Drusilla canaliculata (FABRICIUS, 1787)

Assing, Volker, 2015, New species and additional records of Lomechusini from the Palaearctic region, primarily from China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 65 (2), pp. 243-262 : 244-245

Drusilla canaliculata (FABRICIUS, 1787)

Drusilla puncticollis MOTSCHULSKY, 1845: 360 ; syn. nov.

Material examined: Turkey: 1 ♂, Nevşehir, Göre , 21.IV.1992, leg. Kocian (cKoc) . Iran: 1 ♀, Ardabil province, 20 km NE Khalkhal , 37°41'N, 48°23'E, 1480 m, 13.X.2011, leg. Frisch ( MNHUB); 1 ♀ , Gilan province, Bandar-e Anzali, Bashm , 37°30'N, 49°21'E, 0 m, marshland, 1.V.2012, leg. Weipert ( NME) .

Kyrgyzstan: 1 ♀, Issyk-Kul , Tyup, 42°45'N, 78°23'E, 1620 m, 28.VI.2011, leg. Frisch ( MNHUB); 1 ♀, IssykKul, Balykchy - Cholpon-Ata, Semenovka, 42°46'N, 77°32'E, 1860 m, 30.VI.2011, leg. Frisch (cAss) .

Japan: 1 ex., Hokkaido, Sapporo env., Nopporo virgin forest, 15.V.2010, leg. Lackner (cAss) ; 2 exs., Hokkaido, Sapporo, Hokudai Campus , VII.2011, leg. Lackner (cAss) .

Comment: Drusilla puncticollis , whose descriptions is based on two syntypes from “Kamtschatka” ( MOTSCHULSKY 1845), was previously treated as a subspecies of D. canaliculata ( SMETANA 2004) . According to MOTSCHULSKY (1845), who already expressed doubts regarding the status of this taxon (“Je propose cette espèce avec doute”), D. puncticollis is distinguished from D. canaliculata by larger body size, darker coloration, and a more deeply impressed pronotum. Examined material from the eastern East Palaearctic region indeed tends to be darker and of slightly larger size than material from West Europe; for previous records see ASSING (2005a, b, 2006b, 2008a, 2009, 2010). However, similar character conditions have been observed also in specimens from some regions in Middle Asia and the West Palaearctic region (particularly Iran), suggesting that these differences should be interpreted as intraspecific, possibly clinal variation. Moreover, the presence of a distinct subspecies in Kamchatka appears most unlikely. Hence the synonymy proposed above.

The previously known trans-Palaearctic distribution of D. canaliculata extended from West Europe to the Russian Far East ( SMETANA 2004). The above specimens from Hokkaido represent the first records from Japan.