Forficula dentata, FABRICIUS, 1775

González-Miguéns, Rubén, Muñoz-Nozal, Eva, Jiménez-Ruiz, Yolanda, Mas-Peinado, Paloma, Ghanavi, Hamid R. & García-París, Mario, 2020, Speciation patterns in the Forficula auricularia species complex: cryptic and not so cryptic taxa across the western Palaearctic region, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 190, pp. 788-823 : 807-808

FORFICULA DENTATA FABRICIUS, 1775

( FIGS. 12, 13)

Forficula dentata Fabricius, 1775: 270 . Terra typica : ‘Habitat in insula Madera’. Type specimen at the Natural History Museum (London, UK) ( Brindle, 1981) (photographs examined; Fig. 13). The type specimen of F. dentata is accompanied with a handwritten label ‘Madeira’. Steinmann (1989) indicated erroneously as type locality for this taxon: Central Africa. Burr (1911: 81) synonymized F. dentata Fabricius, 1775 with F. auricularia .

Forficula parallela Fabricius, 1775: 270 , synon. nov. Terra typica : ‘Habitat in insula Madera’. Two syntypes at the Natural History Museum (London, UK) (photographs examined; Fig. 13) and two at the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum (Copenague) ( Brindle, 1981).

Forficula neglecta Marsham, 1802: 529 , synon. nov. Terra typica : not indicated, but the title of the work refers to Britain. Type specimen at unknown location ( Steinmann, 1989).

Forficula media Marsham, 1802: 530 (non Hagenbach, 1822), synon. nov. Terra typica : ‘Capta prope Dartford’. Type specimen at unknown location ( Steinmann, 1989).

Forficula borealis Leach in Stephens, 1835: 5, synon. nov. Terra typica : ‘… on oaks, especially at Darenth wood, … it also occurs in plenty at Dover, and near Edinburgh. “Berwik upon Tweed”’. Type specimens at unknown location ( Steinmann, 1989). Steinman (1989) indicated erroneously ‘Eur. bor.’ as type locality.

Forficula forcipata Stephens, 1835: 6 , synon. nov. Terra typica : ‘found at Coombe wood on high trees, and also in the New Forest. “Bath”’. Type specimens at unknown location ( Steinmann, 1989).

Pseudochelidura parallela ( Fabricius, 1775) : Kirby, 1904: 54.

Forficula laeviforceps Chopard, 1938: 235 , synon. nov. Terra typica : ‘… sous une bouse de vache sur le plateau de Paul da Serra’. Type specimen at unknown location ( Steinmann, 1989). Steinmann (1989) treated F. laeviforceps Chopard, 1938 as a valid species, while Lange (1991), followed by Bivar de Sousa & Sakai (1997) considered it a synonym of F. auricularia .

Differential diagnosis: Forficula dentata , F. auricularia and F. mediterranea are cryptic species. We have not found any morphological character that can be used to differentiate between these species ( Fig. 11). We are able to diagnose F. dentata only through phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and mtDNA, and its reciprocal monophyly with respect to F. aeolica (see Results and Discussion). Popham (1959, 1965 sub F. auricularia ) presented a detailed description of the male and female genitalia and the mouth parts of this species.

Taxonomic comments: The oldest available names used for any earwig of the F. auricularia species complex that are geographically assignable to ‘species B’ are Forficula dentata Fabricius, 1775 and Forficula parallela Fabricius, 1775 , both described on the same page as from ‘… insula Madera’ ( Fabricius, 1775: 270). Steinmann (1993) erroneously indicated ‘Central Africa’ as the type locality of F. dentata [for the correct type localities, see also Brindle (1981)]. Following the description of Fabricius (1775) and after a photographic revision of type material, we conclude that it is likely that F. dentata and F. parallela represent the male and female, respectively, of the same species. Therefore, as first reviewers, and to avoid further confusion, we decided to assign the name Forficula dentata Fabricius, 1775 to ‘species B’. This decision is based on the phylogenetic position of the analysed samples from the Island of Madeira ( Portugal) within clade B. We included in the analyses four samples from three distant Madeiran localities, and all corresponded to clade B. The evidence, to date, does not support the presence of other species of the F. auricularia species complex on the Island of Madeira.

Geographic range: According to our genetic data, F. dentata is present in Portugal (Madeira and Atlantic coast of continental Portugal), Spain (western, central and northern areas), Andorra, Great Britain, France and Región de Los Lagos in Chile ( Fig. 1). Previously published reports cited its presence in France (in partial sympatry with F. auricularia ) and western USA ( Wirth et al., 1998; Guillet et al., 2000b; Quarrell et al., 2018).

FORFICULA AEOLICA GONZÁLEZ-MIGUÉNS &