Atheta (Dimetrota) hampshirensis Bernhauer

Klimaszewski, Jan, Langor, David W., Hammond, H. E. James & Bourdon, Caroline, 2016, A new species of Anomognathus and new Canadian and provincial records of aleocharine rove beetles from Alberta, Canada (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), ZooKeys 581, pp. 141-164 : 145-147

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Atheta (Dimetrota) hampshirensis Bernhauer Figs 5-12

Atheta (Dimetrota) hampshirensis Bernhauer 1909: 525, Gusarov 2003: 43, Klimaszewski et al. 2011: 139.

Diagnosis.

This species may be distinguished from other Nearctic Atheta (Dimetrota) by its small size (length 2.2-2.6 mm), uniformly black body, dense and asperate punctation of forebody, antennal articles slightly to strongly transverse (Fig. 5), and the shape of its genital structures (Figs 6-12). For a detailed description, see Klimaszewski et al. (2011).

This species may be confused with Atheta dadopora Thomson and Strophogastra pencillata Fenyes. Strophogastra pencillata differs from Atheta hampshirensis by having numerous strong ventral setae near the apical part of the abdomen and Atheta dadopora is more elongate and has different body proportions. All three species differ in the shape of male tergite VIII, median lobe of aedeagus and spermatheca.

Distribution.

Natural history.

In Newfoundland, adults were collected from June to August using carrion-baited pitfall traps and flight intercept traps in mixedwood and coniferous forest types and on coastal barrens ( Klimaszewski et al. 2011). In British Columbia, adults were taken from Sitka spruce forest, June through September, with peak abundance in August/September ( Klimaszewski and Winchester 2002). In New Brunswick, adults were found in red spruce forest from July to September ( Klimaszewski et al. 2005), and in Nova Scotia in coniferous and deciduous forests, open habitats, on mushrooms, in compost and on carrion ( Majka and Klimaszewski 2008).

The Alberta female was captured in July in a window-trap attached to the trunk of an aspen snag in a two-year-old harvested boreal aspen stand.

Comments.

This species is broadly distributed in Canada and the USA.