Quedius (Raphirus) boops ( Gravenhorst, 1802 )

Assing, Volker, 2017, On the micropterous Quedius (Raphirus) species with a punctate scutellum of Turkey (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (2), pp. 1029-1039 : 1036-1037

Quedius (Raphirus) boops ( Gravenhorst, 1802)

Staphylinus boops GRAVENHORST, 1802: 21 f.

Philonthus boops tauricus NORDMANN, 1837: 78 ; nov.syn.

Quedius crius TOTTENHAM, 1948: 258 ; nov.syn.

Quedius boops islandicus FAGEL, 1960: 113 f.; nov.syn.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Quedius boops : Lectotype 3 [dissected prior to present study], present designation: "6255 / Braunschweig, Hellwig / Grav Type boops! / boops Gr. * Gyll. / Zool. Mus. Berlin / Lectotypus Staphylinus boops Gravenhorst, V. Gusarov des. 1993 / Quedius boops (Grav.) 3, V. I. Gusarov det. 1993 / Lectotypus 3 Staphylinus boops Gravenhorst , desig. V. Assing 2017 / Quedius boops (Gravenhorst) 3, det. V. Assing" ( MNB).

Quedius crius : Holotype 3: " Holotype / Quedius crius Tott. TYPE (Askwith, 1-v-1637 [sic], C.E. T. / C.E. Tottenham collection. B.M. 1974-587. / Quedius boops (Gravenhorst) , det. V. Assing 2017 " ( BMNH) . Paratypes: 233: same data as holotype, but labelled as paratypes (BMNH).

Quedius boops islandicus: Holotype 3 [dissected prior to present study]: "Island, Reynivellir 22.8.07. Dr. Gruner S.G. / Holotypus / G. Fagel det., 1959, Quedius boops islandicus nov. / Zool. Mus. Berlin / Quedius boops (Gravenhorst) , det. V. Assing 2017 " ( MNB) . Paratype ♀: same data as holotype, but labelled as paratype (MNB).

C o m m e n t: The original description of Q. boops is based on an unspecified number of syntypes without specified locality from " Mus. Prof. Hellwig" ( GRAVENHORST 1802). The sole syntype in the historical collection of the MNB was studied and labelled as lectotype by Vladimir Gusarov, but this designation was never published. The specimen, a male, is here designated as the lectotype.

According to SCHÜLKE & SMETANA (2015), the distribution of Q. boops tauricus is confined to Turkey. The original description of Philonthus boops " var. taurica " [sic], however, is based on an unspecified number of specimens collected "in Tauro-Chersoneso. (Coll. D. Stevenii)" ( NORDMANN 1837). Taurus Chersonesus is an old name for the Crimean Peninsula ( Ukraine) and not situated in the Taurus range, Turkey. According to HERMAN (2001b), there is only one subsequent record of Q. boops tauricus. KORGE (1964) tentatively recorded it from Soğanlı Geçidi, Bayburt, based on a single specimen. In the beginning of the passage on Q. boops tauricus (pp. 124 f.) he states that it is a male, but it can be inferred from the last sentence ("Zur endgültigen taxonomischen Wertung dieser Form muss der Fund eines 3 abgewartet werden."; p. 125) that the specimen is in fact a female. According to HORN et al. (1990), most of the Steven collection is deposited in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. A request for the loan of the type material remained unanswered. There are three specimens, two males and one female, of Q. boops from the Crimean Peninsula ("N-slope of Ai Petri Mt., 900 m, beech forest, 20-24.VII.2001, leg. Koval") in my collection. They are identical to Q. boops in every respect, both in external and the male sexual characters. It can be concluded, therefore, that the type material of Q. boops tauricus either refers to Q. boops or to a different species. In order to dispose of a doubtful name, the former option is preferred and Q. boops tauricus is synonymized with Q. boops . There is little doubt that the record by KORGE (1964) refers to Q. boops , a highly variable species. I have examined material of Q. boops from various provinces in North Anatolia (Düzce, Sakarya, Bolu, Kastamonu, Samsun, Ordu, Gümüşhane, Trabzon; all in cAss).

The original description of Quedius crius is based on a male holotype and three male paratypes from "Askwith (MY)", and an unspecified number of "specimens in the Sharp collection at the British Museum from Rannoch (PM), Arran (B), Dumfries and Morton Mains (DF), Polmont (SG), Garlochhead (DN), and Inverness-shire" ( TOTTENHAM 1948). The name was subsequently regarded as a synonym ( SMETANA 1962) or as a subspecies of Q. asturicus BERNHAUER, 1918 ( LOHSE 1964, COIFFAIT 1978, LUCHT 1987), and finally as a synonym of Q. reitteri (LOHSE & LUCHT 1989, HERMAN 2001b, SMETANA 2004, SCHÜLKE & SMETANA 2015), whereas POPE (1977) suspected it to be a synonym of Q. boops . An examination of the holotype and two paratypes from the type locality revealed that the aedeagus is identical to that of Q. boops , a species subject to intraspecific variation of body colour (ranging from reddish-brown to black) and also in the length of the elytra and of the hind wings (ranging from submacropterous to macropterous). According to an unpublished study of thousands of adult specimens of Q. boops in North Germany, only a small proportion of the material had fully developed wings and flight muscles. The relative elytral length (EL/PL) of the examined type material of Q. crius is 0.59-0.62 and thus well within the range of Q. boops , whereas that of Q. reitteri ranges from approximately 0.45 to 0.52. In consequence, Q. crius is placed in synonymy with Q. boops .

In the original description of Q. boops islandicus, which is based on a male holotype and three paratypes from " Island: Reynivellir", FAGEL (1960) gives some minor external characters (coloration, microsculpture, head width, shapes of antennomeres, coarser punctation of pronotum, relatively short elytra, elytral punctation coarser and less dense, abdominal punctation) distinguishing this taxon from the nominal subspecies and states that the aedeagus is identical. As mentioned before, Q. boops is highly variable regarding external characters (coloration, length of elytra, punctation, etc.). Moreover, the presence of a distinct subspecies in Iceland would be implausible from a zoogeographic point of view. An examination of the holotype and one female paratype revealed that they are well within the range of intraspecific variation of Q. boops . Hence, Q. boops islandicus is placed in synonymy with Q. boops .