Meotica exillima SHARP, 1915

(Figs 18-28)

Meotica exillima SHARP, 1915: 215; lectotype designation by MUONA (1991).

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂: "Syntype / H. exillima / New Forest, ix.1914, M. A. Sharp / D. Sharp Coll. B.M. 1932-166 / Lectotype" (BMNH).

Additional material examined: SPAIN: 1♀, Pontevedra, Montes del Testeiro, 800-900 m, leg. Franz (cVog) . FRANCE: 1♀, Lozère, 2 km S Villefort, 8.IV.1980, leg. Löbl (MHNG) . GERMANY: N i e d e r s a c h s e n: 1♀, N Hannover, Bissendorfer Moor, 22.X.1988, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♀, NW Hannover, Helstorfer Reiterheide, heathland, soil extraction, XII.1981, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Lüneburger Heider, Schneverdingen env., heathland, soil extraction, XII.1984, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Lüneburger Heider, Schneverdingen env., Tütsberg, sparsely vegetated heathland, pitfall trap, V.1994, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Gifhorn env., NSG "Heiliger Hain", heathland, soil extraction, VII.1985, leg. Assing et al. (cAss) ; 2♀♀, same data, but VIII.1985 (cAss); 7♂♂, 4♀♀, same data, but IX.1985 (cAss); 2♂♂, 1♀, same data, but XII.1985 (cAss); 1♂, same data, but I.1986 (cAss); 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but II.1986 (cAss); 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but III.1986 (cAss); 4♂♂, 8♀♀ [5 with mature eggs in ovaries], same data, but IV.1986 (cAss); 2♂♂, 1♀, same data, but V.1986 (cAss); 4♂♂, 3♀♀, same data, but VI.1986 (cAss); 1♂, same data, but VII.1986 (cAss); 1♂, same data, but X.1986 (cAss); 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but XII.1986 (cAss); 1♂, same data, but pitfall trap, V:1985 (cAss); 1♂, Gifhorn env., Wesendorf, Talpa nest, 14.IV.1984, leg. Assing (cAss). Nordrhein - Westfalen: 1♂, 1♀, Mönchengladbach, Gerkerath, 25.III.1989, leg. Wunderle (cVog); 1♂, 1♀, Wesel, NSG Schwarzes Wasser, 30 XII.1974, leg. Hozman (cVog) .

Comment: The original description is based on numerous syntypes from "Anglia mer." collected in " Sphagnum in the spring and autumn" (SHARP 1915). MUONA (1991) designated a lectotype.

Diagnosis: Wing-polymorphic species.

♂: sternite VIII (Fig. 18) strongly transverse, posterior margin obtusely produced in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.23-0.24 mm long and shaped as in Figs 19-22; apical lobe of paramere blackish.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII convex, in the middle truncate or weakly concave (Fig. 23); spermatheca comma-shaped, very stout and short (Figs 24-28).

Although very similar in external characters and in the morphology of the aedeagus to M. exilis, M. exillima is reliably distinguished by the shape of the male sternite VIII and by the much shorter and stouter spermatheca.

Confirmed distribution: South England, Spain, France, Germany. Note that, aside from the type material, MUONA (1991) had seen only a single specimen from North Germany.

Natural history: The type material from South England was collected from Sphagnum, where it "though local is by no means rare" (SHARP 1915). The material listed above was found in sandy Calluna heathlands, partly also in very sparsely vegetated plots, primarily by extracting soil. One specimen was collected in a bog and one was extracted from a mole nest. The ovaries of five dissected females collected in April contained mature eggs.