Paederus agnatus EPPELSHEIM, 1889: 180 Paederus dangchangensis LI & ZHOU, 2007: 227 Paederus konfuzius WILLERS, 2001b: 3 P. agnatus agnatus Epp., Hor. Soc. Paederus agnatus Eppelsheim Paederus (Harpopaederus) agnatus On the Harpopaederus fauna of China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) Assing, Volker Linzer biologische Beiträge 2015 2015-07-31 47 1 163 190 4BX6L EPPELSHEIM, 1889 Eppelsheim 1889 [178,591,1293,1317] Insecta Staphylinidae Paederus Animalia Coleoptera 8 171 Arthropoda species agnatus      Paederus agnatus EPPELSHEIM, 1889: 180f.;   Paederus dangchangensisLI & ZHOU, 2007: 227ff.; nov.syn.     Paederus konfuzius WILLERS, 2001b: 3ff.; partim. T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d  P. agnatus: Syntype ♀: "Kan-ssa / 14.IV [overleaf] / c. Epplsh. Steind. d. / agnatus Epp., Hor. Soc.ent. Ross., t. XXIII. p. 180. / Typus / Syntypus ♀ Paederus agnatus Eppelsheimrev. V. Assing 2015 / Paederus (Harpopaederus) agnatus ♀Eppelsheim, det. V. Assing 2015" (NHMW).   A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d ChinaG a n s u 1♀, Qinling Shan, N Chengxian, 34°10'N, 105°43'E,  1850 m, mixed secondary forest margin, litter sifted,  29.VII.2012, leg. Wrase(cAss); 13, 1♀, Qinling Shan, N Chengxian, 34°10'N, 105°42'E,  1830 m, stream valley with secondary deciduous forest, moist litter sifted,  29.VII.2012, leg. Schülke& Wrase(cSch, cAss); 13, 2♀♀, Qinling Shan, NW Longnan, Lazikoupass, S-side, Laolong valley, 34°08'N, 103°52'E,  2300 m, S-slope with pine and spruce forest, litter sifted,  3.VIII.2012, leg. Assing, Schülke& Wrase(cAss, cSch); 13, Qinling Shan, NW Longnan, Lazikoupass, S-side, Zhuli valley, 34°08'N, 103°56'E,  2260 m, N-slope, mixed forest with oak and pine near stream, litter and dead wood sifted,  3.VIII.2012, leg. Wrase(cAss); 333, 2♀♀, Lazikou valley, 34°10'N, 103°48- 52'E,  2120-2510 m,  28.VI.2005, leg. Hájeket al. (cSch, cAss); 13, Lazikou valley, 34°10'N, 103°52'E,  2120 m, vegetation along meadow, baited pitfall trap(fish, meat, cheese),  28.VI.2005, leg. Hájeket al. (cSch); 233, Lazikoupass, 34°14'N, 103°54'E,  3180 m, grassland,  29.VI.2005, leg. Hájeket al. (cSch, cAss); 233, S Longnan, Min Shan, 33°03'N, 104°41'E,  2200 m, secondary pine forest with hazelnut, moist litter and roots sifted,  6.VIII.2012, leg. Assing& Wrase(cAss, cSch). S h a a n x i [see also typematerial of  P. konfuzius]: 233, 1♀, Qinling Shan,  105 kmSW Xi'an, pass on road Zhouzhi-Foping, 33°46'N, 107°58'E,  1880 m,  4.VII.2001, leg. Wrase(cSch); 13, 2♀♀, Qinling Shan,  105 kmSW Xi'an, pass on road Zhouzhi-Foping, 33°46'N, 107°58'E,  1700 m, stream valley, mixed deciduous forest,  3.VII.2001, leg. Wrase(cSch, cAss);  2♀♀, Qinling Shan,  105 kmSW Xi'an, pass on road Zhouzhi-Foping, 33°44'N, 107°59'E,  1990 m,  2.-4.VII.2001, leg. Schülke& Wrase(cSch, cAss);  1♀, Qinling Shan,  52 kmSSW Zhouzhi, 33°44'N, 107°58'E,  1900 m, mixed forest, litter and soil sifted,  25.VII.2012, leg. Wrase(cSch). C o m m e n t: The original description of  P. agnatusis based on two syntypes(" 2 Exemplare") from "Kan-ssu" (= Gansu) ( EPPELSHEIM 1889), that of  P. dangchangensison a male holotypeand a male paratypefrom "Dangchang County, Dahe Dam" (LI & ZHOU 2007). Only one syntypeof  P. agnatuswas found in the Eppelsheim collection at the NHMW. Since it is a female, it is not designated as the lectotype. The second syntypemay be in the Potanin collection, whose whereabouts are apparently unknown ( HORN et al. 1990), if it still exists. The syntypefrom the Eppelsheim collection had been examined, but not assigned to a subgenus, by WILLERS (2001b). Thus, the species is listed as incertae sedis in SMETANA (2004)and SCHÜLKE & SMETANA (in press). Based on the external (coloration of the antennae and legs; shape and coloration of the mandibles; shape of labrum), as well as the female sexual characters (shapes of tergite VIII and sternite VIII), the syntypeof  P. agnatusis conspecific with  P. dangchangensis. Hence the synonymy proposed above. A comparison of the sexual characters of the material from the environs of Chengxian, of the specimens from the regions to the northwest and southwest of Longnan, of material from Shaanxi, and of the aedeagus of the holotypebased on photos kindly sent to me by Xiaoyan Li ( Beijing) revealed some differences, particularly regarding the shape of the internal structures of the aedeagus ( Figs 1-12, 17-19, 14, 26, 29), the size and number of the denticles on the dorsal plate of the aedeagus, the depth of the posterior excision of the male sternite VIII ( Figs 13-14, 54), the shape of the posterior margin of the female tergite VIII ( Figs 20-21), and the shape of the apical projection of the female sternite VIII ( Figs 22-23). The aedeagi of the holotypeand the paratypeof  P. dangchangensis, as well as those of some males from Shaanxihave smaller denticles on the dorsal plate and an internal structure of slightly different shape. However, no significant differences were found in the external characters and in the general shape of the aedeagus ( Figs 1-12, 15- 16, 24-27). The question whether or not the observed differences are an expression of inter- or intraspecific variation cannot answered with certainty, but the observation that slight differences may occur even within and between geographically close populations suggests that they are most plausibly interpreted as intraspecific variation. Regardings its male and the female sexual characters,  P. agnatusis similar to  P. konfuzius, with which is was previously confounded (see typematerial of  P. konfuzius) and from which it is distinguished by the absence of pronounced sexual dimorphisms of the head shape and the mandibles, by the paler tibiae (  P. agnatus: usually yellowish, very indistinctly infuscate at most;  P. konfuzius: more or less distinctly and more or less extensively infuscate basally), by the smaller aedeagus (  P. agnatus: approximately 1.9 mm;  P. konfuzius: 2.0- 2.1 mm), and by the apical internal structure of the aedeagus (  P. konfuzius: straight, dagger-shaped, and more strongly sclerotized). For illustrations of  P. konfuziussee PENG et al. (2015). The previously unknown female sexual characters of  P. agnatusare illustrated in Figs 20-23.   Paederus agnatusis remarkably widespread in the Qinling Shan, from central southern Gansuto central southern Shaanxi( Map 2). 2012-07-29 Wrase China 1850 34.166668 Qinling Shan 1200 105.71667 Chengxian 9 172 1 1 2012-07-29 Schulke & Wrase China 1830 34.166668 Qinling Shan 1200 105.7 Chengxian 9 172 1 1 2012-08-03 Assing & Schulke & Wrase China Laolong valley 2300 34.133335 Qinling Shan 1201 103.86667 Lazikou 9 172 2 2 2012-08-03 Wrase China Zhuli valley 2260 34.133335 Qinling Shan 1201 103.933334 Lazikou 9 172 1 2005-06-28 Hajek China 2315 34.166668 Lazikou valley 9 172 2 2 2005-06-28 Hajek China 2120 34.166668 Lazikou valley 1200 103.86667 9 172 1 2005-06-29 Hajek China 3180 34.233334 Lazikou 1200 103.9 9 172 1 2001-07-04 2012-08-06 2001-07-04 Assing & Wrase China Zhouzhi-Foping 2200 33.766666 Longnan 1203 107.96667 Qinling Shan 9 172 1 1 2001-07-03 Wrase China 1700 33.766666 Qinling Shan 1203 107.96667 Zhouzhi-Foping 9 172 2 2 2001-07-02 2001-07-04 2001-07-02 Schulke & Wrase China 1990 33.733334 Qinling Shan 1203 107.98333 Zhouzhi-Foping 9 172 2 2 2012-07-25 Wrase China 1900 33.733334 Qinling Shan 1203 107.96667 9 172 1 1