Myllaena caucasica EPPELSHEIM , 1880

Assing, Volker, 2018, On some Myllaena species in the East Mediterranean and Caucasus regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (2), pp. 1015-1032 : 1024-1029

Myllaena caucasica EPPELSHEIM, 1880 ( Figs 48-55 , Map 2 )

Myllaena caucasica EPPELSHEIM, 1880: 463 . T y p e m a t e r i a l: Lectotype ♂, present designation: "Kaukas, Leder, Kasbek / caucasica Epp. Verh. zool. bot. Ges. Wien 1879, p. 463 / c. Epplsh. Steind. d. / Typus / Lectotypus ♂ Myllaena caucasica Eppelsheim , desig. V. Assing 2018 / Myllaena caucasica Eppelsheim , det. V. Assing 2018" (NHMW) . Paralectotypes: 1♂, 1♀: same data as lectotype (NHMW); 1♀: "Kaukas, Leder, Hochgebirge östl. vom Kasbek / c. Epplsh. Steind. d. / Typus" ( NHMW). A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Armenia: 2♂♂, 6♀♀, 4 exs., 35 km NW

Sisian, 39°41'N, 45°47'E, 2080 m, swampy meadow, debris sifted, 3.VII.2016, leg. Assing &

Schülke (cAss, MNB); 1♀, 35 km NW Sisian , 39°41'N, 45°47'E, 2080 m, litter and roots beneath

bushes near small stream sifted, 3.VII.2016, leg. Assing (cAss); 1♂, N Yerevan, NW Hrazdan,

40°38'N, 44°28'E, 2110 m, stream valley, mixed deciduous forest, litter and grass roots sifted,

28.VI.2016, leg. Schülke (MNB); 1♀, 25 km SW Kapan , 39°04'N, 46°16'E, 2150 m, near stream ,

litter of Salix and debris sifted, 10.VII.2016, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♂, WSW Kapan, Meghri Pass , 39°07'N, 46°10'E, 2520 m, moist grassy slope with scattered bushes, litter and grass roots sifted, 6.VII.2016, leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 1♂, 1♀, 2 exs., N Vanadzor, S Pushkin pass, 40°54'N, 44°26'E, 1780 m, forest margin with Quercus, Fagus, Sorbus , etc., litter and roots near small stream sifted, 1.VII.2017, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB) ; 5♂♂, 1♀, S Spitak , 40°46'N, 44°16'E, 2000 m, deforested stream valley, bank of small stream, roots and moss sifted, 7.VII.2017, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♂, S Martuni, Sulema Pass , 39°58'N, 45°14'E, 2340 m, slope with small stream and scattered bushes, litter and roots near stream sifted, 8.VII.2017, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♀, SW Goris, ESE Tatev, 39°22'N, 46°17'E, 1950 m, mixed deciduous forest (Quercus, Carpinus, Acer , etc.), stream valley, moist litter near small stream sifted, 13.VII.2017, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♂, 2♀♀, 4 exs., ca. 30 km W Kapan , 39°15'N, 46°08'E, 1680 m, N-slope with trickling water, moist litter and debris sifted, 11.VII.2018, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB) ; 2♂♂, 3♀♀, same data, but river bank, litter and debris sifted (cAss) ; 9♂♂, 1♀♀, 3 exs., WSW Kapan, S Lernadzor , 39°08'N, 46°13'E, 2000 m, dark stream valley, litter and roots near stream sifted, 13.VII.2018, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB) ; 1♂, 1 ex., 25 km SW Kapan, Vank, 39°04'N, 46°16'E, 2150 m, near stream, litter of Salix , roots, and debris sifted, 14.VII.2018, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB) ; 3♂♂, 2 exs., 25 km S Goris, ESE Tatev , 39°20'N, 46°22'E, 1590 m, mixed deciduous forest with small stream, moist litter sifted, 15.VII.2018, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB) ; 5 exs., reservoir 15 km SW Sisian, 39°28'N, 46°08'E, 1340 m, shore of reservoir, Salix litter, moss, and roots sifted, 16.VII.2018, leg. Schülke ( MNB). Nagorno-Karabakh: 1♀, ca. 40 NW Stepanakert, W Vank , 40°01'N, 46°27'E, 1420 m, S-slope with mixed deciduous forest, moist litter near small stream sifted, 3.VII.2018, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 5♂♂, 9♀♀, 3 exs., 8 km N Berdzor, 39°42'N 46°32'E, 1220 m, N-slope with mixed deciduous forest and small stream, litter and debris near stream sifted, 7.VII.2018, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, MNB). Russia: 1♂, 2♀♀, Krasnodarskiy Kray, Mezmai env., Temnolesskaia , 850 m, 8.VI.1999, leg. Smetana (cAss). Turkey: 2♂♂ [1 teneral], Amasya, Sakarat Dağı , 8.5 km E Amasya, 40°40'N, 35°56'E, 1060 m, stream bank, sifted from moist leaves, 18.VII.2008, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1♂, Rize, 20 km S Ikizdere , 22.V.1989, leg. Riedel (cWun) ; 2♂♂, 1♀, Rize, ca. 30 km SW Hopa, Çağlayan D. river valley, ca. 41°09'N, 41°22'E, 1000 m, forest, 26.VI.1998, leg. Solodovnikov (cAss) ; 1 ex., same data, but 1800-1900 m, 26.VI.1998, leg. Solodovnikov (cAss) ; 1 ex., same data, but 1300 m, mushroom, 28.VI.1998 (cAss) ; 1♂, 1♀, Rize, ca. 30 km SW Hopa, Çağlayan D. river valley, ca. 41°15'N, 41°13'E, 500 m, forest, 26.VI.1998, leg. Solodovnikov (cAss) ; 6 exs., Erzurum, 40 km NW Tortum, Mescit Dağları , ca. 40°36'N, 41°23'E, 2100 m, pine forest, 20.VI.1998, leg. Solodovnikov (cAss) ; 1♀, Kahramanmaraş, 35 km SW Kahramanmaraş, SW Doluca , 37°23'N, 36°41'E, 1030 m, 27.III.2005, leg. Wunderle (cWun)

