Phelister mobilensis Casey, 1916

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2019, A revision of the Phelisterhaemorrhous species group (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 854, pp. 41-88 : 54-56

Phelister mobilensis Casey, 1916 Figs 2, 3; Map 2

Phelister mobilensis Casey, 1916: 232.

Type material.

Lectotype, hereby designated: "Ala. Mobile" / "Casey bequest 1925" / "Type USNM 38450" / "mobilensis Csy." / "Lectotype Phelister mobilensis Casey, M.S.Caterino and A.K.Tishechkin des. 2010", USNM. Four paralectotypes: two with same data as type, two from "Pensacola, Fla.", all USNM.

Description.

Length: 1.85-2.05 mm (avg. 1.93 mm); width: 1.58-1.73 mm (avg. 1.59 mm). Body uniformly dark rufescent to piceous, elongate oval, widest just behind midline; frons finely but distinctly punctulate; supraorbital stria complete, fine across vertex; frontal stria well impressed along inner margin of eyes, fragmentary to obsolete along upper epistomal margin, but continued anteriad along lateral and, generally, apical margins of epistoma; labrum transverse, at most weakly emarginate apically; mandibles both with strong tooth along incisor margin; pronotum strongly narrowed anteriorly, very finely punctate at middle but rather coarsely so in lateral thirds; prescutellar impression distinct; lateral and anterior marginal striae continuous, the anterior diverging slightly from the margin and crenulate; lateral submarginal striae absent; elytra with single, complete epipleural striae; outer subhumeral stria present in apical half only; inner subhumeral stria absent; dorsal elytral striae 1-4 complete, 5th present in apical half only, sutural stria just slightly longer than 5th; propygidium almost uniformly coarsely punctate, punctures separated by less than their widths; pygidium much more finely and sparsely punctate; prosternal lobe shape evenly rounded, with marginal stria obsolete toward sides; prosternal keel narrowed from base to apex; keel striae separate basally, converging between coxae, narrowly separated, parallel anteriad; anterior mesoventral margin weakly produced; marginal mesoventral stria complete, weakly crenulate; mesometaventral stria arching weakly onto basal third of mesoventrite; metaventral disk weakly punctate, with lateral stria nearly complete to inner corner of metacoxa; postmesocoxal stria extending posterolaterad, mostly straight, ending short of apex of metepisternum; abdominal ventrite 1 with one complete and one fragmentary lateral striae, impunctate at middle, increasingly punctate to sides; protibia with apex truncate, outer margin weakly rounded, bearing ca. five prominent, evenly spaced marginal spines; meso- and metatibiae weakly expanded to apex, mesotibia with ca. five marginal spines, more prominent toward apex, metatibia with distinct spines along most of margin; aedeagus gradually widened toward apex, apically rounded with short, narrow apical emargination; median lobe with simple basal apodemes, ca. half tegmen length.

Remarks.

Phelister mobilensis exhibits one highly distinct character, a stria on the epistoma lining its anterior and lateral margins, which is continuous with the lateral portion of the otherwise interrupted frontal stria. Other unusual characters include particularly spinose front and middle tibiae, and a meso-metaventral stria which is distinctly more crenulate than the marginal mesoventral stria.

Biology.

Label data indicate quite generalized habitat preferences, with records from dung (dog and chicken), decaying vegetation, Geomys Rafinesque burrows, and fungi. Specimens have also been collected using flight interception traps and Lindgren funnel traps.

Distribution.

This species is found primarily near the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the southeastern United States. Records from Indiana and New York could use additional confirmation. Records: USA: Alabama: Russell, Shelby; Arkansas: Pulaski; Florida: Alachua, Duval, Gilchrist, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Leon, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Polk, Putnam; Georgia: Burke, Charlton; Indiana: Lake; Louisiana: Calcasieu; East Baton Rouge, Natchitoches; New York: [state record only - AMNH]; North Carolina: Transylvania; Oklahoma: Latimer; South Carolina: Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Georgetown, Oconee, Richland; Tennessee: Benton.