Meotica pallens ( REDTENBACHER , 1849), Redtenbacher, 1849

Assing, Volker & Vogel, Jürgen, 2019, The mother of synonyms: on the Meotica species of the Palaearctic Region (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Oxypodini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (2), pp. 731-772 : 753

Meotica pallens ( REDTENBACHER, 1849)

( Figs 29-31 )

Homalota pallens REDTENBACHER, 1849: 662 .

Sipalia filaria CASEY, 1911: 150 .

Homalota indocilis HEER, 1839: 333 .

Sipalia tenuis MULSANT & REY, 1875b: 194 .

Meotica lohsei BENICK, 1953: 66 f.; synonymy by MUONA (1991) and VOGEL (1991).

Meotica hanseni BENICK, 1953: 64 f.; nov.syn.

Meotica hanseni SCHEERPELTZ, 1954a: 58 ; preoccupied; synonymy by MUONA (1991) and VOGEL (1991).

Meotica strandi SCHEERPELTZ, 1958: 207 ; synonymy by MUONA (1991).

Meotica titschjacki BENICK, 1962:118 ; synonymy by VOGEL (1991).

Material examined: NORWAY: 1♀, 55 km N Oslo, Roa , 3.VI.1961, leg. Strand (cVog) . SWEDEN: 1♀, SW Stockholm, Södertälje , 24.VII.1977, leg. Lundberg (cVog) . FRANCE: 1♂, 2♀♀, Vosges, Lignéville , 6.IV.1926 (cVog) . GERMANY: several records. POLAND: 1♀, Węgliniec ( SMNG) . SWITZERLAND: 1 ex., Vaud, Yverdon-les-Bains , 08.III.1966, leg. Comellini ( MHNG) . AUSTRIA:V o r a r l b e r g:1♂,WBregenz,shoreof Bodensee, Speicherwiesen , 14.V.1999, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♂, Höchst, NSG Rohrspitz , 25.X.1993, leg. Kapp (cVog) ; 1♂, Rankweil , leg. Kapp (cVog) ; 1♀, Bregenz, Lochau , 16.V.1999, leg. Gollkowski (cVog) . CZECH REPUBLIC: 1♀, Františkovy Láznĕ, Soos , 18.IX.1960, leg. Smetana (cVog) ; 1♀, Nový Bor env., Pihel , 13.IV.1979, leg. Sieber (cVog) . SLOVAKIA: 1♀, Banska Bystrica , leg. Roubal (cVog) . HUNGARY: 1♂, 2♀♀, Balatongyörök , 25.V.1995, leg. Sieber (cVog) . ITALY: Trentino - Alto Adige: 7 exs., Bolzano, Gries-San Quirino , 17.V.1956, leg. Peez ( TLMF) ; 3 exs., Bressanone, floodplain of Eisack river , 17.III.1953, 22.X.1955 & 10.IV.1956, leg. Peez ( TLMF) ; 1 ex., Merano , “Burgstaller Aue”, 24.XI.1990, leg. Kahlen ( TLMF) ; 1♀, 14 km S Bolzano, Lago di Caldaro , 14.III.1971, leg. Kahlen (cVog) . BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: 2♂♂, 4♀♀, Sarajevo env., Gromiljak , car-net, 6.V.1990, leg. Wunderle (cWun, cAss) ; 1♀ Kraljeva-Sutesca-Zadoici, car-net, 5.V.1990,. leg. Wunderle (cWun). TURKEY: 1♀, Balıkesir, Kurucam Tepe , 39°42'N, 27°09'E, 710 m, 13.IV.2010, leg. Brachat & Meybohm (cAss) ; 3♀♀, Muğla, Gölgeli Dağları , 20 km NE Köycegız, 37°03'N, 28°49'E, 1690 m, 6.X.2002, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♀, Zonguldak, Ereğli , 15.V.1976, leg. Besuchet & Löbl (cVog) ; 1♀, Erzincan, Tercan, Euphrate , 1400 m, 6.VI.1986, leg. Besuchet & Löbl (cVog) .

Comment: BENICK (1953) attributed M. hanseni to SCHEERPELTZ (1954), but in providing and publishing characters and a name prior to SCHEERPELTZ (1954) he unintentionally made the name available, rendering M. hanseni SCHEERPELTZ, 1954 a junior primary homonym. It is an open question, however, whether the material cited by BENICK (1953) or that mentioned by SCHEERPELTZ (1954) should be considered the type material of M. hanseni BENICK, 1953. In any case, since the type material of M. hanseni SCHEERPELTZ, 1954 is conspecific with M. pallens ( MUONA 1991, VOGEL 1991) and BENICK (1953) regarded the material listed in his description as conspecific with that examined by SCHEERPELTZ (1954), it follows that both of the names made available by Benick and Scheerpeltz refer to the same species and are junior synonyms of M. pallens .

Diagnosis: Wing-dimorphic species.

♂: sternite VIII weakly transverse, approximately as long as tergite VIII, posterior margin truncate or weakly concave; median lobe of aedeagus relatively large, approximately 0.35 mm long and shaped as in Figs 29-30 ; apical lobe of paramere blackish.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII convex; spermatheca relatively long and of distinctive shape ( Fig. 31 ).

Confirmed distribution: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey; North America.

Figures

Figs 29-38: Meotica pallens (29-31) and M. filaria (32-38) 32-35: lectotype; 36-37: paralectotype; 38: syntype of M. meridiogallica): (29-30, 34-35) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (31, 37-38) spermatheca; (32) posterior portion of male tergite VIII; (33) male sternite VIII; (36) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.