Quedius vicinus ( Ménétriés, 1832 )

Hansen, Aslak Kappel, Brunke, Adam, Simonsen, Thomas & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2022, Revision of Quedius sensu stricto (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 62 (1), pp. 225-299 : 266-267

Quedius vicinus ( Ménétriés, 1832)

( Figs 1 , 4 , 8A , 13A , 20 )

Staphylinus vicinus Ménétriés, 1832: 144 [Type locality: Lenkoran]

Quedius libanicus Coiffait, 1954: 160 [Type locality: Liban: grotte de Birket Aanjar]

References. Fൺඅൽൾඋආൺඇඇ (1835): 129 (characters); HඈർHHඎඍH (1862): 44 (distribution); Cඈංൿൿൺංඍ (1955): 427 (biology); (1961): 55, (1978): 195 (characters); JൺඋඋංGൾ (1971): 497 (distribution); KඈඋGൾ (1971): 11 (characters); BඈHගඹ (1988): 554 (characters); Gඎඌൺඋඈඏ (1993): 73 (lectotype designation, synonymic notes); AඌඌංඇG & Wඎඇൽൾඋඅൾ (2001): 37 (distribution); Sൺඅඇංඍඌĸൺ & Sඈඅඈൽඈඏඇංĸඈඏ (2018a): 131 (distribution); (2019): 51 (characters and distribution).

Type material examined. Quedius vicinus : Lൾർඍඈඍඒඉൾ ♀ [torso without head and thorax] ( ZIN), designated by Gඎඌൺඋඈඏ (1993) [not examined], labelled: “[golden square] / Lenkoran. / vicinus Menet. Lenkor. ” (Gඎ-ඌൺඋඈඏ 1993).

Additional material examined. AFGHANISTAN: Obéh, [34.35, 63.23], 1680 m (1 J NMW). CYPRUS: Episcope, Limasol, [34.67, 32.88], 12.IV.1995, leg. Schmid (3 JJ 5 ♀♀ NMW); Larnaca, [34.89, 33.63], salt lake, 10 m, 20.IV.1995, leg.W.Suppantschitsch (1J NMW). GEORGIA: Kumisi nr. Tbilisi, [41.61, 44.78], 20.VI.1988, leg. Wrase (1 J cSch). IRAN: Darab to Estahban Rd., 20km NW Darab, 28.8525, 54.4093, 1300m, 16.IV.2006, leg. Serri & Frisch (1 ♀ SDEI); Sonqor, Kermanshah, [34.78, 47.59], 1800 m, 7.VII.1969, leg. Heinz (1 J ZMHB); SE Sepidan, W Dalkhan, 30.2911, 52.0951, 2100m, 9.V.2007, leg. Frisch & Serii (2 JJ SDEI). ISRAEL: Hazerim, [31.24, 34.71], 8.X.1988, leg. E. Orbach (1 J NHMD); Kfar Ha Horesh, n. Nazareth, [32.70, 35.27], 500 m, 8.IV.1997, leg.Heinz (1♀ ZMHB) Lower Galilee, ca. 4 km W Tamra, 32.8633, 35.1715, loamy field edge, 25m 25.IV.2006 leg. D.W.Wrase (1J cSch); Wadi Musrara [Ayalon River], Petah Tiqwa, [32.09, 34.80], 5.XI.1932 (3JJ NMW). JORDAN: Wádi, Hisbán, NW Ma’ dabá, 31.8286, 35.7945, 681 m, brook, slopes and field edges, under stones, 1.IV.2016, leg. Wrase & Laser (1 J cSch). LEBANON: Beirut, [33.88, 35.50], leg. Kindern (1 ♀ SDEI). SYRIA: Zabadani, [33.72, 36.09], 15.IV.1978, leg. Heinz (1 ♀ ZMHB); Zainie, 45 km NE of Latakia, [35.78, 36.19], 4.V.1982, leg. M. Dvořák (1 ♀ MCZ). TURKEY: Antalya, Aksu, [36.88, 30.92], 13.IV.1977, leg. Korell (1 J 1 ♀ ZMHB), Antalya, Alara Han, [36.69, 31.72], 300m, 1997, leg. H. Winkelmann (1 ♀ cSch); Antalya, 26 km W Alanya, nr. Incecum, [36.63, 31.74], 16.IV.- 2.V.1954 leg. V. Brachat (1 J cSch); Catalan, Adana, [37.20, 35.29], 18.IV.1985, leg. Barries (1 ♀ NMW); Karaman Stream, Antalya, [36.86, 30.61], IV.1962, leg. Schweiger (1 J ZMHB); Mardin, [37.29, 40.72], 1300 m, 10.-15.V.1969, leg. Schubert (1 J NMW); Muratpaşa, 20 km E Kırıkhan, [36.47, 36.45], 20 m, 16.IV.1989, leg.Heinz (1J 1♀ ZMHB); E Pamucak, Selcuk, [37.96, 27.27], swamp, 28.III.1986, leg. Heinz (1J 1 ♀ ZMHB). TURKMENISTAN: Kopet Dag, 6 km NE Tschuli n. Firjuza, [37.98, 58.02], 18.IX.1976, leg. Hieke (5 JJ ZMHB).

