ORPHILUS aegeanUS Holloway and

Holloway, Graham J., Foster, Christopher W. & Herrmann, Andreas, 2024, The Genus Orphilus Erichson, 1846 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) in Europe, The Coleopterists Bulletin 78 (2), pp. 117-124 : 119

ORPHILUS aegeanUS Holloway and

Herrmann, 2023

Orphilus aegeanus ( Fig. 1A ) mean ♂ BL = 3.45 ± 0.15 (standard deviation) mm (n = 6, max = 3.6 mm, min = 3.25 mm), mean ♂ BW = 2.17 ± 0.08 mm, mean ♂ BW/EL = 0.913 ± 0.029. Mean ♀ BL = 3.62 ± 0.1 mm (n = 3, max = 3.7 mm, min = 3.5 mm), mean ♀ BW = 2.23 ± 0.08 mm, mean ♀ BW/EL = 0.895 ± 0.054. Females are slightly larger than males, but perhaps because of the small sample sizes there was no statistically significant difference between male and female BL and between male and female BW (t = 1.98, t = 1.18, respectively, df = 7, not significant [ns] in both cases). There is no evidence of a difference in shape (BW/EL) between adult males and females (t = 0.65, df = 7, ns). The integument is hard, black, and heavily punctate.

The antenna ( Fig. 1B ) is reddish brown, asymmetrical, and pubescent. The example shown in Fig. 1B is 230 µm long and 137 µm across antennomere 10.

The aedeagus is nearly parallel-sided for most of its length ( Fig. 2A ) before angling in sharply to the paramere tips. The median lobe is broad, narrowing gradually from the base to the tip with a “tooth” at the tip on its ventral surface ( Fig. 2B ). The apex of the median lobe narrows to a blunt tip and projects beyond the attachment of the tooth. The ventral surface of the parameres bears no more than a few small, scattered setae.

The styli at the tip of the ovipositor ( Fig. 3A ) are hard, brown, heavily sclerotized, claw-like structures. The dorsal “claw” bears four slender setae on the dorsal surface. The distance between the tips of the stylus shown in Fig. 3A is 83 µm. Fig. 3B shows an example of tergite X. Tergite X is strongly bilobed posteriorly with both lobes carrying an array of slender setae on the posterior and dorsal surfaces. The tergite shown in Fig. 3B is 192 µm long and 202 µm wide.

The current known distribution for O. aegeanus is limited to coastal regions of Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

Fig. 1. Orphilus aegeanus. A) Habitus, dorsal aspect (scale bar = 1 mm), B) Antenna (scale bar = 200 µm). Images first appeared in Holloway and Herrmann (2023).

Fig. 2. Orphilus aegeanus aedeagus. A) Dorsal aspect, B) Lateral aspect. Scale bars = 200 µm. Images first appeared in Holloway and Herrmann (2023).

Fig. 3. Orphilus aegeanus female.A) Tip of ovipositor stylus (scale bar = 50 µm), B) Tergite X (scale bar = 100 µm).

Fig. 4. Distributions of Orphilus aegeanus and O. africanus. Hatched areas indicate countries from which O. africanus is found according to Háva (2023a). Records supplemented with other specimens in AHEC dissected prior to the current study, and Háva (2023b).