Alevonota (Alevonota) egregia ( RYE , 1876)

Wunderle, Volker Assing Paul, 2008, On the Alevonota species of the Western Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Athetini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 58 (5), pp. 145-189 : 163-167

Alevonota (Alevonota) egregia ( RYE, 1876) ( Figs 46-49 , Map 3 )

Homalota egregia RYE, 1876: 176 .

Aleuonota egregia (RYE) : BENICK & LOHSE (1974).

Aleuonota aurantiaca (FAUVEL) : BENICK & LOHSE (1974); misidentification.

Type material examined:

Holotype : “Caterham, Surrey, G. C. C. / 68-73 (June) [overleaf] / egregia Rye , type / Holotype / Holotype Homalota egregia Rye, 1876 ; 176, det. R. G. Booth 2007 / Alevonota egregia (Rye) det. V. Assing 2007 ” ( BMNH).

Comment:

The original description is based on a single specimen from "Caterham" collected by"evening sweeping in June, 1873" ( RYE 1876).

Additional material examined:

France: Nord-Pas-de-Calais: 1 ex., Lille, leg. Desbroch ( DEI). Locality not specified : 1 ex., "Frankreich" ( DEI) .

Switzerland: Bern: 1 ex., Burgdorf, 5.V.1978, leg. Kiener ( MHNG) .

Germany: Nordrhein-Westfalen: 2 exs., Bielefeld, Teutoburger Wald, Hünenburg , car-net, 13.V. 2001, leg. Renner (cFel) ; 1 ex., Teutoburger Wald , 24.V.1987, leg. Renner (cWun) ; 1 ex., Teutoburger Wald, Werther-Isingdorf , car-net, 29.IV.1994, leg. Renner (cAss) ; 1 ex., Bielefeld , 2.VI.1984, leg. Renner (cWun) ; 2 exs., Düren, Gürzenich-Schevenhütte , car-net, 26.V.1989, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ex., Hürth , car-net, 17.V.1989, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ex., Wuppertal , "Burgholz", 1.VI.1979, leg. Kolbe (cWun) ; 1 ex., Brühl near Köln, Staatsforst Ville , 9.V.1981, leg. Köhler (cWun) ; 3 exs., same data, but 3.V.1989 (cWun, cAss) ; 1 ex., Porta Westfalica, Wittekindsberg , window-trap, VI.1992, leg. Borcherding (cAss) . Hessen: 1 ex., Dautphe-Buchenau, Katzenbachtal , car-net, 9.V.1988, leg. Wunderle (cWun) .

Bayern: 1 ex., Regensburg, Kallmünz env., Schwaighauser Forst, car-net, 30.V.1998, leg. Renner (cRen) .

Sachsen-Anhalt: 1 ex., Uftrungen, Reesberg cave , 17.VII.1988, leg. Hennicke (cHen) . Sachsen: 1 ex., "Saxon.", leg. Märkel ( DEI) .

Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige: 1 ex., E Trento, N Roncegno, 700-1600 m, car-net, 26.VI.1995, leg. Assing (cAss) . Piemonte: 1 ex., Rima San Guiseppe ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., Terme di Valdieri ( NHMW) . Veneto: 2 exs., Alpi Lessini, Piano della Fugazza ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., Cansiglio ( NHMW) . Basilicata: 1 ex., Casteluccio, T. Pesciera , 850 m, 28.V.2002, leg. Kapp (cKap) .

Austria: Vorarlberg: 3 exs., Stanzach / Lech , car-net, 24.V.1995, leg. Renner (cAss, cWun) ; 1 ex., same data, but 28.V.1995 (cAss) . Tirol: 1 ex., locality not specified ( NHMW) . Oberösterreich: 1 ex., Windischgarsten , leg. Skalitzky ( NHMW) . Niederösterreich / Wien: 1 ex., Wienerwald , Rekawinkel, leg. Skalitzky ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., Rekawinkel , 10.VI.1901, leg. Pinker ( NHMW) ; 2 exs., Baden ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., S Wiener Neustadt, Bucklige Welt, leg. Mader ( NHMW) . Steiermark: 1 ex., Wies env. ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., Soboth ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., locality not specified ( NHMW) . Kärnten: 1 ex., Karawanken , locality illegible, 7.VII.1991, leg Gräf (cWun) ; 2 exs., locality not specified ( MHNG, NHMW) . Burgenland: 1 ex., Neusiedlersee ( NHMW) .

