Stenus (Nestus) europaeus Puthz, 1966

Ryvkin, Alexandr B., 2014, Stenus (Nestus) Pluvius Sp. N., With Notes On Some Related Species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Steninae), Acta Biologica Universitatis Daugavpiliensis 14 (2), pp. 187-205 : 197-198

Stenus (Nestus) europaeus Puthz, 1966 nomen protectum europaeus Puthz,1966: 113

europaeus ; Monsyavitchus, 1986: 38 europaeus ; Ádám & Hegyessy, 2001: 123 europaeus ; Herman, 2001b: 2170

europaeus ; Bordoni, 2004: 121

europaeus ; Semenov, 2004: 12

europaeus ; Smetana, 2004: 556

europaeus ; Gontarenko, 2011: 23

europaeus ; Bukhkalo & al., 2012: 349 europaeus ; Puthz, 2012: 304 submarginatus Stephens, 1833: 295 nomen oblitum submarginatus ; Stephens, 1839: 414 submarginatus ; Waterhouse, 1855: 149 submarginatus ; Waterhouse, 1858: 28 submarginatus ; Rye, 1864: 63

New material examined. FRANCE: 1 male ( ZIN): ‘Paris. 4132’ [‘ Stenus submarginatus Steph. ’]-2.[‘4132 submarginatus Steph. ’].— RUSSIA: TVER AREA: 2 males, 6 females ( AR): Konakovskiy District, Donkhovka. 29.05.1983. V.B.Semenov leg.— 2 males ( AR): same locality and collector. 15.06.1984.— 1 male, 1 female ( AR): same locality and collector. 24.06.1984.— LENINGRAD AREA: 1 male ( ZIN): St.- Petersburg Government, Luzhskiy Uyezd [District], Preobrazhenskaya. 02.05.1905. D.Glazunov leg.— 1 female ( ZIN): Petrograd, Smolenskoye cemetery. 11.04.1920. A.A.Stackelberg leg. [ ‘ vafellus Er. L.Benick det.’].— 1 male ( ZIN): same locality and collector. 05.05.1905.— 2 males, 1 female ( AR): W of Lebyazhye, 68th km. 19.05.1985. I.A.Ushakov leg.— KHANTY-MANSI AUTONOMOUS REGION: 1 male ( AR): Surgutskiy District, Surgutskiy Nature Refuge, Ob’ River basin, Materikovyi Pasl Channel. Bank of rill flowing into channel: near water (clay), Carex sp. , Poaceae gen. sp., Veronica? longifolia , Asteraceae gen. sp., small mosses. 08.08.2000. A.B.Ryvkin leg.— 1 male, 3 females ( AR): Surgutskiy District, Yuganskiy Nature Reserve, Malyi Yugan River, 1 km up-stream of Vuya-Yany River mouth. Moss and litter at hummocks on flood-plain swamp with Carex spp. , Comarum palustre , Betula , Filipendula ulmaria , Poaceae gen. sp., Plagiomnium sp. etc. 13.08.1998. A.B.Ryvkin leg.— 1 male ( AR): Surgutskiy District, near Ugut, Kinyaminskoye Lake, moss and litter among Carex spp. and Poaceae at lakeside. 06.08.2002. A.B.Ryvkin leg.— TYUMEN AREA: 4 males, 2 females ( AR): Uvatskiy District, 11 km S of Gornoslinkino, near Tobolsk Field Research Station of Severtsov Institute, flood-plain of Missiinka River near mouth, in litter under Salix sp. 18.09.2003. A.B.Ryvkin leg.— 1 male, 1 female ( AR): same locality and collector, sweeping on Carex spp. , Comarum palustre , Mentha sp. , Lythrum sp. , Stachys sp. etc. 18.09.2003.— 1 female ( AR): Uvatskiy District, 10 km S of Gornoslinkino, near Tobolsk Field Research Station of Severtsov Institute, in litter under Salix sp. with Poaceae , Carex sp. , Filipendula ulmaria , Lamiaceae gen. sp. etc. 26.09.2003. A.B.Ryvkin leg.— 1 male ( AR): same locality and collector, among Carex spp. and Poaceae gen. sp. at border of flood-plain of Varpak River. 26.09.2003.— 4 males ( AR): same locality and collector, plant debris and leaf litter at margin of inundated flood-plain of Varpak River: Carex sp. , Poaceae , Lythrum sp. , Salix sp. on gentle slope, aspen trees on steep slope, depression in the ground with aspen leaf drift. 07.06.2004.— 5 males, 3 females ( AR): same locality and collector, willow leaf litter at margin of inundated flood-plain of Varpak River. 05.06.2004.

Remarks. There have been countless misinterpretations, misidentifications and a great deal of mere confusion in taxonomic history of the names of Stenus cautus , S. vafellus , and S. submarginatus , that we can see from the literature ( Puthz 1966, Allen 1978, Herman 2001a, etc) and from the respective New material examined sections above. After Puthz synonymized real S. vafellus with real S. cautus and named S. europaeus for the species which had been mistakenly treated as cautus by L. Benick (1915b, 1917) and a part of the subsequent continental authors, the name S. submarginatus , having been treated as a synonym of S. vafellus (in spite of violating the Principle of priority), was groundlessly ignored for a long time until Herman (2001a, 2001b) formally synonymized it as a nomen oblitum with S. cautus . But the last decision seems unsatisfactory for the following reasons. Stenus submarginatus was originally described from England (London, Bristol, New Forest); but it has been shown that Stenus cautus is not represented in Great Britain ( Allen 1978, Puthz 2010). It is quite evident that the British authors, when having synonymized S. submarginatus with S. vafellus (or rather S. vafellus with S. submarginatus ), have meant under the latter name the species which is known at present as S. europaeus Puthz , the only species belonging to this complex and really distributed in Britain, not true S. vafellus which is a synonym of S. cautus . Thus, S. europaeus Puthz, 1966 is a junior synonym of S. submarginatus Stephens, 1833 . The name S. submarginatus Stephens has not been used as a valid name after 1899 (Article 23.9.1 of ICZN). The name S. europaeus Puthz ‘has been used for a particular taxon, as its presumed valid name, in at least 25 works, published by at least 10 authors in the immediately preceding 50 years and encompassing a span of not less than 10 years’ (Article 23.9.2 of ICZN). I have found 27 such works by 20 authors: 10 references above and 17 references in Herman (2001b): p.2170. Therefore Stenus submarginatus Stephens, 1833 is a nomen oblitum and Stenus europaeus Puthz, 1966 is a nomen protectum.

This Euro-Siberian species is known to me eastwards up to the Middle Siberia: the Yenisey River basin ( Ryvkin 2000).