Quedius (Raphirus) walteri KORGE , 1971

Assing, Volker, 2016, On some species of the Quedius obliqueseriatus group, with notes on Q. nivicola (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (2), pp. 1137-1148 : 1142-1143

Quedius (Raphirus) walteri KORGE, 1971 ( Map 2 )

Quedius (Microsaurus) walteri KORGE, 1971: 44 ff.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Holotype ♀: " Anatolia bor., W. Heinz leg. / Tal v. Ardesen: Ilica 1600-2000 m, 25.VIII.1966 " (MNB). Paratype ♀: " Anatolia bor., Iliça (Ayder), Tal v. Ardeşen / Anatolia bor., W. & U. Heinz leg." (MNB).

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Turkey: A r t v i n 16 [det. Feldmann], ENE Artvin, Dalis Dağı , 41°13'N, 41°55'E, 1800-2000 m, pitfall, 8.-18.VII.2014, leg. Reuter (cFel) ; 1♀, Karçkal Yaylaşı, Otingo , 1200-1600 m, 18.VII.1987, leg. Heinz ( MNB) .

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on two females from "Ilica im Tal von Ardeşen (Kaçkar-Daĝlari), 1600-2000 m " ( KORGE 1971). SMETANA (1995) and SOLODOVNIKOV (2005) provided additional records from Rize and Artvin provinces, plus one vague record without specified locality ("Armen. Geb." = Armenisches Gebirge), which was – probably erroneously – interpreted as an Armenian locality by SOLODOVNIKOV (2005) and subsequently SCHÜLKE & SMETANA (2015). The currently known records suggest that the restricted distribution of Q. walteri somewhat overlaps with that of Q. smetanai ( Map 2 ).

KORGE (1971) tentatively placed Q. walteri in the subgenus Microsaurus , at the same time expressing his doubts regarding the subgeneric assignment. SMETANA (1995) subsequently moved the species to Raphirus , based on plausible morphological arguments. Strangely, he listed it in Microsaurus again in the first edition of the Palaearctic Catalogue ( SMETANA 2004), most likely a lapsus. SOLODOVNIKOV (2005) adopted this concept solely on the grounds that this was "the latest published assignment". However, the distribution pattern and the presence of several other morphologically similar species in the Caucasus region suggest that Q. walteri belongs to the same group as Q. boluensis , Q. smetanai , Q. obliqueseriatus , and allied species (all of which are currently assigned to Raphirus ); I have been unable to find any significant characters indicating otherwise. Consequently, Q. walteri is transferred to Raphirus again.

The photo of the habitus provided by SOLODOVNIKOV (2005) suggests that the body of Q. walteri is of nearly uniformly blackish coloration, whereas in fact the head is darkbrown to blackish brown, the pronotum is dark-brown with reddish margins, the elytra are uniformly reddish, and the abdomen is reddish-brown to dark-brown with the posterior margins of the tergites reddish.

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of Quedius walteri in northeastern Turkey, based on examined and on literature records.