Omocestus antigai (Bolívar, 1897)

Habitat:
Omocestus antigai inhabits pastures and stony grasslands up to more than 2000m.

Remarks:
Omocestus antigai occurs in the Eastern Pyrenees (France, Spain) and adjacing parts of Catalonia.

Hints on determination:
A second very similar species Omocestus navasi Bolívar, 1908 has been described from the same region, but lower elevations. It differs only slightly and not constantly from Omocestus antigai. The images from Tour de Batère from lower elevations (app. 1450m) show individuals belonging to Omocestus navasi bellmanni. They differ in their angled lateral carinae of the pronotum. These are most often (but not always) curved in Omocestus antigai.
It is surely the best to synonymize the two taxa provisionally. In recent years most authors are of the opinion that both taxa are conspecific, but the division into subspecies varies. The individuals from Montsec have been considered navasi in earlier times, too.