Liogluta nitens (Mӓklin, 1852)

Klimaszewski, Jan, Webster, Reginald P., Langor, David W., Sikes, Derek, Bourdon, Caroline, Godin, Benoit & Ernst, Crystal, 2016, A review of Canadian and Alaskan species of the genus Liogluta Thomson, and descriptions of three new species (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), ZooKeys 273, pp. 217-256 : 229-230

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Liogluta nitens (Mӓklin, 1852) Figs 44-49

Homalota nitens Mӓklin, 1852: 307. As Liogluta : Lohse and Smetana 1985: 288.

Liogluta nitens (male): USA, Alaska: Sitcha [Sitka], Holmberg, coll Mӓklin; Homalota nitens Mkln., Sitka pr. Hlm. Berg (ZMH). Designated by Lohse and Smetana (1985).

Liogluta apposita (Casey, 1911). Synonymized by Gusarov 2003b [type locality BC: Metlakatla].

Liogluta insolens (Casey, 1910). Synonymized by Gusarov 2003b [type locality BC: Queen Charlotte Islands: Massett].

Liogluta resplendens (Casey, 1910). Synonymized by Gusarov 2003b [type locality: BC: Queen Charlotte Islands].

New locality data.

CANADA: Alberta: 28 km NW Hinton, 0.5 km S of Rock Lake Road, 53.524°N, 117.957°W, Ecosite Surrogacy Study, Ecoregion: UF, Ecosite C2, Stand C205, pitfall trap 2, 5, 14.V-4.VI.2004, J. Hammond et al. (1 ♂, 9 ♀, NoFC); same data except: 30.VII-13.VIII.2004, pitfall trap 5 (3 ♂, 2 ♀, NoFC); 23.1 km NW Hinton, W.A. Switzer Prov. Pk., 53.560°N, 117.808°W, Ecosite Surrogacy Study, Ecoregion: UF, Ecosite F2, Stand F214, pitfall trap 5, 31.VII-13.VIII.2004, J. Hammond et al. (1 ♂, NoFC); same data except: Stand F216, pitfall trap 4 (1 ♀, NoFC); 32 km NW Hinton, 0.5 km E Wild Hay Campgr., 53.529°N, 117.946°W, Ecosite Surrogacy Study, Ecoregion: UF, Ecosite F2, Stand F216, pitfall trap 3, 16-30.VII.2004, J. Hammond et al. (1 ♂, 1 ♀, NoFC); same data except: pitfall trap 4, 30.VII-13.VIII.2004 (1 ♂, NoFC); 57 km N Hinton, 1.5 km W of J. Wright Rd., 53.921°N, 117.617°W, Ecosite F1, Stand F101, pitfall trap 2, 28.VII-11.VIII.204, J. Hammond et al. (2 ♀, NoFC); 62 km N Hinton, 5 km W of J. Wright Rd., 53.969°N, 117.668°W, Stand F105, 30.VI-14.VII.2004, J. Hammond et al. (1 ♀, NoFC); same data except: 53.921°N, 117.663°W, Stand F202, pitfall trap 1, 28.VII-11.VIII.2004, J. Hammond et al. (1 ♂, NoFC).

Diagnosis.

This species may be distinguished by the following combination of characters: body narrowly elongate, robust, dark-brown to black with elytra, tarsi and tibiae often yellowish- or reddish-brown (Fig. 44); length 2.8-3.3 mm; integument of forebody with moderately pronounced meshed microsculpture, surface highly glossy (Fig. 44); head about one-eighth narrower than maximum width of pronotum (Fig. 44); pronotum transverse, about evenly wide in basal half and then distinctly narrowing anteriad (Fig. 44); elytra at suture about as long as pronotum (Fig. 44); basal four articles of metatarsus about same length, each shorter than fifth article. Male. Tergite VIII with short subrectangular projection on more than half width of apical margin, with rounded lateral angles, apical margin smooth or micro-crenulate (Fig. 46); sternite VIII parabolically rounded apically (Fig. 47); median lobe of aedeagus with tubus almost straight in lateral view, with apex moderately narrow, rounded (Fig. 45). Female. Tergite VIII truncate apically (Fig. 48); sternite VIII with apical margin evenly rounded, antecostal suture slightly sinuate (Fig. 49). Spermatheca unknown.

Natural history.

Adults were captured using pitfall traps in Carmanah Valley, Vancouver Island, from June to September, with the peak catch in June ( Klimaszewski and Winchester 2002). They were found mainly in the interior and transition zones of a Sitka spruce forest ( Klimaszewski and Winchester 2002). Several adults were collected from moss at the edge of an old road in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. In Alberta, adults were collected in pitfall traps in various forest types in the Upper Cordilleran Ecoregion. Adults in Alaska were collected in a wide variety of habitats spanning lowland forests to alpine zones: alpine meadow litter, lowland forest clearcuts, floodplain meadows with Athyrium , Caltha , and Rubus , under rocks, in krummholz alpine habitats of Tsuga mertensiana , near bear dung in alpine habitats, old growth temperate rain coniferous forests, alpine heath with Empetrum , and Vaccinium , subalpine habitats with Salix , and Veratrum .

Distribution.

Canada: AB, BC, YT. USA: AK, OR, WA ( Mӓklin 1852, Bernhauer 1907, Hatch 1957, Moore and Legner 1975, Lohse and Smetana 1985, Klimaszewski and Winchester 2002).

Comments.

There is considerable variation in length and width of elytra in specimens from Vancouver Island, Oregon (having broader and longer elytra), and those with narrow and shorter elytra from the Queen Charlotte Islands, Alberta, and Alaska. The genitalic features were the same in those of the typical form with the longer and broader elytra, and those with narrower and shorter elytra. Therefore, we consider this as intraspecific variation. Additional studies, including DNA comparison, are needed to reveal the relationship between these two morphotypes. Two UAM Alaskan specimens (UAM:Ento:152502, UAM:Ento:232546) were DNA barcoded (UAMIC2665-15, UAMIC2701-15) and they cluster closely with two specimens of this species DNA barcoded from Alberta, Canada.