Redescription. Measurements JJ (n = 5): HW = 1.64– 1.80 (1.72); HL = 1.40–1.53 (1.48); HL/HW 0.83–0.87 (0.86); PW = 2.16–2.44 (2.30); PL = 2.02–2.20 (2.11); PL/PW 0.89–0.94 (0.92); EW = 2.20–2.47 (2.33); EL = 2.07–2.24 (2.16); EL/EW 0.91–0.94 (0.93); EL/PL 0.99– 1.04 (1.02); PW/HW 1.52–1.60 (1.56); forebody length 5.49–5.96 (5.74). ♀♀ (n = 5): HW = 1.69–1.73 (1.72); HL = 1.38–1.49 (1.45); HL/HW 0.79–0.87 (0.84); PW = 2.22–2.42 (2.32); PL = 2.04–2.22 (2.12); PL/PW 0.91–0.92 (0.92); EW = 2.38–2.47 (2.44); EL = 2.18–2.36 (2.26); EL/EW 0.92–0.95 (0.93); EL/PL 1.01–1.11 (1.07); PW/ HW 1.52–1.66 (1.60); forebody length 5.73–6.07 (5.84).

Medium sized to large, robust species; body light to dark brown ( Fig. 8A ).

Head dark, distinctly transverse, with eyes rather small (EyL/TL = 1.45–1.82 (1.60)); microsculpture of transverse waves; no interocular punctures between anterior frontal punctures (cf. Fig. 6F ); antennae and palpi pale yellowish- -brown with base of antennomeres 1–3 clearly pale, all antennomeres clearly elongate.

Thorax: pronotum slightly wider than long, wider than head, with microsculpture of transverse waves; three punctures in dorsal row and one to two in sublateral row with its posteriormost puncture reaching just beyond first puncture of dorsal row; scutellum punctured and pubescent; elytra orange to yellowish-brown, uniformly pubescent, slightly wider than long, roughly of same length as pronotum; legs pale yellowish-brown with inner face of tibia and femur darkened.

Abdomen: tergites uniformly punctured, with slight iridescence.

Male. Aedeagus ( Fig. 13A ): paramere rather slender, with a slight apical expansion and extending into a blunt hook oriented away from median lobe, reaching just beyond apex of median lobe, with sensory peg setae forming two short broad rows fusing together towards apex; median lobe broadly constricting to a point at apex, on parameral side folded into two teeth almost meeting at middle, positioned at level near basal end of peg setae rows of paramere; internal sac without C-sclerite.

Differential diagnosis. Quedius vicinus stands out as a rather pale member of the Q. molochinus -group and is thus clearly recognizable from Q. subunicolor , Q. unicolor , Q. sundukovi and Q. balticus , in particular by having pale antennomeres 1–3. It is very similar to Q. molochinus and Q. meridiocarpathicus , but it is often paler than these, with elytra and appendages yellowish red compared to brownish red, and abdomen brown compared to dark brown. For confident identification genitalia should be checked as some individuals of Q. molochinus and Q. meridiocarpathicus can have similar external appearance. The aedeagus of Q. vicinus is distinguished from Q. molochinus and Q. meridiocarpathicus by the absence of a C-sclerite in the internal sac, and by the paramere with blunt apical hook oriented away from the median lobe (best seen in lateral view). Quedius vicinus is recognized from some similarly looking sympatric members of the subgenera Microsaurus and Raphirus , such as Q. suramensis – with which it has long been confused (see comments) – by the entire labrum and clearly parallel-sided abdomen.

