Atheta (Tetropla) nigritula ( Gravenhorst, 1802 )

Gusarov, Vladimir I., 2003, Revision of some types of North American aleocharines (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), with synonymic notes, Zootaxa 353 (1), pp. 1-134 : 60-61

Atheta (Tetropla) nigritula ( Gravenhorst, 1802)

( Fig. 117 in Strand & Vik, 1964; Fig. 7 , p. 154 in Benick & Lohse 1974)

Aleochara nigritula Gravenhorst, 1802: 85 .

Homalota socialis Erichson, 1839 , var. c: 103 (as valid name for Aleochara nigritula Gravenhorst, 1802 ).

Homalota (Tetropla) nigritula: Mulsant & Rey, 1874a: 529 (as valid species).

Atheta (s. str.) nigritula: Bernhauer & Scheerpeltz, 1926: 646 (as valid species).

Atheta (s. str.) nigritula: Strand & Vik, 1964: 331 (as valid species).

Atheta (Tetropla) nigritula: Benick & Lohse, 1974: 154 (as valid species).

(Other references are omitted)

Type material. Lectotype of Aleochara nigritula (here designated): ♀ (with the head and pronotum missing), “var. c. A. nigritula Gr. ”, “ nigritula Gr. ” ( ZMHB).

Additional material. UKRAINE: Crimea: Simferopol’ distr.: 10 specimens, Krasnoles’ye , 400 m, in rotting wood and on mushrooms, 27.v.1990 (V.I.Gusarov) ( SPSU) ; Ivano­Frankovsk Reg.: 7 specimens, Nadvornaya, on polypore mushrooms, 6.viii.1978 (S.Mosyakin) ( SPSU) .

Diagnosis. See Benick & Lohse (1974).

Discussion. The types of Ale. nigritula were examined to clarify the status of At. frosti and At. nigritula . The historic collection at ZMHB which contains the Gravenhorst types has several specimens arranged as Aleochara nigritula in the following order: the label at the bottom of the drawer “var. c. A. nigritula Gr. ” is followed by 11 specimens: 1) ♀ (with the head and pronotum missing), labeled “ nigritula Gr. ”; 2) ♀, without labels; 3) ♀, without labels; 4) ♂, without labels; 5) ♀, without labels; 6) a specimen labeled “ fungicola Kraatz”; 7) a specimen without labels; 8) a specimen labeled “var. d”; 9) a specimen without labels; 10) a specimen labeled “Sard. Géné”; 11) a specimen labeled “Ural Er.”. These 11 specimens complete the row. The next row starts with a label at the bottom of the drawer “var.?” which is followed by 7 specimens: 12–15) four unlabeled specimens, 16) a specimen labeled “Aust. …[illegible]”; 17–18) two specimens mounted on the same card labeled “Pallau H. socialis var. nigra Gve. ”. Apparently, the specimens listed above had been arranged by Erichson, who described Homalota socialis Erichson, 1839 and listed Aleochara nigritula Gravenhorst as “Var. c” of H. socialis . Therefore only the specimens (Nos. 1–7) which follow the label “var. c” qualify as potential syntypes of Aleochara nigritula . My examination of these seven specimens demonstrated that only specimen No. 1 belongs to At. nigritula in the commonly used sense (e. g., Strand & Vik 1964; Benick & Lohse 1974); specimens No. 2 and No. 5 belong to At. pallidicornis ( Thomson, 1856) ; specimen No. 3 belongs to Dalotia coriaria ( Kraatz, 1856) ; specimen No. 4 belongs to At. gagatina (Baudi, 1848) ; specimen No. 6 is not conspecific with At. nigritula and has the pronotal pubescence of type I; specimen No. 7 is not conspecific with At. nigritula and has the pronotal pubescence of type II. Specimen No. 1 was selected as the lectotype of Aleochara nigritula . The spermatheca of that specimen matches the illustrations by Strand and Vik (1964: Fig. 117 ) and Benick and Lohse (1974, p. 154: Fig. 7 ).

Atheta nigritula ( Gravenhorst, 1802) is the types species of the subgenus Tetropla Mulsant & Rey, 1874a (by subsequent designation, fixed by Blackwelder (1952)).

Distribution. Atheta nigritula is a common European species associated with fungi. It has been reported from North America ( Bernhauer 1907; Bernhauer & Scheerpeltz 1926) but, to the best of my knowledge, does not occur there. The examined North American specimens formerly identified as At. nigritula turned out to be At. frosti Bernhauer, 1909 , a closely related but separate species.

Figures

FIGURES 116–119. Abdominal segment 8 of Boreophilia angusticornis (Bernhauer) (male, lectotype of Atheta angusticornis (116–117); and female, lectotype of Metaxya plutonica Casey (118–119)). 116 — male tergum 8; 117 — male sternum 8; 118 — female tergum 8; 119 — female sternum 8. Scale bar 0.4 mm.

FIGURES 5–9. Genitalia of Tinotus acerbus (Casey) (lectotype of Acrimea acerba (5–8) and lectotype of Acri. resecta (9)). 5 — median lobe, parameral view; 6 — median lobe with details of retracted internal sac, abparameral view; 7 — median lobe, lateral view; 8 — median lobe with details of retracted internal sac, lateral view; 9 — spermatheca. Scale bar 0.1 mm (9), 0.2 mm (5– 8).

FIGURES 147–154. Genitalia of Strigota ambigua (Erichson) (male, paralectotype of St. gnava Casey (149–154); and female, lectotype of St. oppidana Casey (147–148)). 147–148 — spermatheca (of the same specimen; different views); 149 — median lobe, parameral view; 150 — apex of median lobe, parameral view; 151 — median lobe, lateral view; 152 — apex of median lobe, lateral view; 153–154 — apex of median lobe with retracted internal sac, lateral view. Scale bar 0.1 mm (150, 152), 0.2 mm (147–149, 151, 153–154).