Stereophilus filicornis (Reitter, 1887) gen. et comb. nov.

Fig. 1

Atritomus filicornis Reitter, 1887b: 288 .

Atritomus boissyi Caillol, 1925: 101 .

Parabaptistes filicornis – auctorum.

Eulagius filicornis – auctorum.

New records

FRANCE • 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀; Haute-Garonne, Forêt de Rieumes; 3 Sep. 1993; J. Rogé leg.; MZUF • 6 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Pyrénées-Orientales, Forêt de Sorède; 13 Jun 2004; F. Wachtel leg.; CES .

ITALY • 1 ♂; Tuscany, Collesalvetti (LI), Nugola, Bosco Malenchini; 43°34′54″ N, 10°27′30″ E; alt. 45 m; 14 Jul. 2012; S. Cuoco leg.; on dry branches of Quercus cerris L.; ABB • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 13 Aug. 2012; S. Cuoco leg.; sifting litter in a Turkey oak wood; ABB • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Tuscany, Collesalvetti (LI), Nugola, Bosco Macchia Grossa; 43°35′27″ N, 10°26′54″ E; alt. 40 m; 8 May 2016; S. Cuoco leg.; sifting litter in a Turkey oak wood; CSC • 1 ♀; same collection data as preceding; ABB • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 18 Jun. 2016; S. Cuoco leg.; on Fraxinus ornus L.; CSC • 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; 1 Jul. 2016; S. Cuoco leg.; on Fraxinus ornus L.; CSC • 1 ♀; Tuscany, Livorno, Antignano, Mt Burrone; 43°29′16″ N, 10°20′10″ E; alt. 95 m; 12 May 2013; S. Cuoco leg.; on Erica arborea L.; ABB • 3 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; CSC • 1 ♀; Tuscany, Livorno, Bellosguardo, Via di Popogna (SP8) km 6.7; 43°30′41″ N, 10°23′18″ E; alt. 130 m; 21 May 2013; S. Cuoco leg.; on branches of Quercus ilex L.; CSC • 1 ♂; Calabria, Aspromonte, San Giorgio Morgeto (RC), Mt Campanaro; 38°21′58.1″ N, 16°06′36.5″ E; alt. 693 m; 28 May 2018; A.B. Biscaccianti, F. Manti and E. Castiglione leg.; inside a hollow on Quercus suber L.; ABB .

Remarks

Stereophilus filicornis gen. et comb. nov. occurs in western and southern Europe and western North Africa. The species was described from specimens collected in Algeria, and was later also reported from Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and Tunisia (Recalde Irurzun & Pérez-Moreno 2007; Bonamie et al. 2010; Bouyon 2014; Gielen & Smets 2020; Nikitsky 2020; Bleich & Gürlich 2021; Háva 2021; Eisinger in press, all sub Eulagius). It has been imported to Great Britain, where it seems to be established (Harrison 1996; Foster 2001, 2013; Booth 2012; Denton & Dodd 2013; Nikitsky 2020, all sub Eulagius).

The biology and ecology of Stereophilus filicornis gen. et comb. nov. are poorly known: some authors report catches from under bark on dead trunks, on woody debris of old trees, and by beating dead branches of broadleaf trees such as Castanea sativa Mill., Quercus canariensis Willd. (= mirbeckii Durieu), Q. robur L., Q. suber L. (Caillol 1925, sub Atritomus; Peyerimhoff 1926, sub Parabaptistes; Labatut et al. 2014, sub Eulagius); only Freeman (2003, sub Parabaptistes) reported a series of specimens reared from carpophores of Stereum hirsutum (Willd.) Pers. ( Russulales, Stereaceae), sampled from Fagus sylvatica L. The single specimen here reported from southern Italy, Calabria (Aspromonte) was found by sifting wood mould, woody debris, and Daedaleopsis nitida (Durieu & Mont.) Zmitr. & Malysheva ( Polyporales, Polyporaceae) carpophores, likely its local host fungus, collected from inside a large hollow on a Quercus suber trunk. The site is a mesophile cork oak mixed forest, referred to the Helleboro-Quercetum suberis association (Signorello 1984; Mercurio & Spampinato 2001). The habitat of Stereophilus filicornis gen. et comb. nov. in Tuscan sites is represented by fragments of hilly submesophile woodland dominated by Castanea sativa and Quercus cerris L. (Nugola municipality: Bosco Malenchini and Bosco Macchia Grossa) and mosaics of Mediterranean maquis, holm oak and Aleppo pine woods (Antignano and Bellosguardo municipalities) (V. Lazzeri, pers. comm.).

Our records are the first of this species for Italy. According to Tempère (1974, sub Parabaptistes), the species could also be present in Sicily. However, no source was provided and the occurrence of Stereophilus filicornis gen. et comb. nov. in Sicily remains unconfirmed.