Synonymic notes. Gඎඌൺඋඈඏ (1993) designated a lectotype for Q. vicinus and clarified the identity of the species.Also he examined the female holotype of Q. libanicus Coiffait, 1954 described from ‘Lenkoran’ in Azerbaijan (see BඈHගඹ (1988) for details about this locality) and synonymized it with Q. vicinus . Our data fully corroborate the synonymy of Q. vicinus and Q. libanicus .

The identity of Q. vicinus was confused for a long time since HඈർHHඎඍH (1849) misidentified Q. vicinus as Q. (Raphirus) suramensis Eppelsheim, 1880 . This led to confusion of the two species from different subgenera of Quedius , clarified by Gඎඌൺඋඈඏ (1993). Both species still remain confused in many collections although they are easily distinguished (see Differential diagnosis).

Bionomics. Quedius vicinus is mainly found near bodies of water like streams, rivers, lakes, etc., where it is collected in litter and under rocks. In an arid region, this maybe the only suitable microhabitats. It has also been found in caves (Cඈංൿൿൺංඍ 1955, as Q. libanicus ), although this is most likely accidental, as nothing suggests that it is connected to these.

Distribution. Quedius vicinus is found from central southern Anatolia across eastern Transcaucasia and most of the northern part of the Middle East into southern Central Asia ( Fig. 20 ). It extends into the Levant region including the island of Cyprus, but does not go into the Nile delta. It is unclear to what extent it occurs in Transcaucasia, where it may only penetrate into the eastern valleys along the west Caspian Sea coast. The species continues into Iran and Afghanistan, as well as to Middle Asia where it is only known from one locality in Kazakhstan (Sൺඅඇංඍඌĸൺ & Sඈඅඈൽඈඏඇංĸඈඏ 2018a).

Figures

Fig. 1. Phylogenetic tree of Quedius s. str. based on preliminary target capture molecular dataset of Bඋඎඇĸൾ et al. (2021) and Hൺඇඌൾඇ et al. (in prep). Species groups shown in color. Q. altanai Hansen & Brunke, sp. nov. of the Q. molochinoides-group was not included in the dataset. Habitus sketch is of Q. fuliginosus (Gravenhorst, 1802). Lettering denotes species distribution within their respective groups.

Fig. 4. Phylogeny of Quedius s. str. species based on Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) COI barcodes (part 2). BI posterior probabilities (PP), ML ultrafast bootstrap support (UFB) and ML SH-aLRT test are shown. Nodes coloured as: green, PP ≥ 0.90, and either UFB ≥ 95 or SH-aLRT ≥ 80; yellow, one of PP ≥ 0.90, UFB ≥ 95 or SH-aLRT ≥ 80; red, PP <0.90, UFB <95 and SH-aLRT <80.

Fig. 8. Habitus of Quedius s. str. A – Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832); B – Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958; C – Q. molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806) (red elytra variant); D – Q. molochinus (black elytra variant); E – Q. balticus Korge, 1960; F – Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003.

Fig. 13. Aedeagus of Quedius s. str. A – Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832); B – Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003; C – Q. subunicolor Korge, 1961; D – Q. molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806); E – Q. balticus Korge, 1960; F – Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958. I – parameral view of whole aedeagus; II – apices of paramere in antiparameral view with peg setae; III – lateral view of whole aedeagus; IV – apices of median lobe in parameral view.

Fig. 20. Distribution of Quedius molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806), Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958, and Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832) (top), Q. subunicolor Korge, 1961 (middle), and Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003 (bottom).

Fig.6. Head and pronotal chaetotaxy of Quedius s. str.A – general scheme; B – Q. curtipennis Bernhauer, 1908, C – Q. fuliginosus (Gravenhorst, 1802); D – Q. levicollis Brullé, 1832; E – Q. afrofuliginosus Gusarov, 1991; F – Q. molochinus- and Q. laticollis-groups; G – Q. molochinoides-group. Abbreviations as follows: anterior frontal puncture (AFP); basal punctures (BP); interocular punctures (IOP); lateral puncture (LP); lateral row (LR); posterior frontal puncture (PFP); parocular punctures (POP); sublateral row (SLR).