Xantholinus (Heterolius) fortepunctatus Motschulsky, 1860

Assing, Volker, 2007, On the Xantholinini of Turkey and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Zootaxa 1474, pp. 1-54 : 43

Xantholinus (Heterolius) fortepunctatus Motschulsky, 1860

Material examined: TURKEY: Tunceli: 1 ex., Ovacık, 1400 m, VI.1976, leg. Schubert ( NHMW); 1 ex., Ovacık, 1700 m, VI.1977, leg. Schubert (cAss); Bitlis: 2 exs. Tatvan, 1900 m, leg. Schubert ( NHMW). UKRAINE: 1 ex., Slobodseja, 1.–17.VIII.1983, leg. Arnold (cSch). GEORGIA: 4 exs., Mzcheta near Tbilisi, VI.1986, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cSch); 1 ex., same data, but VI.1987 (cSch); 12 exs., Kumisi near Tbilisi, VI.1987, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cSch, cAss); 3 exs., same data, but 29.VI.–1.VII.1987 (cSch); 1 ex., Tbilisi, Lisi, 19.VI.–13.VII.1988, leg. Wrase (cSch). UZBEKISTAN: 1 ex., Pamir Alai, Fergana, Chamsaabad, 1800 m, 14.VII.1984, leg. Wrase (cSch). TAJIKISTAN: 6 exs., Pamir Alai, Seravshan valley near Novabad, 1100 m, 10.–11.VII.1990, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cSch, cAss).

Comment. There has been considerable confusion regarding the identity of this species (see also remarks in the section on X. reitteri ). The original description of X. fortepunctatus is based on material from "les plaines qui avoisinent le Caucase" ( Motschulsky 1860). Bordoni (1975a) studied a female syntype from " Georgia ", later to be designated as the lectotype ( Bordoni 1999a), in the collections of the Zoological Museum Moscow and provided a description of external characters. According to this description, the type specimen is 12 mm long, with the forebody (from head to posterior margin of elytra) measuring 7 mm. These measurements are clearly outside the range of intraspecific variation of X. fortepunctatus sensu Coiffait (1972) and Korge (1973). Based on his findings, Bordoni (1975a) synonymised X. semirufus Reitter—which again had for a long time been confounded with X. elegans ( Olivier, 1795) or one of its junior synonymswith X. fortepunctatus .

Xantholinus fortepunctatus is widespread, with the currently known distribution extending from Poland to the Caucasus and Middle Asia ( Bordoni 1975a, Smetana 2004, Ushakov 1988). As explained in the section on X. reitteri , some previous records of X. fortepunctatus refer to X. reitteri . The specimens from Tunceli and Bitlis listed above represent the first records of X. fortepunctatus from Turkey.