Coprochara Mulsant & Rey, 1874

Yamamoto, Shûhei & Maruyama, Munetoshi, 2013, Revision of the Subgenus Coprochara Mulsant & Rey of the Genus Aleochara Gravenhorst from Japan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Zootaxa 3641 (3), pp. 201-222 : 204-205

Subgenus Coprochara Mulsant & Rey, 1874

Coprochara Mulsant & Rey, 1874: 146 ; Klimaszewski, 1984: 14; Lohse, 1989: 236; Klimaszewski & Jansen, 1994: 148; Welch, 1997: 3; Maus, 1998: 83; Maus & Ashe, 1998 (online); Klimaszewski et al., 2000: 237; Smetana, 2004: 355; Gouix & Klimaszewski, 2007: 23.

Baryodma Thomson, 1858: 31 .

Eucharina Casey, 1906: 165 . [homonym].

Funda Blackwelder, 1952: 166 . [replacement name].

Mecorhopalus Solier, 1849: 347 .

Skenochara Bernhauer & Scheerpeltz, 1926: 795 .

See Klimaszewski (1984) and Maus (1998) for further references.

Type species: Aleochara bilineata Gyllenhal, 1810 .

Diagnosis. The subgenus Coprochara can be distinguished from the other subgenera of Aleochara by the combination of following character states (see details in Klimaszewski, 1984; Klimaszewski & Jansen, 1994; Maus, 1998): antennae thick with segments V–X clearly transverse; two longitudinal, parallel or subparallel rows of more or less impressed punctures on midline of pronotum; elytra in some species with orange or yellow spot; mesoventrite with complete carina; spermatheca usually multiply coiled posteriorly, varying from 1 to more than 100 coils; median lobe of aedeagus with flagellum and distinctively arranged sclerites ( Figs. 18–19 ), lacking subapico-ventral projections (see Yamamoto & Maruyama, 2012: Fig. 18 ).

Remarks. The subgenus Coprochara includes 37 species worldwide and 18 species from the Palearctic region (Maus, 1998, 2000; Smetana, 2004). This subgenus is widely distributed in all zoogeographical regions (Klimaszewski, 1984). The taxonomy of the subgenus Coprochara is difficult due to external similarity, considerable variation within species, and incorrect interpretations of the configuration of male genitalia (Maus, 1998). For example, species identifications in England were confused until the late 1980s (Welch, 1990, 1997).

Despite these taxonomic difficulties, species belonging to the subgenus have attracted special attentions as biological control agents for pest flies. Most studies on the subgenus have used A. (C.) bilineata Gyllenhal, 1810 , A. (C.) bipustulata (Linnaeus, 1760) , and A. (C.) verna Say, 1833 . One advantage of using the subgenus Coprochara for biological control is that they are native species within a wide distribution range, which reduces ecological impact on ecosystems.

Phylogenetic relationships among species of the subgenus Coprochara are relatively well known. Maus and Ashe (1998), based on morphological characters, and Maus et al. (2001), based on molecular data, produced phylogenetic trees for the subgenus. However, Maus and Ashe (1998) noted difficulties in the examination of phylogenetic relationships within the subgenus, such as the high frequencies of parallelism and homoplasy in the group, and most of the apomorphic character states have evolved independently in different lineages within the subgenus.

Three species of the subgenus Coprochara have been recorded in Japan, A. bipustulata , A. squalithorax Sharp, 1888 , and A. verna , the latter reliably only from Gunma and Kanagawa Prefectures (Maus, 1998; Park et al., 2011). “ Aleochara bipustulata ”, on the other hand, has been widely recorded from Japan. The littoral species, A. squalithorax was originally described from Hokkaidô and Honshû (Sharp, 1888).

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 21. Terminalia of Aleochara (Coprochara) verna. 14. tergite VIII of male; 15. tergite VIII of female; 16. sternite VIII of male; 17. sternite VIII of female; 18. male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; 19. male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view; 20. apical lobe of paramerite, lateral view; 21. female genitalia: spermatheca.