Tyrtaeus dobsoni Hinton

Hopp, Katie J. & Ivie, Michael A., 2008, First Report ofTyrtaeus rufusChampion andTyrtaeus dobsoniHinton (Tenebrionidae: Diaperinae: Anopidiina) from Florida, The Coleopterists Bulletin (Basel, Switzerland) 62 (3), pp. 427-436 : 427-436

Tyrtaeus dobsoni Hinton

Figs. 2 , 4

Tyrtaeus dobsoni Hinton 1947: 852 .

Diagnosis. Distinguished from its described congeners by the combination of the antennal club of 4 fused segments (i.e., there are 3 pairs of white pits [Fig. 4], plus the apical series, which at high magnification can be seen to contain stellate sensoria), with 5 free segments before the club; elongate form ( Fig. 2 ); shining rufo-testaceous color; dorsal surface moderately densely clothed with setae, those of the pronotum long and directed mesally from both sides ( Fig. 2 ); head with punctures approximately a third coarser than facets of the eyes; pronotum broadly margined at sides, punctures as coarse as those of head; elytra with strong strial punctures with the striae occasionally confused ( Fig. 2 ); labrum triangular; lack of male setal patches on the first 2 ventrites; and unmodified ventrites of the female.

Description. See Hinton (1947) for description.

Distribution. Florida, Scotland (Glasgow harbor), Philippines (Luzon, Leyte, and Samar), and Marshall Islands (Majuro Atoll).

Biology. Label data indicate a large series was taken out of an aphid suction trap sampling flying insects at 8 m above the ground.

Types. Holotype and seven paratypes deposited in BMNH (not examined).

Material Examined. FLORIDA: Dade Co., Kendall 14-21-VI-2002, Gwen Myers, 26 ft. suction trap (1 WIBF) ; Dade Co., Kendall, Old Cutler Rd. , 1-8-VI- 2007, S. Halbert, suction trap (1 FSCA) ; ibid. 29/VI-6/VII-2007 (1 FSCA) ; ibid. 13-20-VII-2007 (1 WIBF [disarticulated]) ; ibid. 20-27-VII-2007 (1 FSCA, 1 WIBF [disarticulated]) ; ibid. 17-24-VIII-2007 (1 WIBF) ; ibid. 31-VIII-7-IX-2007 (1 FSCA) ; ibid. 14-21-IX-2007 (1 FSCA) ; Palm Beach Co., Lake Worth Harbour Greens Drive , July 12, 2007, Vince Golia, black light (1 VGPC) ; Palm Beach Co., West Palm Beach, Haverhill Road & Tyler Lakes Blvd., April 24, 2007, Vince Golia, wood litter (1 VGPC) . PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Quezon Park Tayabas, Alt. 1,000 ft., X-26-31, F. C. Hadden (1 CASC) ; Tacloban, Leyte, XI-1944, E. S. Ross (1 CASC) ; Samar, IV-1945, J. R. Stuntz (1 CASC) . MARSHALL ISLANDS: Majuro Atoll, the airfield, VIII-27-46, Townes 1979 (2 NMNH) .

Remarks. Tyrtaeus dobsoni has been repeatedly taken by suction trap and once each in wood litter and at black light. In Florida, it was initially taken from Dade Co. in June 2002, and has more recently been taken in both Dade and Palm Beach Counties throughout the summer of 2007.

In an unusually good description, Hinton (1947) figured the antenna, mandible, tarsus, palpi, and male genitalia of this homeless beetle, which was described from specimens found in the cracks between the floor boards over the bilge of the lower hold of a ship at Glasgow, Scotland. Apparently the harbor does not count as part of Britain, as it is not listed as a British beetle (Pope 1977), yet is reported from nowhere else. Hinton (1947) reported that crushed bones from India were carried in another part of the same hold, and therefore suspected this species might be a native of India. Subsequent citations have actually listed it from India (e.g., Dajoz 1981), but there is no actual evidence of it occurring there, leaving Glasgow harbor as the only previously verified locale for the species. Based on specimens we have seen, we can add Luzon, Leyte, and Samar in the Philippines and Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands to the Florida and Scottish ship records.

Figures

Figs. 1–2. Habiti photos. 1) Tyrtaeus rufus Champion; 2) Tyrtaeus dobsoni Hinton. Figs.