Microsaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976

Lackner, Tomáš, 2010, Review of the Palaearctic genera of Saprininae (Coleoptera: Histeridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 50, pp. 1-254 : 150-151

Microsaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976 , stat. nov.

Microsaprinus Kryzhanovskij, 1976 in KRYZHANOVSKIJ & REICHARDT (1976) : 126, 184 (as a subgenus of Saprinus ). Microsaprinus: MAZUR (1984) : 63; SECQ & SECQ (1995): 30; MAZUR (1997): 231; YÉLAMOS (2002): 260, 292; MAZUR (2004): 96.

Type species: Saprinus therondianus Dahlgren, 1973 , original designation.

Diagnosis. Body conspicuously small for the subfamily (1.40–2.00 mm), roundly oval, cuticle light brown to yellow without metallic luster; eyes inconspicuous; frontal stria widely interrupted medially (occasionally shortly present); pre-apical foveae absent; protibiae slightly dilated, outer margin with row of short denticles, teeth absent; meso- and metatibiae slender. Aedeagi of Microsaprinus therondianus ( Dahlgren, 1973) and M. bonnairei ( Fairmaire, 1884) with parameres dorsally not fused almost along its entire length; eighth sternite of males of all known species widely separated, sickle-shaped.

Differential diagnosis. By its small size the species of this genus could be confused with several small species of the genus Hypocacculus , but by the absence of pre-apical foveae and widely interrupted frontal stria they are easily separated from them.

Taxonomy. This genus has formerly been a subgenus of the genus Saprinus Erichson, 1834 . However, already Kryzhanovskij ( KRYZHANOVSKIJ & REICHARDT 1976: 184) suggested that it might be elevated to generic rank. I fully agree with this opinion and elevate here Microsaprinus to generic rank.

Biology. Microsaprinus is a poorly studied genus, absent in many large collections of the Histeridae . According to KRYZHANOVSKIJ & REICHARDT (1976), specimens of M. therondianus were collected in the burrows of rodents, mainly ground squirrels ( Spermophilus spp.); one specimen was even collected on the flower of Chondrilla sp. ( Asteraceae ). The holotype of M. gomyi Secq & Secq, 1995 was found in an empty swimming pool ( SECQ & SECQ 1995). Microsaprinus is probably an inquilinous taxon, rarely reported in the literature.

Distribution. Palaearctic taxon, with four described species. Three species occur in the Mediterranean basin and fourth is distributed across Central Asia to Mongolia ( MAZUR 1997).

Species examined. Microsaprinus bonairii ( Fairmaire, 1884) comb. nov., M. gomyi ( Secq & Secq, 1995) comb. nov., M. pastoralis ( Jacquelin-Duval, 1852) comb. nov., M. therondianus ( Dahlgren, 1973) comb. nov.

Discussion. Microsaprinus is probably a monophyletic taxon well supported by two putative autapomorphies, e.g. special form of the sensory structures of the antenna, and the peculiar form of the 8 th sternite of males. The widely separated parameres of the aedeagi of the two of its species suggest that it might be an ancestral taxon (separated parameres are presumably a plesiomorphic condition).