Tetartopeus niger ( LECONTE 1863)

Assing, V., 2011, On some East Palaearctic Tetartopeus species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (2), pp. 1179-1197 : 1183-1185

Tetartopeus niger ( LECONTE 1863) ( Figs 11-21 )

Lathrobium nigrum LECONTE 1863: 43 .

Lathrobium cognatum SHARP 1889: 257 ; nov.syn.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d Lathrobium cognatum : Lectotype, present designation: "Chiuzenji. Japan. 24.8.81. Lewis, Lathrobium cognatum Type D. S. [written next to specimen] / Japan. G. Lewis. / Syntype / Sharp Coll 1905-313. / Lathrobium cognatum Sharp, P.M. Hammond det. 1979 / Lectotype Lathrobium cognatum Sharp, des LE Watrous 1980 / Lathrobium nigrum Lec., Gusarov det. 1993 / Lectotypus Lathrobium cognatum Sharp , desig. V. Assing 2011 / Tetartopeus niger (LeConte) , det. V. Assing 2011" (BMNH). Paralectotype: "Chiuzenji. Japan. 24.8.81. Lewis, Lathrobium cognatum Type D. S. [written next to specimen] / Japan. G. Lewis. / Type / Sharp Coll 1905-313. / Paralectotypus Lathrobium cognatum Sharp, V. Gusarov des. 1993 / Lathrobium nigrum Lec., Gusarov det. 1993" (BMNH). A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Russia:1, Khabarovskiy Kray, 30 km S

Khabarovsk, Bychika, bank of Ussuri river , 11.-12.VI.1990, leg. Schawaller (cSch) ; 2, 1,

Khabarovskiy Kray, 20 km N Bikin, 3 km SE Boitsovo, 47°02'N, 134°21'E, 250 m, 26.V.1993,

leg. Zerche ( SDEI, cSch) ; 1, Khabarovskiy Kray , 10 km N Bikin, Boitsovo, Shivki mt., 47°05'N ,

134°18'E, 200 m, 27.V.1993, leg. Zerche ( SDEI) ; 1, 3, Primorskiy Kray, 5 km SE Samarka ,

70 km N Chuguyevka, Gordeyevskaya mountain, 44°46'N, 134°13'E, 300 m, 29.V.1993, leg.

Zerche (SDEI, cSch); 1, 10 km SW Samarka, 70 km N Chuguyevka, Gordeyevskaya mt.,

44°46'N, 134°13'E, 300 m, 29.V.1993, leg. Zerche ( SDEI) ; 1, Primorskiy Kray, Lazovsky R .,

Lazo, Lazovka valley , 1.-12.VI.1998, leg. Sundukov (cSch) ; 1, Primorskiy Kray, Ussuriysky

reserve, Komarovo-Zapovednoe, 43°39'N, 132°21'E, 20.-29.VII.1999, leg. Sundukov (cAss); 1,

Primorskiy Kray, 15 km S Ussuriysk , 43°40'N, 132°00'E, 100 m, 23.V.1993, leg. Zerche ( SDEI) ;

1 [teneral], Ussuriysky reserve, 30 km SE Ussriysk, " 43,3N 132,0E ", 28.VII.-1.VIII.1993, leg.

Groll & Kutzscher ( SDEI) ; 1, Primorskiy Kray, Tschernye Gory, Venedivnovo , 1.-3.VIII.1990 ,

leg. Pütz (SDEI); 1, Primorskiy Kray, Sikhote-Alin, Biological Station 30 km SE Chuguyevka,

44°05'N, 134°12'E, 650 m, 1.VI.1993, leg. Zerche ( SDEI) ; 2 [with relatively short elytra],

Sakhalin, Korsakov distr., lake Ismenshyroye , 21.-22.VII.1993, leg. Pütz & Wrase (cSch, cAss) ;

1, Sakhalin, Tymovskiy district, 10 km S Palevo, Zonalnoye vill., 15.-19.VII.1993, leg. Pütz &

Wrase (SDEI); 1: Kamchatka, lake Savo [Sevo?], Mitkovo [?], 2.VIII.1991, leg. Predel (cAss) .

U.S.A.: 2, 1 [1 teneral], Alaska, Kenai Peninsula, Soldatna, Sterling, Scout Lake Woods,

lakeshore, 23.VIII.2009, leg. Renner (cAss); 1, Alaska, Kenai Peninsula, Homer, Mattox Street,

moist meadow, 22.VI.2007, leg. Renner (cAss).

C o m m e n t: Lathrobium nigrum was described from an unspecified number of specimens collected at "Lake Superior" ( LECONTE 1863). A lectotype was designated by WATROUS (1980), who provided a detailed redescription and illustrations of the male and female sexual characters.

The original description of Lathrobium cognatum is based on "six examples" from "Chiuzenji, 24th August" ( SHARP 1889); a holotype was not designated. Two syntypes, a male and a female, were located in the collections of the BMNH; both of them had been dissected prior to the present study. They have lectotype and paralectotype labels by L. Watrous (male; 1980) and V. Gusarov (female; 1993), respectively, attached to them, but a lectotype designation was never published. The male is here designated as the lectotype. According to the identification labels attached to the two type specimens, V. Gusarov considered them to be conspecific with Tetartopeus niger . A comparison with material from Russia and from the north of North America (Alaska), as well as with the illustrations and descriptive details provided by WATROUS (1980) confirms this synonymy .

D i a g n o s i s: Relatively large species; length of forebody 3.6-4.5 mm. Body uniformly blackish, occasionally with diffuse and indistinct yellowish spots in posterolateral angles of elytra; legs blackish-brown to blackish, with reddish tarsi. Elytra of variable length, slightly longer or slightly shorter than pronotum ( Figs 11-12 ).

: tergite and sternite VIII as in Figs 13-14 ; aedeagus rather large, 1.6-1.8 mm long ( Figs 15-16 ); dorsal plate very long and apically rounded in dorsal view ( Fig. 17 ); internal sac with pronounced sclerotized structures ( Fig. 18 ).

: tergite VIII strongly produced posteriorly ( Fig. 19 ); sternite VIII conspicuously long, posterior margin produced and weakly concave in the middle ( Fig. 20 ); tergite X ( Fig. 21 ) relatively large, strongly convex in cross-section, and with median carina posteriorly.

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: AccordingtoWATROUS (1980), the coloration of the body is uniformly black. Many of the specimens seen from the Russian Far East and Japan, however, have the postero-external angles of the elytra, some of them also the narrow posterior margin, diffusely yellowish. The length of the elytra is subject to some variation, too. In the two females from Sakhalin ( Fig. 12 ) and in some specimens from Alaska, the elytra are shorter than the pronotum, in the remainder they are somewhat longer than the pronotum ( Fig. 11 ), suggesting that the species may be wing-dimorphic.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Tetartopeus niger has a Holarctic distribution. In the Palaearctic region, it is confined to the Russian Far East and Japan.

Figures

Figs 11-21: Tetartopeus niger (LECONTE) (14, 16-18: lectotype of T. cognatus): (11-12) forebody of specimens from Primorskiy Kray (11) and from Sakhalin (12); (13) male tergite VIII; (14) male sternite VIII; (15) aedeagus in lateral view; (16) ventral process of aedeagus in lateral view; (17) dorsal plate of aedeagus; (18) internal structures of aedeagus (extruded); (19) female tergite VIII; (20) female sternite VIII; (21) female tergite X. Scale bars: 11-12: 1.0 mm; 13-17, 19-21: 0.5 mm; 18: 0.2 mm.