Hungary: 1 ex., Balatonfüred , Ajka, Bakony forest, car-net, 25.V.1999, leg. Renner (cFel) .

Romania: 1 ex., SE Caransebeş, Munţii Ţarcului [" Mt. Sarco ", 45°17'N, 22°28'E], leg. Breit ( NHMW) ; 1 ex., Braşov, leg. Hopffgarten ( NHMW) .

Greece: 1 ex., Flórina, WNW Flórina, Oros Varnous , 40°49'N, 21°15'E, 1810 m, N-slope below snowfield, grass sifted, 23.V.2005, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1 ex., Grevena, Smolikas , SW Smixi, 1450 m, 18.VI.2002, leg. Brachat (cAss) ; 2 exs., Thessalia, Pelion ( NHMW, cAss) .

Turkey: Sakarya: 2 exs., Sapanca ["Sabanca", 40°41'N, 30°16'E], V.1962, leg. Schubert ( NHMW, cAss) .

Locality not specified or not idientified: 1 ex., " Jugoslawien, Firžine [?]", VII.1969 ( NHMW) ; 2 exs. ( DEI) .

Diagnosis:

2.8-3.6 mm; RL: 1.3-1.6 mm. Coloration moderately variable; usual coloration: head, abdominal segment VI, and anterior half of segment VII dark brown to blackish; pronotum reddish brown to dark brown; elytra yellowish brown; abdominal segments III-V and abdominal apex reddish brown; leg yellowish; antennae yellowish brown to reddish brown.

Head weakly transverse (HW/HL: 1.02-1.08); puncturation very fine and sparse, barely noticeable in the pronounced microreticulation. Eyes rather large and prominent, slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Postgenal carina fine and short, visible only posteriorly in lateral view. Antenna rather slender; antennomere III approximately twice as long as wide; IV weakly transverse, usually less than 1.5 times as wide as long; V-IX increasingly transverse and of gradually increasing in width; IX and X approximately twice as wide as long or nearly so.

Pronotum slightly wider than head (PW/HW: 1.09-1.15) and weakly transverse (PW/PL: ca. 1.10); puncturation and microsculpture similar to those of head, occasionally puncturation more distinct.

Elytra slightly longer than pronotum (EL/PL: 1.04-1.12); puncturation usually as fine as that of head and pronotum; microsculpture as pronounced as that of head and pronotum or even coarser. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen subparallel; tergite IV with or without shallow anterior impression; puncturation sparse; microsculpture distinct, that of tergites III-VI composed of isodiametric meshes, that of tergite VII of weakly transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergites VII and VIII with sexual dimorphism.

: tergite VII with pair of oblong tubercles near posterior margin; tergite VIII posteriorly produced and more or less truncate in the middle; sternite VIII convex posteriorly, median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs 46-47 (ML: 0.32-0.34 mm).

: tergite VIII convex posteriorly; posterior margin of sternite VIII more weakly convex than in , in the middle truncate to weakly concave; spermatheca as in Figs 48-49 .

Intraspecific variation:

The species is subject to some variation in size, coloration, and especially the puncturation of the pronotum (more distinct in specimens from Greece) and the microsculpture of the pronotum.

Distribution and bionomics:

The available data suggest a distribution of the Ponto-Mediterranean type. It ranges from northwestern Turkey and southern Greece in the southeast to western France and the south of the British Isles in the west and northwest ( Map 3 ). The species is unknown from Scandinavia ( LUNDBERG 1995; SMETANA 2004). The records from Spain by GAMARRA (1987) and GAMARRA & OUTERELO (2005) are erroneous and evidently refer to a species of Atheta THOMSON , subgenus Microdota MULSANT & REY , as can be inferred from the drawings of the genitalia provided by GAMARRA (1987). In Germany, A. egregia has been reported from most regions, but is apparently absent from the extreme north (material examined; KÖHLER & KLAUSNITZER 1998). In Italy, it is known from the north and the south, including Sicily (material examined; ZANETTI 1995).

