Thecturota capito Casey

Klimaszewski, Jan, Struyve, Tim, Bourdon, Caroline & Dorval, Julie-Anne, 2017, First record of Thecturotatenuissima Casey from Canada (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), ZooKeys 702, pp. 19-25 : 19

1. Thecturota capito Casey Figs 1-8

Thecturota capito Casey, 1893: 358. Casey 1911, Fenyes 1920, Moore and Legner 1975, Seevers 1978, Brunke et al. 2012 (as T. pusio (Casey)).

Oligurota pusio Casey, 1893: 362. Brunke et al. 2012. Synonymized by Fenyes 1920.

Thecturota exigua Casey, 1894: 360. Synonymized by Fenyes 1920.

Thecturota histrio Casey, 1911: 210. Synonymized by Fenyes 1920.

Thecturota laticeps Casey, 1911: 208. Synonymized by Fenyes 1920.

Diagnosis.

Body length 1.2-1.6 mm; body narrowly subparallel, linear, color variable: reddish brown with head and abdomen dark brown to piceous, or body piceous with reddish brown elytra, and yellowish-red legs, basal antennomeres and tip of abdomen; integument finely punctate; head subquadrate, larger than pronotum, with postocular area longer than diameter of eye, hind angles angular and rounded; antennomeres IV-X transverse and VI-X strongly transverse and about 3 times wider than long; pronotum broadest in apical third, narrow at base, pubescence directed laterad from midline of disc; elytra subparallel, at suture about as long as pronotum; abdomen subparallel, slightly broadening posterad. MALE: tergite VIII nearly two times as wide as long (Fig. 4); sternite VIII about one fourth wider than long (Fig. 5); median lobe of aedeagus with narrowly oval bulbus and subparallel tubus in dorsal view (Fig. 3); in lateral view tubus broadly arcuate ventrally, with apex narrow and rounded (Fig. 2). FEMALE: tergite VIII nearly two times as wide as long (Fig. 6); sternite VIII rounded apically (Fig. 7); spermatheca with large pitcher-shaped capsule and narrow apical invagination, stem very short (Fig. 8).

Distribution.

Origin: Nearctic. Canada: ON. USA: IA, IN, TX, VA.

Collection and habitat data.

Habitat: oak savanna from leaf, log, and grass litter. Collecting period: X. Collecting method: Berlese extraction of leaf, log, and grass litter. Live adults of this species were extremely slow-moving and the use of a Berlese funnel likely facilitated the capture of this minute beetle.

Comments.

Thecturota capito Casey was recorded from Canada (ON) for the first time under a synonymic name T. pusio (Casey) by Brunke et al. (2012). Fenyes (1920) and Moore and Legner (1975) listed T. pusio , originally named as Oligurota pusio Casey 1893: 362, as a synonym of T. capito Casey 1893: 358. We overlooked this fact in Brunke et al. 2012, and now it is corrected. In the original description, Casey also mentioned specimens from AZ (Tucson).