Monocladum aegyptiacum, a interesting desert nocturnal species occuring in Near East and Arabian Peninsula, has been described as Polyarthron ægyptiacum from Egypt by Félix Edouard Guérin-Méneville in 1844 [▽]. M. aegyptiacum was reported as pest on date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). Its larvae develop on roots of living date palms and probably also on roots of other trees. Adults, active from July to September, are noctural and can be attracted to light [❖].

Body length:	17 - 45 mm
Life cycle:	at least 3 years [?]
Adults in:	July - September
Host plant:	date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), but probably polyphagous also on roots of other plants
Distribution:	Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

The depicted male beetle was collected in Ein Tamar (עֵין תָּמָר) settlement environs (Arava valley, Southern district, Israel) in August 2009.

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[▽]
Guérin-Méneville F.E.:
Iconographie du Règne Animal de G. Cuvier, ou représentation d'après nature de l'une des espèces les plus remarquables et souvent non encore figurées, de chaque genre d'animaux. Avec un texte descriptif mis au courant de la Science.
Insectes 7, i-iv + 5-576, J. B. Baillère, Paris, 1844. [download ]

[❖]
Sama G., Ringenbach, J.-C. and Rejzek M.:
A preliminary survey of the Cerambycidae of Lybia (Coleoptera).
Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 110 (4/5): 439-454, 2005. [download ]