Iratiquedius uncifer, Brunke, 2022

Brunke, Adam J., 2022, A world generic revision of Quediini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae), part 1. Early diverging Nearctic lineages, ZooKeys 1134, pp. 129-170 : 129

Iratiquedius uncifer sp. nov.

Figs 7C, F, G, J, K, N , 9E , 11C (map)

Quedius (Raphirus) seriatus : Smetana 1971 (partial misidentification).

Type locality.

Bear Creek (~4.5 km north of Dedrick), ~19.3 km north of Junction City, Trinity County, California, United States.

Type material.

Holotype (male, CNC): 12 mi N Junction City, Bear Creek, 3110', 13.VII.1979, J.M. & B.A. Campbell [printed label] / CNC1014441 [identifier] / HOLOTYPE Iratiquedius uncifer Brunke sp. nov., des. Brunke 2022 [red printed label] Paratypes (69, CNC). United States: California: Humboldt Co.: Hydesville, VI.1901, Van Dyke (1 female, CNC); Sonoma Co.: Duncans Mills, 18.VII.1908, F.E. Blaisdell (1 female, CNC); Tehama Co.: 8 mi N post pile camp, 30.VIII.1960, R.O. Schuster (2 females, CNC); Trinity Co.: 10 mi N Junction City [possibly near Ripstein Campground], 762 m, 10.VII.1972, J.M. & B.A. Campbell (11, CNC); 12 mi N Junction City, Bear Creek, 1036 m, 13.VII.1979, J.M. & B.A. Campbell (34, CNC); 16 mi N Junctional City, Upper Canyon Creek Meadows, 1463 m, 13.VII.1979, J.M. & B.A. Campbell (2, CNC); 4 mi W Forest Glen, 9.VII.1979, J.M. & B.A. Campbell (19, CNC).

All specimens with: PARATYPE Iratiquedius uncifer Brunke sp. nov., des. Brunke 2022 [yellow printed label].

Etymology.

The species epithet refers to the diagnostic hooked apex of the ventral paired sclerites of the internal sac.

Diagnosis.

Iratiquedius uncifer can be distinguished from all other Iratiquedius except I. seriatus by a combination of: pronotum entirely without microsculpture; elytra with serial punctation (Fig. 2F ). From I. seriatus , it can be distinguished either by the sharp, hooked apices of the ventral paired sclerites of the internal sac, or the distinctly impressed disc of female tergite X.

Description.

Measurements ♂ (n = 5): HW/HL 1.07-1.11; PW/PL 1.01-1.08; EW/EL 1.17-1.32; ESut/PL 0.76-0.93; PW/HW 1.01-1.07; forebody length 2.2-2.4 mm.

Measurements ♀ (n = 5): HW/HL 1.06-1.10; PW/PL 1.03-1.08; EW/EL 1.19-1.29; ESut/PL 0.74-0.87; PW/HW 1.01-1.06; forebody length 2.2-2.6 mm.

Extremely similar to I. seriatus and overlapping in most characters except: specimens of I. uncifer on average smaller, more slender, most examined specimens with bright orange-red pronotum and greenish elytra; pronotum entirely without microsculpture, at most with a few fragments of lines around the punctures; median lobe in ventral view with apical ridge (Fig. 7C ); median lobe in lateral view less projected ventrad (Fig. 7F, G ); internal sac with ventral paired sclerites sinuate, broad at base, strongly converging toward narrow, hooked apex (Fig. 7J, K ); paramere with emargination smaller or absent, peg setae fields more truncate at base (Fig. 7N ); female tergite X with long oval impression on disc occupying about half of its length (Fig. 9E ).

Distribution.

United States: CA.

This species is currently known only from a cluster of localities in the Klamath Mountains and Coast Ranges of California.

Bionomics.

Nothing specific is known about this species’ preferred microhabitat but based on the locality data, it probably lives close to the edge of streams and springs. The specimens from Trinity County were co-collected with I. prostans and Paraquedius marginicollis , indicating a very wet microhabitat along the edge of running water.

Comments.

Based on the material at hand, I. uncifer has yet to be collected together with I. seriatus . More collecting is needed in California to determine whether these two species are sympatric and if so, whether they occupy different microhabitats. A few females from the material originally examined by Smetana (1971) were found to belong to I. uncifer . This species was likely overlooked by Smetana (1971) due to the large amount of external variation in I. seriatus and I. uncifer , in addition to the fact that morphology of female tergite X was not yet routinely examined. The single half-length barcode sequence of this species was scarcely divergent from all available sequences of I. seriatus (Fig. 10 ) and it is not clear whether these two species will be reliably diagnosed using CO1 barcodes given further sampling. However, they are easily distinguished using the morphological features provided under Diagnosis.

Figures

Figure 2. A-H dorsal habitus of A, B Iratiquedius amabilis (Smetana) A male holotype B female non-type C, D I. mutator (Smetana) C male non-type D female holotype E I. prostans (Horn) F I. seriatus (Horn) G Paraquedius puncticeps (Horn) H P. marginicollis sp. nov. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 7. A-K median lobe of aedeagus A-C in ventral view D-K in lateral view H, J internal sac partly everted, showing paired ventral sclerites I, K completely everted L-N underside of paramere showing peg setae A, B, D, E, H, I, L, M Iratiquedius seriatus (Horn) C, F, G, J, K, N I. uncifer sp. nov. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 9. A-I female tergite X A Iratiquedius amabilis (Smetana) B I. mutator (Smetana) C I. prostans (Horn) D I. seriatus (Horn), evenly convex E I. uncifer sp. nov., discal impression F Paraquedius puncticeps (Horn) G P. marginicollis sp. nov. H-I Quediellus debilis (Horn). Pigmented area on tergite in E not shown for clarity but similar to I. seriatus. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 10. Neighbor-joining trees of CO 1 barcode sequences for species of Iratiquedius, Paraquedius, and Quediellus, calculated under the Kimura- 2 model for pairwise distance. White circles indicate macropterous ' debilis' morphotypes of Q. debilis, all other Q. debilis are of brachypterous ' nanulus' morphotypes. Scale bar equivalent to 2 % divergence. Sequence length, including number of ambiguous base pairs (N's), is given at the end of each sample name.

Figure 11. Distributions of A Iratiquedius amabilis (Smetana) (circles), I. mutator (Smetana) (squares) B I. prostans (Horn) (black - specimens examined, white - literature records) C I. seriatus (Horn) (circles), I. uncifer sp. nov. (squares) D Paraquedius puncticeps (Horn) (circles), P. marginicollis sp. nov. (squares) E Quediellus debilis (Horn) (circles) (black - specimens examined, white - literature records).