C o m m e n t: Myllaena caucasica was originally described based on an unspecified number of syntypes collected "beim Aul Kasbek im Moose einer Quelle" ( EPPELSHEIM 1880). Four syntypes were located in the collections of NHMW. A male in good condition is designated as the lectotype. The species was subsequently reported from East Turkey (Bitlis) by SCHEERPELTZ (1958). The primary sexual characters were previously unknown.

D i a g n o s i s: This species is highly similar to M. intermedia , as is shown also by the fact that a non-type specimen identified as M. caucasica by Eppelsheim himself proved to be M. intermedia . Aside from the completely different primary sexual characters, M. c aucasica is distinguished from M. intermedia only by shorter elytra ( M. caucasica : elytra approximately 0.65 times as long as pronotum; M. intermedia : elytra approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum), hind wings of reduced length ( M. intermedia : hind wings fully developed), and a relatively larger pronotum. The aedeagus and spermatheca are illustrated in Figs 48-55 . Among West Palaearctic Myllaena species, M. caucasica is most similar to M. hyperborea STRAND, 1934, both in external and the male and female primary sexual characters. The aedeagus of M. caucasica is readily distinguished from that of M. hyperborea by distinctly larger size alone. For an illustration of the median lobe of the aedeagus of M. hyperborea see Fig. 56.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Myllaena caucasica is currently known from the Russian part of the Greater Caucasus (first record from Russia), Georgia, Turkey westwards to Amasya in the north and Kahramanmaraş in the south, Armenia (first record), and Nagorno- Karabakh (first record) ( Map 2 ).

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of Myllaena caucasica in the Caucasus region and Turkey, based on revised records.

Figs 48-56: Myllaena caucasica (48-55; 48-49: lectotype; 52-53: paralectotypes) and M. hyperborea (56): (48-51, 56) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (52-55) spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.