Tetrabothrus clavatus BERNHAUER, 1915

Assing, Volker, 2016, On some Lomechusini of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (1), pp. 13-111 : 99

Tetrabothrus clavatus BERNHAUER, 1915 ( Map 2 )

Tetrabothrus clavatus BERNHAUER, 1915b: 242 .

Tetrabothrus quadricollis CAMERON, 1950: 118 f.; syn. nov.

Tetrabothrus japonicus NAKANE, 1991: 111 f.; syn. nov.

Tetrabothrus vietnamiculus PACE, 2013: 375 ; syn. nov.

Tetrabothrus rubricollis ASSING, 2015: 138 ff.; syn. nov.

Type material examined: T. clavatus : Holotype ♀: “ Sumatra, Manna, M. Knappert / Tetrabothrus clavatus Brnh. , Typus unic. / Chicago NHMus, M. Bernhauer Collection / Holotypus Tetrabothrus clavatus Bernhauer , rev. V. Assing 2016 / Tetrabothrus clavatus Bernhauer , det. V. Assing 2016” ( FMNH).

T. quadricollis : Holotype ♀: “ Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, at light, Jan: 27th, 1936. H. M. Pendlebury. / Ex Coll. F.M.S. Museum [overleaf] / T. quadricollis Cam. Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147 / Syntype / Type / Holotypus Tetrabothrus quadricollis Cameron , rev. V. Assing 2015 / Tetrabothrus clavatus Bernhauer , det. V. Assing 2016 ” ( BMNH).

Paratype ♂: “ Malaya , Kuala Lumpur, at light, April 27th, 1932. H. M. Pendlebury. / Ex Coll. F.M.S. Museum [overleaf] / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147 / Syntype / Syntype Tetrabothrus quadricollis Cam. , det. R.G. Booth 2015 / Paratypus Tetrabothrus quadricollis Cameron , rev. V. Assing 2015” ( BMNH) .

Additional material examined: China: 1 ex., Jiangxi, Jinggang Shan, Luofu , 26°40'N, 114°14'E, 310 m, at light, 25+ 27.IV.2011, leg. Fikáček & Hájek ( NMP) ; 1 ex., Guangdong, W Qixing, Heishiding nature reserve , 23°28'N, 111°54'E, 190 m, forested stream valley, at light, 1.–3.V.2011, leg. Fikáček & Hájek (cAss) . Thailand: 1 ♂, Chanthaburi, Khao Sabap National Park , 150–300 m, 23.–24.XI.1985, leg. Burckhardt & Löbl ( MHNG) ; 1 ex., Fang , 19°55'N, 99°12'E, 300 m, leg. Král ( NHMB) . Laos: 1 ♂, 1 ex., Boli Kham Xai province , 8 km NE Ban Nape, 18°21'N, 105°08'E, 600 m, 1.–18.V.2001, leg. Pacholátko ( NHMB, cAss) ; 1 ♂, Vientiane province, Vang–Vieng , 19°55'N, 102°26'E, 300 m, V.–VI.200 [sic], leg. Kolibáč (cAss) . Malaysia: 1 ♂, Sarawak (Borneo), 4th division, Gn. Mulu National Park , V–VIII.1978, leg. Hammond & Marshall ( BMNH) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, Sabah, 10 km SSE Telupid, Karamuak river , at light, 1.–7.IX.1977, leg. Bacchus ( BMNH) ; 1 ♂, Sabah, Mt. Kinabalu National Park , 7500 ft, at light, 20.VIII.1982, leg. Stork (cAss) ; 1 ♂, Sabah, Sandakan–Keningau road, 250 ft, 19.X.1977, leg. Bacchus (cAss) . Indonesia: 1 ♂, Sulawesi Utara, Dumoga-Bone National Park , 220 m, light trap, II.1985, leg. Barlow ( BMNH) ; 1♀, same data, but 200 m, III.1985 ( BMNH) . Brunei: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Lamunin, Bukit Sulang , 4°38'N, 114°45'E, 6.VIII.–12.IX.1982, leg. Stork ( BMNH) . Identification doubtful : 1 ♀, Australia, Phillip Island , leg. Semper ( BMNH) .

Comment: Tetrabothrus clavatus was described from a unique holotype “Ein einziges Stück” from “Sumatra: Manna” ( BERNHAUER 1915b). The specimen, a female, was located in the Bernhauer collection at the FMNH. The original description of T. quadricollis is based on type material from “Kuala Lumpur. At light”. In stating “Type in my collection”, CAMERON (1950) designated a holotype. Only one of the two type specimens in the Cameron collection has Cameron´s type label attached to it; this specimen, a female, consequently is the holotype, whereas the other, a male, is a paratype. In external characters, particularly the distinctive shape of the pronotum, the punctation pattern of the abdomen, and the coloration, type material of T. clavatus and T. quadricollis are identical, suggesting that they belong to the same widespread species, of which T. clavatus is the senior name. The aedeagus of the paratype of T. quadricollis is identical to that of T. japonicus , which was described from a male holotype and a male paratype from Kyushu, Japan ( NAKANE 1991), and subsequently revised and illustrated by MARUYAMA & KISHIMOTO (1999). Thus, T. japonicus , together with its junior synonym T. vietnamiculus PACE, 2013 ( ASSING 2015d), is placed in synonymy with the senior name T. clavatus . As can be inferred from the details indicated in the original description of T. canescens PACE, 2010 , which is based on a unique female from Java deposited in the natural history museum in Genova, this name too may be a synonym of T. clavatus , just like T. neoguineensis PACE, 2012 from New Guinea (see comment in the section on T. neoguineensis ).

An examination of material of T. clavatus from various regions revealed some intraspecific variation of the characters emphasized by ASSING (2015b) as distinguishing T. rubricollis from T. japonicus (i.e., T. clavatus ). A re-examination of the female holotype of T. rubricollis revealed that, in external characters, it is within the range of intraspecific variation of T. clavatus , suggesting that both names are synonymous.

Tetrabothrus clavatus is the most widespread species of the genus, its distribution ranging from Japan (Honshû, Shikoku, Kyûshû, Ryukyu Islands) to South Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia (material examined and ASSING 2015d, HLAVÁČ et al. 2011, MARYUAMA & KISHIMOTO 1999), possibly even to Australia ( Map 2 ). In China, it was previously known from Anhui, Guizhou, and Zhejiang provinces ( YAN & LI 2015b). YAN & LI (2015b) also indicate Fujian province, but do not indicate any primary records from there. The above specimens from Laos represent a new country record, those from Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei the first records from Borneo.

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of Tetrabothrus clavatus based on revised material and reliable literature records taken from MARYUAMA & KISHIMOTO (1999) and YAN & LI (2015b) (filled circles), as well as on a female-based record from Australia and localities of suspected synonyms (T. canescens, T. neoguineensis) (open circles).