Old literature records should be considered doubtful, since the species was confounded with A. gracilenta by various authors (e. g. WÖRNDLE 1950). For additional reliable records from France, Belgium, Central Europe, and northern Italy see BAUMANN & KÖHLER (2000), BRUGE et al. (2007), KÖHLER (1996, 2000), KÖHLER & STUMPF (1992), PEEZ & KAHLEN (1977), RENNER (2001, 2005), TRONQUET (1972, 2006), and VOGEL (1982).

Alevonota egregia is a species typically found on the wing. Most of the examined specimens were collected with car-nets, sweep-nets, and window-traps, usually in forested areas; the same is true of literature records ( KIENER 1986; PEEZ & KAHLEN 1977; RENNER 2005; RYE 1876; VOGEL 1982). On rare occasions, the species was found also by sifting moss, hazelnut litter, and grass roots near snow, once even in a cave ( KRÁSA 1914; PEEZ & KAHLEN 1977; material examined). The altitudes range from near sea-level to 1810 m. The true reproduction habitat of the species is unknown.

The material examined was collected exclusively in spring and early summer, evidently the dispersal period of the species, with a clear maximum in May: April (1 specimens /1 record); May (22/15); June (6/6); July (3/3). Records from other seasons are unknown.

Alevonota (Alevonota) laeviceps ( BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE, 1863) ( Figs 50-51 , Map 4 )

Homalota laeviceps BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE, 1863: 23 f.

Type material examined:

Syntype : " Aleuonota laeviceps, Collioure " ( MNHNP).

Comment:

The original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "Collioure" ( BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE 1863).

Additional material examined:

Gibraltar: 1 ex., "Gibraltar", leg. Walker (cAss) .

Portugal: 1 ex., Alvito (Beja), XII.1997, leg. Poot (cWun) .

France: Provence: 1 ex., Cannes, Canal de la Siagne, leg. St. Claire-Deville ( NHMW) .

Diagnosis:

2.6-3.1 mm; RL: 1.2-1.5 mm. For a colour image of the habitus see the photo of A. egregia in TRONQUET (2006). In external appearance similar to A. egregia , but distinguished as follows:

Antennae of darker average coloration, usually dark brown to blackish brown. Microsculpture of forebody shallow, less pronounced. Eyes less prominent, approximately as long as or slightly shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Elytra apparently with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen with transverse microsculpture; tergite IV with shallow anterior impression; tergites III-IV with weak, tergites VII-VIII with more pronounced sexual dimorphism.

: elytra on either side of suture weakly elevated; tergites III and IV in the middle with weak, ill-defined, almost obsolete elevation; tergite VII at posterior margin with pronounced smooth median tubercle; tergite VIII and sternite VIII as in A. egregia ; median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs 50-51 ; ML: 0.30-0.33 mm.

: not available for examination.

Distribution and bionomics:

This apparently extremely rare species was previously known only from France and Spain ( SMETANA 2004). It is here reported from Portugal and Gibraltar for the first time ( Map 4 ). The records of A. egregia from the Pyrénées-Orientales and the Forêt de Marly by TRONQUET (1972, 2006) probably refer to this species, as can be inferred from the photograph in TRONQUET (2006). One of the examined specimens was collected in December. Additional bionomic data are not available.

Figures

Map 3: Distribution of Alevonota egregia (RYE) based on examined records (filled circles) and selected literature records (open circles).

Map 4: Distributions of Alevonota laeviceps (BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE) (squares), A. kiesenwetteri (KRAATZ) (filled circles), and A. ocaloides (BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE) (open circles), based on examined records.

Figs 40-49: Alevonota cretica sp. n. (40-45) and A.egregia (RYE) (46-49): forebody (40); head and pronotum (41); head in lateral view (42); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view of paratype (43), holotype (44), and of males from Austria (46) and Germany (47); spermathecae of females from Crete (45), Germany (48), and Greece (49). Scale bars: 40: 1.0 mm; 41-42: 0.5 mm; 43-49: 0.1 mm.

Figs 50-58: Alevonota laeviceps (BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE) (50-51), A. kiesenwetteri (KRAATZ) (52-56), and A. ocaloides (BRISOUT DE BARNEVILLE) (57-58): median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view of males from Portugal (50), Gibraltar (51), Kefallinia (52), Toscana (53), Corsica (54), and Spain (57); spermathecae of females from Greece (lectotype) (55), Corsica (56), and Spain (58). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.