Aleochara (Xenochara) lonae GRIDELLI , 1924

Assing, V., 2009, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some Palaearctic Aleochara species of the subgenera Xenochara M & R and Rheochara M & R (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 59 (1), pp. 33-101 : 63-64

Aleochara (Xenochara) lonae GRIDELLI, 1924 , revalidated ( Figs 115-118, Map 4)

Aleochara laevigata lonae GRIDELLI, 1924: 41 .

Aleochara (Polychara) gridellii BERNHAUER, 1936b: 57 ; nov. syn.

Type material examined:

Syntype ♀: " Albania 1922, Ravasini, Lona / Tomorica Abbas Ali / pr. cornuta Fauv. / laevigata var. Lonae! det. E. Gridelli / Syntypus ♀ Aleochara laevigata lonae Gridelli , rev. V. Assing 2009 / Aleochara lonae Gridelli , det. V. Assing 2009" ( MCSNT) .

Additional material examined:

Albania: A ♂, Mali i Gjalicës ["Gjallica"; 42°01'N, 20°28'E], 1935, leg. Bischoff ( MCSNT) .

Greece: 1 ♂, 4 ♀♀, Evritania , W Lamia, N Karpenisi, Timfristós, ski resort, 38°57'N, 21°48'E, 1900 m, sifted, 14.IV.2000, leg. Assing & Wunderle (cAss, cWun) ; 1 ♀, N-Pindos, ca. 40 km NNE Konitsa, Oros Arénes , 40°18'N, 20°55'E, 1900 m, 27.V.2005, leg Assing (cAss) ; 1 ♂, Pindos , Katara pass, 1690 m, 25.VII.1987, leg. Schuh (cAss) .

Comment:

Aleochara lonae was originally described as a variety of A. laevigata , based on two syntypes from "M.te Tomor: Abbas Ali, 2000 m " ( GRIDELLI 1924). According to the original description, one of the type specimens is deposited in the Bernhauer collection, the other in the Ravasini collection. The latter was located in the collections of the MCSNT. Since it is a female, it is not designated as the lectotype. The syntype and the additional material listed above are not conspecific with A. laevigata , but represent a distinct species.

The details indicated in the original description of A. gridellii BERNHAUER 1936 , which is based on material from the same locality, probably even from the same sample ("Tomorica (Abas Ali), 1922, Ravasini"), as well as from " Mazedonien: Peristeri, Meschnigg" (BERNHAUER 1936), leave no doubt that this name is a synonym of A. lonae . In fact, it does not seem unlikely that the syntype of A. lonae in the Bernhauer collection is identical to one of the syntypes of A. gridellii .

Redescription:

Body length: 3.0- 5.8 mm. External characters as in A. laevigata , but distinguished as follows:

Elytra without reddish spot, either completely black or posteriorly with weakly delimited darkbrown area. Antennae on average shorter; antennomere IV transverse; X almost twice as wide as long.

♂: sternite VIII as in Fig. 114; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.72-0.95 mm long, at base of ventral process with pair of pronounced dark carinae ( Figs 115-117).

♀: spermatheca smaller, less slender, with longer distal cuticular intrusion, and with distal portion of capsule of different shape ( Fig. 118).

Distribution and bionomics:

Aleochara lonae is currently known only from the southern Balkans ( Albania, Macedonia, Greece) ( Map 4). All the records are from higher elevations (1690-2000 m).