Meotica parasita MULSANT & REY, 1873

(Figs 40-47)

Meotica parasita MULSANT & REY, 1873: 174 f.; lectotype designation by MUONA (1979).

Meotica winkleri BENICK, 1953: 59 f.; nov.syn.

Meotica bosnica SCHEERPELTZ, 1954a: 151; nov.syn.

Meotica albanica SCHEERPELTZ, 1967: 549 ff.; preoccupied.

Meotica albanicola SCHEERPELTZ, 1969: 107; replacement name; nov.syn.

Meotica aegyptia PACE, 1983: 32 ff.; nov.syn.

Meotica szeli ÁDÁM, 1987: 162; synonymy with M. winkleri by VOGEL (2015).

Type material examined: M. parasita: Lectotype ♀ [dissected by J. Muona; antennae and posterior abdominal segments damaged]: " ♀ / Meotica parasita M. & R., Lectotype ♀, Muona des. 1979 / Muona det. Meotica parasita M. & R." (MHNL).

M. winkleri: Holotype ♀ [dissected prior to present study; spermatheca missing; abdominal segments VIII-X strongly damaged]: " ♀ / Neusiedler-See / Meotica winkleri ♀, G. Bck Typus / Coll. G. Benick / Meotica parasita Mulsant & Rey, det. V. Assing 2018 " (MHNG).

M. bosnica: Lectotype ♂, present designation: "♂ / Majevica-pl., Bosnia bor. / ex coll. Scheerpeltz / Typus Meotica bosnica O. Scheerpeltz / Lectotypus ♂ Meotica bosnica Scheerpeltz, desig. V. Assing 2017 / Meotica parasita Mulsant & Rey, det. V. Assing 2018 " (NHMW).

M. albanica and M. albanicola: Lectotype ♂, present designation: " ♂ / Albania bor., Shkodër, Smetana 1958 / 15.V. B [overleaf] / ex coll. Scheerpeltz / Typus Meotica albanica O. Scheerpeltz / Lectotypus ♂ Meotica albanica Scheerpeltz, desig. V. Assing 2017 / Meotica parasita Mulsant & Rey, det. V. Assing 2018" (NHMW). Paralectotype ♀: same data as lectotype (NHMW).

M. aegyptia: Holotype ♀: Meadi, Egypt, 26.6.33 D, Dr. H. Priesner / Meotica libanica Fauvel / ex coll. Scheerpeltz / Holotypus Meotica aegyptia m., det. R. Pace 1972, Meotica aegyptia sp. n. det. R. Pace 1982 / Meotica marchica Benick [sic] det. V. Assing 2003 (NHMW).

Additional material examined: FRANCE: 1♂, Nice env., Loup river, X.1953, leg. Ochs (cVog). ITALY: 1♂, Roma env., leg. Winkler (cVog). HUNGARY: 1♂, 1♀, Bugac National Park, grassland, 11.XI.1980 & 23.IX.1983, leg. Galle (cVog) . CROATI A: 1♂, 1♀ Josipdol-Karlovac, car-net, 9.V.1990,. leg. Wunderle (cWun); 2♂♂, 5♀♀, Plitvice-Josipdol, car-net, 9.V.1990,. leg. Wunderle (cWun). BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: 1♂, 2♀♀ Kraljeva-Sutesca-Mostre, arable land, car-net, 5.V.1990, leg. Wunderle (cWun); 1♀, Kraljeva-Sutesca-Zadoici, car-net, 5.V.1990,. leg. Wunderle (cWun). GREECE: CRETE: 1♂, Damnoni, 35°10'28''N, 24°24'55''E, VII.1978, leg. Tronquet (cTro); 1♀, Zakros, 28.III.1973, leg. Fülscher et Meybohm (cVog); see also ASSING (2019). C o r f u: see ASSING et al. (2018). TURKEY: 1♀, Erzincan, Tercan, 1400 m, 6.VI.1986, leg. Besuchet et Löbl (cVog).

Comment: The original description of M. parasita is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "le Bugey" (East France: Ain) (MULSANT & REY 1873). MUONA (1979) designated the sole syntype in the Rey collection as the lectotype. The lectotype, a somewhat damaged macropterous female, had been dissected by J. Muona.

In the description of M. winkleri, which is based on a unique specimen from "Neusiedler-See", BENICK (1953) sexed the holotype as a male. An examination of the specimen, however, revealed that it is in fact a female, whose abdominal apex is severely damaged and whose spermatheca is missing. Based on external characters and on notes of the second author, this specimen is conspecific with M. parasita .

The original description of M. bosnica is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "Bosnien-Herzegowina" (SCHEERPELTZ 1954a). The sole syntype in the Scheerpeltz collection, a male, is designated as the lectotype. An examination of the aedeagus revealed that the specimen is conspecific with M. parasita .

Meotica albanica was described based on "1♂, 1♀, Typen" from " Albania bor., Shkodër " (SCHEERPELTZ 1967). The name is preoccupied by Meotica albanica BENICK, 1953 and was subsequently replaced with the nomen novum M. albanicola by SCHEERPELTZ (1969). Since a holotype is not specified in the description, the male syntype is designated as the lectotype. The specimen is conspecific with M. parasita .

Meotica szeli, whose description is based on a male holotype and a female paratype from "Dömsöd" in Hungary (ÁDÁM 1987), was synonymized with M. winkleri by VOGEL (2015).

Meotica aegyptia was described based on a unique female from " Egypt, Meadi" (PACE 1983). The spermatheca illustrated by PACE (1983) is identical to that of M. parasita . This, in combination with the dark coloration and the long elytra, suggests that the holotype of M. aegyptia is in fact conspecific with that species. When examining the specimen in 2003, the first author identified it as M. marchica (now a synonym of M. moczarskii) based on the shape of the spermatheca. The identity of M. parasita was clarified only very recently.

Diagnosis: Winged and usually dark-coloured species.

♂: sternite VIII strongly transverse, posterior margin broadly truncate (Fig. 39); median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.25 mm long and shaped as in Figs 40-43, with apical internal structure of distinctive shape (lateral view); apical lobe of paramere blackish.

♀: tergite VIII with distinctly concave posterior margin; sternite VIII (Fig. 44) much longer than that of male, posterior margin broadly and weakly convex; spermatheca of simple shape, similar to that of M. moczarskii (Figs 45-47).

Confirmed distribution: France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Egypt.