Phelister vernus (Say, 1825)

Caterino, Michael S. & Tishechkin, Alexey K., 2019, A revision of the Phelisterhaemorrhous species group (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Exosternini), ZooKeys 854, pp. 41-88 : 74-76

Phelister vernus (Say, 1825) Figs 2, 9; Map 6

Hister vernus Say, 1825: 40.

Phelister vernus ; Marseul, 1853: 478.

Phelister saunieri Marseul, 1861: 162; Bickhardt, 1916: 214.

Type material.

Neotype of Hister vernus Say, hereby designated: [reddish round disk] / "H. vernus Say." / "NEOTYPE Hister vernus Say Desg. Caterino and Tishechkin, 2011", MCZC. This common, widespread, and somewhat variable Nearctic species needs to be represented by a physical type so as to precisely establish its identity.

Types of synonyms. Lectotype of Phelister saunieri Marseul hereby designated: "11 Phelister saunieri M vernus Say Rochester Bouses Mai" / "6(11a) Phelist. Saunieri M Et Un. Rochester" / “TYPE” / "MUSEUM PARIS Coll. de Marseul 2842-90" / "LECTOTYPE Phelister saunieri Marseul, 1861 M.S. Caterino and A.K. Tishechkin des. 2010", MNHN.

Diagnostic description.

Length: 1.73-2.05 mm (avg. 1.95 mm); width: 1.50-1.77 mm (avg. 1.62 mm). Body elongate oval, piceous, with very distinct ground punctation throughout, especially distinct on pronotum; frons depressed along midline, supraorbital stria complete, frontal stria present along eyes, but broadly interrupted across front; labrum shallowly emarginate at apex; mandibles both with strong inner marginal tooth; prescutellar impression distinct, posterior margin of pronotum also with crenulate marginal punctures; lateral one-fifth of pronotal disk with elongate, coarser punctures; marginal pronotal stria complete along sides and front, only weakly crenulate in front; submarginal stria absent; marginal epipleural stria complete; outer subhumeral stria present in posterior one-third, inner subhumeral absent; dorsal elytral striae 1-4 complete, 5th present in apical half (sometimes also as basal puncture), sutural stria present in apical two-thirds; propygidium with small secondary punctures interspersed with ground punctures, separated by ca. twice their diameters; pygidium with ground punctures only; prosternal lobe narrowly rounded, subtruncate apically, marginal stria somewhat distant from margin, may be interrupted at middle; prosternal keel with striae converging from base, subparallel in apical half, similarly punctate in both sexes; mesoventral stria sinuate, following anterior margin, deeply impressed, continued by postmesocoxal stria, curving laterad behind coxa; mesometaventral stria somewhat quadrate, weakly arcuate across base of mesoventrite, angulate posteriad, with lateral mesoventral striae only weakly diverging to inner corners of metacoxae; 1st abdominal ventrite with complete inner lateral stria, outer abbreviated at base, and diverging behind metacoxa; protibia with outer margin weakly rounded, and rather strongly dentate, with five marginal spines, apex truncate; meso- and metatibiae weakly expanded to apex, mesotibia with ca. five marginal spines, more prominent toward apex, metatibia with distinct spines mainly in apical half. Aedeagus with basal piece almost one-third aedeagal length, tegmen more or less parallel sided, rounded to apex, with narrow, closed apical emargination; in lateral view tegmen rather flattened, thickened and with ventral dentate process near its midpoint; median lobe short, ca. one-third tegmen length, with differentiated thick and thin proximal apodemes.

Remarks.

Among US species of Phelister , P. vernus is easily distinguished by its broadly interrupted frontal stria, its lack of submarginal pronotal stria, and its conspic uous pronotal ground punctation. It also lacks any hint of reddish coloration, common in the broadly sympatric P. subrotundus.

Biology.

Label data associated with specimens indicate varied habits, having been collected from cow dung, mushrooms, 'stable sweepings’, and even in the nest of a shrew.

Distribution.

There is a published record from Ontario ( Davies 1991), but neither we nor Bousquet and Laplante (2006) have seen any specimens from Canada. Otherwise, the species is common and widely distributed across the eastern Nearctic. Records: USA: Alabama: Blount, Dallas, Madison, Mobile; Arkansas: Pulaski, Newton, Polk, Washington; Connecticut: New London; District of Columbia; Florida: Alachua, Columbia, Hendry, Putnam, Suwanee, Volusia; Georgia: Clarke, Chattooga, Dade, Harris, Peach; Illinois: Champaign, Cook, Dupage, Jackson, Lake, Lee, McClean, Will; Indiana: Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh; Iowa: Johnson; Kansas: Douglas, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Riley, Shawnee; Kentucky: Franklin, Jefferson; Louisiana: Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Grant, Jefferson, Madison, Orleans, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. Tammany, West Feliciana; Maryland: Prince George’s, St. Mary’s; Missis sippi: Hinds, Issaquena, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc; Missouri: Carter, Lawrence; Nebraska: Lancaster; New Jersey: Essex, Passaic; New York: Kings, Orange, Queens, Suffolk; North Carolina: Buncombe, Jackson, Rockingham; Oklahoma: Latimer; Pennsylvania: Delaware, Lancaster, Luzerne, Northampton, Philadelphia; South Carolina: Anderson, Charleston, Dorchester, Florence, Horry, Lexington, Pickens; Tennessee: Benton, Davidson, Knox, Sevier; Texas: Bexar, Brazos, Burleson, Cameron, Collin, Colorado, Dallas, Fort Bend, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Sabine, Travis, Uvalde, Wood; Virginia: Fairfax, Lee, Nelson; West Virginia: Hampshire, Jackson, Mason, Pocahontas; Wisconsin: Kenosha.