (INIOAS) and the University of Tehran. Five localities were sampled, including the one considered as the the hottest spot on Earth. They yielded 15 insect taxa belonging to Blattodea, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Heteroptera, suggesting that in spite of being originally described as “abiotic” or “aphytic”, the Lut desert shelters a diverse insect fauna with some remarkable elements such as the endemic desert cockroache Leiopteroblatta monodi. Comparison with results obtained by Franco-Iranian expeditions in the sixties and seventies reveals several taxa in common, but also striking differences in the composition of the insect assemblages, suggesting that the insect fauna in the Lut desert is potentially much more diverse than previously expected.