Malthinus fasciatus Olivier, 1790

Švihla, Vladimír, 2009, New species of the subfamily Malthininae (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from the western Palaearctic Region, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (1), pp. 191-216 : 193

Malthinus fasciatus Olivier, 1790

( Figs. 1–2 )

Telephorus fasciatus A. G. Olivier, 1790 : no 26: 18.

Malthinus bulgaricus Švihla, 1990: 200 , syn. nov.

Type material examined. Malthinus bulgaricus : HOLOTYPE: J, ‘Bulg.[aria], Sandanski, 11.vi.[19]84, Karas [lgt.] [white label, printed and handwritten] // HOLOTYPUS, Malthinus bulgaricus sp. n., V. Švihla det. 1988 [red label, printed]’ ( NMPC).

Additional material examined. FRANCE: ÎLE- DE- FRANCE: Paris-Sceaux , Achard lgt., 2JJ ( NMPC) ; CHAMPAGNE- ARDENNE: Épernay , 12.vi.1946, Demaison lgt., 1 J and 1 ♀ ‘in copula’ ( NHMB) ; several further males from France , Austria and northern Italy (all NHMB) .

Comments. When describing M. bulgaricus , I knew only two males of M. fasciatus from Paris-Sceaux. Because Paris is the type locality of Malthinus fasciatus and no type material was found in the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, where Olivier’s collection is deposited, I believed that these two specimens represent M. fasciatus . The specimen which I described from Bulgaria as a new species differs significantly in the shape of the median lobe with an extruding part of the phallus and widely opened, fused laterophyses ( Fig. 1 ). Unfortunately, the aedeagi of the specimens from Sceaux ( Fig. 2 ) have shown to be abberant (teratological?) as no other specimens with phallus not extruded were found in the material examined. Therefore, I synonymise the two species.

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Aedeagus, dorsal view. 1 – Malthinus fasciatus Olivier, 1790 (Épernay); 2 – ditto (Paris – Sceaux); 3 – M. hulai sp. nov. (holotype); 4 – M. ciraliensis sp. nov. (holotype). Scale bars = 0.1 mm.