Philhygra hygrotopora (Kraatz, 1856)

Webster, Reginald P., Klimaszewski, Jan, Bourdon, Caroline, Sweeney, Jon D., Hughes, Cory C. & Labrecque, Myriam, 2016, Further contributions to the Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) fauna of New Brunswick and Canada including descriptions of 27 new species, ZooKeys 573, pp. 85-216 : 130-133

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Philhygra hygrotopora (Kraatz, 1856) Figs 219-225

Philhygra hygrotopora (For description, see Strand and Vik 1964)

Material examined.

New Brunswick, Carleton Co., Jackson Falls, 46.2257°N, 67.7437°W, 12.IX.2009, R.P. Webster, coll. // River margin near waterfall, splashing moss near splash zone of waterfall (1 ♂, RWC); Belleville, Meduxnekeag Valley Nature Preserve, 46.1897°N, 67.6761°W, 31.VII.2009, R.P. Webster, coll. // Rich Appalachian Hardwood Forest, in gravel on margin of shaded spring-fed brook near small waterfall (1 ♂, RWC). Madawaska Co., Gagné Brook at First Lake, 47.6077°N, 68.2534°W, 23.VI.2010, M. Turgeon & R. Webster // northern hardwood forest, shaded brook, among gravel on gravel bar, splashing and turning gravel (1 ♂, RWC). Restigouche Co., Jacquet River Gorge P.N.A., 47.8010°N, 66.0968°W, 14.VIII.2010, R.P. Webster // Cold shaded brook, in gravel (1 ♀, RWC). Saint John Co., Saint John, Taylor’s Island, 45.2238°N, 66.1265°W, 24.VIII.2004, R.P. Webster, coll. // Sea beach, under decaying seaweed (1 ♂, 1 ♀, LFC; 1 ♂, RWC).

Diagnosis.

Body length 3.4 mm, narrow, subparallel; antennae, head, pronotum, and abdomen dark brown, legs and elytra yellowish brown (Fig. 219); integument not glossy; forebody with minute and dense punctation and dense pubescence; head rounded posterolaterally, with large eyes; antennae with articles V–X slightly elongate to subquadrate; pronotum transverse, slightly wider than head and slightly narrower than elytra, rounded anteriorly, with slight indentations posterolaterally, making the hind angles appear more angular, pubescence directed laterad on arcuate lines from midline of disk; elytra slightly transverse, with pubescence directed posterolaterad in waves; abdomen subparallel, narrower than elytra. Male. Median lobe of aedeagus with bulbus large, oval, tubus narrow, long and sinuate in lateral view (Fig. 220); internal sac with complex structures (Fig. 220); tergite VIII truncate apically (Fig. 221); sternite VIII parabolic (Fig. 222). Female. Tergite VIII with apical margin shallowly emarginate medially (Fig. 223); sternite VIII slightly produced apically (Fig. 224); spermatheca very small and not illustrated; pygidium as in Fig. 225.

Natural history.

In NB, Philhygra hygrotopora were found by splashing moss near the splash zone of a waterfall, in gravel on the margin of a shaded spring-fed brook near a waterfall, among gravel on a gravel bar along a shaded brook in a northern hardwood forest, and in gravel along a cold shaded brook. A few individuals were found under decaying seaweed on a sea beach. Adults were collected during June, July, August, and September.

Distribution in Canada and Alaska.

NB (New North American record). This is the first record of this species in North America.

Comments.

It is unclear if this is an adventive species in North America or a Holarctic one. The habitats that this species was found in are rarely sampled in North America and are not typical for adventive species.