Gnypeta helenae Casey, 1906

Brunke, Adam J., Klimaszewski, Jan, Dorval, Julie-Anne, Bourdon, Caroline, Paiero, Steven M. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2012, New species and distributional records of Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from Ontario, Canada, with a checklist of recorded species, ZooKeys 186, pp. 119-206 : 130

Gnypeta helenae Casey, 1906 New Ontario Record Fig. 20Map 20 genitalia in Klimaszewski et al. (2008b)

Material examined.

CANADA: ON:Hald.-Norfolk Reg., Cronmiller prop., ~6km W St. Williams, 42°40'20"N, 80°29'29"W, eutrophic pond edge, 17.viii.2011, A. Brunke, 1 (DEBU), same data except S.M. Paiero, 1 (DEBU).

Distribution.

Canada: BC, AB, ON; USA: AZ, MT, NM, OR ( Moore and Legner 1975; Klimaszewski et al. 2008). Native.

Comments.

This is the first record of this species from eastern North America. Gnypeta helenae is indistinguishable externally from Gnypeta canadensis Klimaszewski, which was described based on characters of the male and female genitalia ( Klimaszewski et al. 2008b). The authors noted that a wide geographic range of specimens was not available for examination and further study may necessitate re-examination of these species concepts. Study of recent material of both species from the same locality in Haldimand-Norfolk Region, Ontario, Canada confirmed that Gnypeta helenae and Gnypeta canadensis are indeed separate but cryptic species. Specimens of Gnypeta helenae with label data have been collected on the banks of rivers and lakes and from a eutrophic pond edge (Ontario specimen), while those of Gnypeta canadensis were collected in forested wetland habitats and some of these were hand collected from moss on deadwood (Ontario material). Further collecting in wet microhabitats may reveal ecological differences in these two species.