Bolitogyrus erythrurus (Kraatz, 1858)

Brunke, Adam J., 2022, Revision of rove beetle genus Bolitogyrus Chevrolat (Staphylininae, Cyrtoquediini). Supplement 1, ZooKeys 1096, pp. 1-16 : 1

Bolitogyrus erythrurus (Kraatz, 1858)

Fig. 1A-C

Cyrtothorax erythrurus Kraatz, 1858: 368

Bolitogyrus erythrurus (Kraatz): Brunke and Solodovnikov 2014 (redescription)

Type material.

Syntype (1 female, SDEI): Nov. Gren. [green label script] / Coll. Kraatz [white label, printed] / Bolitogyrus erythrurus [green label, script] / Syntypus [red label, printed] / Syntype ♀, Cyrtothorax erythrurus Kraatz, 1858, det A. Brunke 2013 [red printed label].

Non-type material.

Country unknown: "Nova Grenada" [handwritten label], Cyrtothorax erythrurus Kr. [handwritten label], "R. I. Sc. N. B.", "17.479", "Coll. et det. A. Fauvel" (1 female, IRSNB).

Comments.

Kraatz (1858) described B. erythrurus based on an unknown number of specimens from "Nova Grenada" [= Panama + Colombia]. Brunke and Solodovnikov (2014) were able to examine one female syntype from the Kraatz collection (SDEI) and redescribed the species based on this and several other, more recently collected single female specimens from medium elevations (1300-1350 m) in southern Puntarenas, Costa Rica and adjacent Chiriquí, Panama. However, the non-syntype females differed from the syntype in coloration, with the former group possessing a bluish forebody and brassy-green elytra (Fig. 1A ), and the latter a brassy-green forebody and bluish elytra (Fig. 1B ). The legs of the syntype also appeared darker and less clearly bicolored than the non-syntypes and most species of the genus (Fig. 1B ), though this was thought to be due to age or discoloration from a killing agent ( Brunke and Solodovnikov 2014). The above specimen from IRSNB (Fig. 1C ), also collected from "Nova Grenada", corresponds closely with the syntype in coloration, including the faintly but clearly bicolored legs with a paler area in the basal third of the femur. This raises the possibility that B. erythrurus was originally described from present-day Colombia rather than Panama and may not be conspecific with the specimens previously examined from Central America. This hypothesis is further supported by an image taken by D. Hoyos Velasquez of a live specimen from La Tebaida, Quindío, Colombia (mid-elevation, northern Andes), matching the coloration of specimens from "Nova Grenada" and posted on various social media websites (e.g., https://www.facebook.com/groups/491915904153407/posts/2464208683590776). This image represents the first definitive evidence of the Buphthalmus group in South America. A more accurate species concept for B. erythrurus is badly needed but will not be possible without the study of male specimens from both Central and South America.

Although the specimen from IRSNB is quite old and collected from "Nova Grenada", it is not considered to be a syntype of Cyrtothorax erythrurus as the labels are different from that of the syntype deposited in the Kraatz collection ( Brunke and Solodovnikov 2014).

Figures

Figure 1. A-C habitus of Bolitogyrus erythrurus (Kraatz) A non-type, Panama B syntype, " Nova Grenada " C non-type, " Nova Grenada " D, E pronotum, lateral view D B. viridescens Brunke E B. pseudostrigifrons Brunke F antenna of B. nigropolitoides Brunke. Scale bars: 1 mm (A, B); 0.5 mm (D-F).