Meotica exillima SHARP , 1915

Assing, Volker & Vogel, Jürgen, 2019, The mother of synonyms: on the Meotica species of the Palaearctic Region (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Oxypodini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (2), pp. 731-772 : 752

Meotica exillima SHARP, 1915

( Figs 18-28 )

Meotica exillima SHARP, 1915: 215 ; lectotype designation by MUONA (1991).

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂: "Syntype / H. exillima / New Forest, ix.1914, M. A. Sharp / D. Sharp Coll. B.M. 1932-166 / Lectotype" (BMNH).

Additional material examined: SPAIN: 1♀, Pontevedra , Montes del Testeiro, 800-900 m, leg. Franz (cVog) . FRANCE: 1♀, Lozère , 2 km S Villefort, 8.IV.1980, leg. Löbl ( MHNG) . GERMANY: N i e d e r s a c h s e n: 1♀, N Hannover, Bissendorfer Moor , 22.X.1988, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♀, NW Hannover, Helstorfer Reiterheide , heathland, soil extraction, XII.1981, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Lüneburger Heider , Schneverdingen env., heathland, soil extraction, XII.1984, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Lüneburger Heider , Schneverdingen env., Tütsberg, sparsely vegetated heathland, pitfall trap, V.1994, leg. Melber (cAss) ; 1♂, Gifhorn env., NSG "Heiliger Hain", heathland, soil extraction, VII.1985, leg. Assing et al. (cAss) ; 2♀♀, same data, but VIII.1985 (cAss) ; 7♂♂, 4♀♀, same data, but IX.1985 (cAss) ; 2♂♂, 1♀, same data, but XII.1985 (cAss) ; 1♂, same data, but I.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but II.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but III.1986 (cAss) ; 4♂♂, 8♀♀ [5 with mature eggs in ovaries], same data, but IV.1986 (cAss) ; 2♂♂, 1♀, same data, but V.1986 (cAss) ; 4♂♂, 3♀♀, same data, but VI.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, same data, but VII.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, same data, but X.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, 2♀♀, same data, but XII.1986 (cAss) ; 1♂, same data, but pitfall trap, V:1985 (cAss) ; 1♂, Gifhorn env., Wesendorf , Talpa nest, 14.IV.1984, leg. Assing (cAss). Nordrhein - Westfalen: 1♂, 1♀, Mönchengladbach, Gerkerath, 25.III.1989, leg. Wunderle (cVog) ; 1♂, 1♀, Wesel , NSG Schwarzes Wasser, 30 XII.1974, leg. Hozman (cVog) .

Comment: The original description is based on numerous syntypes from "Anglia mer." collected in " Sphagnum in the spring and autumn" ( SHARP 1915). MUONA (1991) designated a lectotype.

Diagnosis: Wing-polymorphic species.

♂: sternite VIII ( Fig. 18 ) strongly transverse, posterior margin obtusely produced in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.23-0.24 mm long and shaped as in Figs 19-22 ; apical lobe of paramere blackish.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII convex, in the middle truncate or weakly concave ( Fig. 23 ); spermatheca comma-shaped, very stout and short ( Figs 24-28 ).

Although very similar in external characters and in the morphology of the aedeagus to M. exilis , M. exillima is reliably distinguished by the shape of the male sternite VIII and by the much shorter and stouter spermatheca.

Confirmed distribution: South England, Spain, France, Germany. Note that, aside from the type material, MUONA (1991) had seen only a single specimen from North Germany.

Natural history: The type material from South England was collected from Sphagnum, where it "though local is by no means rare" ( SHARP 1915). The material listed above was found in sandy Calluna heathlands, partly also in very sparsely vegetated plots, primarily by extracting soil. One specimen was collected in a bog and one was extracted from a mole nest. The ovaries of five dissected females collected in April contained mature eggs.

Figures

Figs 18-28: Meotica exillima (North Germany): (18) male sternite VIII; (19-22) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (23) female sternite VIII; (24-28) spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.