Epuraea (Haptoncus) ocularis, FAIRMAIRE, 1849

Cline, Andrew R. & Audisio, Paolo, 2011, Epuraea (Haptoncus) OcularisFairmaire (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) Recently Found in the U. S. A., with Comments on Nearctic Members ofEpuraeaErichson, The Coleopterists Bulletin 65 (1), pp. 24-26 : 24-25

EPURAEA (HAPTONCUS) OCULARIS FAIRMAIRE ( COLEOPTERA : NITIDULIDAE ) RECENTLY FOUND IN THE U.S.A., WITH COMMENTS ON NEARCTIC MEMBERS OF EPURAEA ERICHSON

ANDREW R. CLINE Plant Pest Diagnostics Center 3294 Meadowview Rd., Sacramento, CA 95832-1448, U.S.A. [e-mail]

AND

PAOLO AUDISIO Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin” Sapienza Universitá di Roma Via Borelli 50, I-00161 Rome, ITALY [e-mail]

The sap beetle Epuraea (Haptoncus) ocularis Fairmaire, 1849 was recently discovered in the Houston area of Texas in the United States, which makes this the first published record of this species in North America. The species was previously known to be established in the New World only from Hawaii ( Sharp 1878; Ewing and Cline 2004, 2005). Kirejtshuk (1998) stated that introductions into the USA from Taiwan and Japan had been recorded, however, no references were given and no published works have been found to validate this statement. Historical records ( Grouvelle 1913) indicate that prior to modern global transportation systems the species was typically found in Southeast Asia, parts of the Orient, the Indian subcontinent, and some tropical areas of Africa. Over the past two decades, this species has become one of the most pervasive sap beetle species in the world, being transported mostly through global agricultural commerce into previously undocumented areas. New records have been reported for this species throughout the world, most specifically from Europe, i.e. the Canary Islands ( Jelínek 1997), Italy ( Audisio 2002; Busato 2002), the Maltese Islands (Mifsud and Audisio 2008), Austria (Kapp and Brandstetter 2003; Schuh et al. 2006), Germany ( Renner 2000; Konzelmann 2001; Bellmann et al. 2001; Wenzel 2004; Burgarth 2005), France (Ponel and Roge 2000; Roge 2000; Callot 2003), but also from the far eastern reaches of the South Pacific on Henderson Island ( Benton 1995). The recent catalogue of Palearctic Coleoptera (Jelínek and Audisio 2007) indicates a widespread distribution throughout much of that region, with a rapid expansion in western areas gained chiefly in the last few years of the past century.

This report of E. ocularis in the Nearctic was accomplished through collection by Graham Montgomery , and dissemination of images through the website BugGuide (www.bugguide.com). The first author was alerted to the images and contacted the collector to procure more specimens and to have them sent for identification and vouchering. A series of 10 specimens are deposited at the California State Collection of Arthropods. Data labels for the specimens are provided here verbatim with a “;” delineating line breaks. Label data is as follows: USA: TX: Harris Co., Houston; residence on Fair Knoll Way; 29°35′10″N 95°8′4″W; G. Montgomery collr.; ex: decaying watermelon. Blue voucher labels were placed on the specimens underneath the data labels, which read “ E. (H.) ocularis Fairmaire ; det. A. R. Cline 2010; CSCA-voucher ( ARC2010 )” .

The introduction of E. ocularis into mainland North America will likely lead to establishment (if not already established in the Houston area) and eventual spread of the species across the continent. Although the origin of the species remains unclear, since it was already widespread in the Old World tropics by the time of the first Nitidulidae catalogue ( Grouvelle 1913), E. ocularis likely is an Old World tropical element. Thus, the subtropical climate of the southeastern United States will help facilitate the species’ initial spread. Recent introductions into the European interior, possessing a more temperate climate, and the presence of another member of the subgenus Haptoncus Murray , Epuraea (Haptoncus) luteola Erichson , in the Nearctic suggest that northward encroachment of this introduced species is also probable. Likewise, the lack of host specificity, natural enemies, and other constraining factors are all sympathetic to the eventual widespread dissemination of this species throughout the New World. Although E. ocularis does not likely pose a serious threat to agricultural commodities within the continental United States, it may become a nuisance pest. On the other hand, this species has been recently studied in Japan as a candidate pollinator for Annona L. flowers ( Annonaceae ) in greenhouses ( Tsukada et al. 2005).

Epuraea ocularis is easily differentiated from all other members of the subgenus Haptoncus by the characteristic dark markings on the elytra (at base, apex, and transversely across the disc) and pronotum (at anterior and posterior margins) (see Fig. 9 in Ewing and Cline 2005), and characteristic male genitalia. Epuraea Erichson is one of the largest (>300 species) and most problematic of all nitidulid genera. Members of this genus are mostly all small and drably colored with few reliable external features to clearly delineate closely related species or even species-groups. Globally, this likely paraphyletic genus is broken into informally constituted speciesgroups or frequently ill-defined subgenera with few diagnostic characters that reliably delimit constituent members, and none that are based on unequivocally unambiguous synapomorphies (see Kirejtshuk 1998). The confused taxonomy in the Nearctic is undoubtedly linked to now antiquated and incomplete identification keys ( Parsons 1943; Connell 1956), description of new species with poor or no illustrations ( Parsons 1943; Kirejtshuk and Pakaluk 1996; Kirejtshuk and Kvamme 2001), a lack of suitable diagnostic characters for females, confusing or unjustified taxonomic emendations, and a pervasive disregard for microscopic structures of the male genitalia, mouthparts, tibial armature, and surface sculpturing of the dorsal and ventral habitus. Currently, there are more than 30 Epuraea species known from the Nearctic, with new species awaiting description and many nomenclatural and taxonomic emendations needed to clarify the confusion surrounding this ubiquitous and diverse genus. The New World members of Epuraea are currently under revision by the authors using adult and larval characters as well as molecular sequence data from three genes. Likewise, gut content analyses are underway to help understand the biology of many of the New World species.