Scydmoraphes minutus (Chaudoir, 1845)

Pentinsaari, Mikko, Anderson, Robert, Borowiec, Lech, Bouchard, Patrice, Brunke, Adam, Douglas, Hume, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Hebert, Paul D. N., 2019, DNA barcodes reveal 63 overlooked species of Canadian beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera), ZooKeys 894, pp. 53-150 : 53

Scydmoraphes minutus (Chaudoir, 1845) Figure 14

Distribution.

Native to the Palaearctic region, widespread in Europe and also reported from the Russian Far East ( Schülke and Smetana 2015). Adventive in the Nearctic region (Ontario, Canada).

Canadian records.

Ontario:Georgian Bay Islands National Park, 30-Jul-2013 to 06-Aug-2013 (1 ex, CBG); Peterborough, 30-Jul-2015 (1 ex, CBG).

Diagnostic information.

Body length: 1.15-1.30 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 14A . Head without supraantennal notches or frontal impression, submentum with lateral sutures broadly separated. Pronotum setose, laterally margined, with a transverse groove at the base. Aedeagus as in Fig. 14B .

Bionomic notes.

This species is associated with ants, especially species of the Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1761 group, and Lasius fuliginosus (Latreille, 1798) and L. brunneus (Latreille, 1798) in Europe ( Franz and Besuchet 1971). Koch (1989a) reports S. minutus with Lasius ants in hollow trees, under loose bark and in fallen logs. The Canadian specimens were collected with Malaise traps, one in a forested peninsula and the other on farmland.

Comments.

The genus Scydmoraphes Reitter, 1891 is here reported for the first time from North America. It was distinguished recently from the similar Nearctic genus Parascydmus Casey, 1897 ( Jałoszynski 2019), and it does not appear to be an obvious synonym of the other similar Nearctic genus Brachycepsis Brendel, 1889. A detailed systematic study of the Nearctic glandulariine genera is warranted. The genus Scydmoraphes (with a single species in the Nearctic region) may be recognized within the Nearctic fauna of Glandulariini by the unique combination of a transverse groove on the base of the pronotum, which is margined laterally ( Fig. 14A ), submentum with lateral sutures broadly separated, and head dorsally lacking frontal impression and supraantennal notches ( Jałoszynski 2019). In habitus, Scydmoraphes is similar to Brachycepsis and Parascydmus but can be easily recognized by the transverse pronotal groove.

The following couplets from O’Keefe (2001) were modified to include Scydmoraphes :

Figures

Figures 13, 14. 13 Scydmaenus rufus Mueller & Kunze 13 A habitus, L. Borowiec 13 B aedeagus, ventral view 14 Scydmoraphes minutus (Chaudoir) 14 A habitus 14 B aedeagus, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (13 A; 14 A), 0.1 mm (13 B; 14 B).