Meotica “pallens” (Redtenbacher, 1849) sensu Benick and Lohse (1974) (Redtenbacher)

Majka, Christopher & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2008, Adventive Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada: further contributions, ZooKeys 2 (2), pp. 151-174 : 158

Meotica “pallens” (Redtenbacher, 1849) sensu Benick and Lohse (1974)

NOVA SCOTIA: Hants Co.: St. Croix, 28.VII. 2007, M. Moseley, in wet moss in a gypsum sinkhole, (1 female, NSMC) .

This species is newly recorded for Nova Scotia and the Maritime Provinces ( Fig. 1 ). In North America it has previously been recorded from British Columbia, New Jersey, Ontario, and Rhode Island ( Gouix and Klimaszewski 2007; Klimaszewski et al. 2007). The earliest North American specimen was collected at the end of the 19th century by Casey in Rhode Island and was described by him as Sipaliella filaria Casey, 1911, which was subsequently synonymized with M. pallens by Gusarov (2002).

The concept of Meotica pallens (Redtenbacher) in Europe is problematic. Canadian specimens are conspecific with the central European specimens cited as M. pallens (Redtenbacher) sensu Benick and Lohse (1974) ( Klimaszewski et al. 2007). According to Muona (1991), M. pallens (Redtenbacher) is synonymous with M. lohsei Benick, M. hanseni Scheerpeltz, M. strandi Scheerpeltz , and M. strandi sensu Muona (1979) , but is a different species from that listed from central Europe by Benick and Lohse (1974) under the same name. Following Klimaszewski et al. (2007) we employ the tentative name M. “ pallens ” (Redtenbacher) sensu Benick and Lohse (1974) for this specimen pending revisionary studies in Europe.

Klimaszewski et al. (2007) reported a specimen in Ontario collected in a muskrat nest near a Sphagnum bog. Th e Nova Scotia specimen was collected in wet moss in a gypsum sinkhole. Muona (1991: 231) says that, “Th is species seems to live more or less subterraneously. It has been taken from burrows of small mammals and can be found by sieving rich soils around trees early in the spring as well as in flood refuse”. Meotica pallens (Redtenbacher) sensu Muona, 1991 is wing-dimorphic, with both brachypterous and macropterous forms. The Nova Scotia specimen is macropterous. A dorsal habitus photograph is provided in Fig. 4 . For illustrations of the genitalia see Klimaszewski et al. (2007).

Figures

Fig. 1. Distribution of Ilyobates bennetti, Meotica exilis, Meotica “pallens,” Lathrobium fulvipenne, and Oxytelus sculptus in eastern Canada.

Fig. 4. Dorsal habitus photograph of Meo- tica “pallens” sensu Benick and Lohse (1974)