Lobrathium anale (LUCAS 1846)

Ulsant, 1870, Description de quelques insectes nouveaux ou peu connus., Linzer biologische Beiträge 14, pp. 153-193 : 153-193

Lobrathium anale (LUCAS 1846) ( Map 1 )

Lathrobium (Lobrathium) lostiae DODERO 1916: 342 f.; nov.syn.

Lobrathium bellesi BORDONI 1977: 342 ; nov.syn.

Lobrathium rubriventre HERMAN 2003: 6 [replacement name for Lathrobium rufiventre COIFFAIT ]; nov.syn.

Lathrobium rufiventre COIFFAIT 1953: 105 f. [primary homonym].

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d L. lostiae : Holotype: Isili, I-1897, U. Lostia / Typus / L. Lostiae m. typus / Lathrobium Lostiae Dodero typis! / Museo Genova Coll. A. Dodero

(acquisto 2000) / Holotypus Lathrobium lostiae Dodero rev. V. Assing 2007 / Lobrathium anale

(Dodero) det. V. Assing 2007 (MCSNG). Paratypes: 1: Ozieri, 20-II, A. Dodero 1892 / Typus

/ L. Lostiae m. typus / Lathrobium n. sp. / Museo Genova Coll. A. Dodero (acquisto 2000)

(MCSNG); 1: Corongiu, 2-1895, U. Lostia / Cotypus! / Paratypus Lathrobium lostiae Dodero,

1916 ( MCSNG); 1: Lula, Sard., 7.III.1912, A. Dodero / Paratypus Lathrobium lostiae Dodero ,

1916 (MCSNG).

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L. rufiventre : Holotype: Alpes Mar., Emb. de la Siagne, Detritus, H. C. / Holotype ( MNHNP) .

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: Tunisia: see Assing (2005b). Algeria: 4 exs., Grande Kabylie, Djebel Bou-Berak , 350 m, 19.V.1988, leg. Besuchet, Löbl & Burckhardt (cAss, cSch) ; 2 exs. [1 teneral], Grande Kabylie, Oued Sébaou , W Dellys, 20.V.1988, leg. Besuchet, Löbl & Burckhardt (cAss, cSch) ; 2 exs., Gorges de la Chiffa, Ruisseau des Singes , 280-380 m, 4.V.1988, leg. Besuchet, Löbl & Burckhardt (cSch) ; 1 ex., Tizi Ouzou, Akfadou , 21.IV.1987, leg. Sama (cSch) ; 1 ex., Sidi Bel Abbès ( MNHUB) ; 1 ex. [teneral], Forêt de Akfadou , 1000 m, 4.- 7.VI.1980, leg. Sama & Magnani (cZan) ; 4 exs., "Algier" ( MNHUB). Morocco: 2 exs., Haut Atlas, Tizi-n-Test , 1600 m, 12.XII.1992, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ex., Haut Atlas , NE Tizi-n-Test, 30°55'N, 08°17'W, 1540 m, stream bank, 29.XII.2002, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ex., Chiker , 1600 m, 15.X.1974, leg. Curti (cAss) ; 1 ex., 50 km SW Et-Tlat [?]- Ouzoud, Cascades d'Ouzoud , 12.V.1997, leg. Múþka (cSch) ; 1 ex., Moyen Atlas , Col du Zad, 2000 m, 14.IV.1989, leg. Sama (cSch) ; 3 exs., Ourika [" Urika "], leg. Quedenfeldt ( MNHUB) ; 16 exs. [partly teneral], Ar Rif, Oued Laou env., 35°29'N, 05°07'W, 200 m, 7.-9.VI.2007, leg. Hlaváþ (cAss) ; 9 exs. [1 ex. teneral], Ar Rif, Oued Laou env., sandy river bank, 35°21'N, 05°11'W, 160 m, 7.VI.2007, leg. Hlaváþ (cAss) ; 9 exs., Ar Rif, Chefchaouen env., 35°12'N, 05°19'W, 270 m, 3.VI.2007, leg. Hlaváþ (cAss) ; 5 exs., locality not specified ( MNHUB). Spain: M a d r i d: 1ex., Madrid, Cienvallejos, Brunete, leg. Bolivar (cAss). A n d a l u c í a: 1 ex., Cádiz , Sierra de Fates , 350 m, litter of Quercus ilex and Juniperus , 26.III.1994, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 24 exs. [partly teneral], Cádiz , Jimena de la Frontera, 5.-6.VI.1991, leg. Wrase (cAss, cSch) ; 44 exs. [partly teneral], Cádiz, San Roque , 28.V.- 4.VI.1991, leg. Wrase (cSch, cAss) ; 1, Granada, Sierra Nevada , Puerto de la Ragua, 2000 m, 15.VI.1991, leg. Wrase ; 2 exs., Málaga, Serrania de Ronda , SW Ronda, 11.VI.1991, leg. Wrase (cSch, cAss) ; 1 ex., Sierra Almijara, 3 km E Otivar, Rio Verde, 13.III.2005, leg. Anichtchenko (cFel). M a l l o r c a: 1 ex., Calvia , 28.V.2002, leg. Röwekamp (cFel). C a n a r y I s l a n d s [see also ASSING (2002)]: 1 ex., Gran Canaria, La Gulata, 6.VI.1989, leg. Balke & Hendrich ( MNHUB) ; 1 ex., La Gomera, Laurisilva, 14.-21.II.1992, leg. Hieke & Wendt (cAss). France: C o r s e: 1 ex., Ajaccio, leg. Guglielmi (cSch). Italy: S a r d i n i a: 1ex., Oristano , XI.1936, leg. Lostia ( MCSNG). S i c i l i a: 2exs.,LagodiPianadegliAlbanesi(PA), 610 m, 21.V.1996, leg. Angelini (cZan) ; 1 ex. [teneral], Trapani , grotta di Santa Ninfa, 20.II.1999, leg. Casament (cZan) .

C o m m e n t s: The type material of L. lostiae is based on a holotype from Isili, an allotype from Ozieri, and paratypes from various other localities in Sardinia ( DODERO 1916). According to the original description, the species is highly similar to L. anale , but distinguished by larger average size, paler coloration, a more circular head shape, smaller eyes, sparser puncturation of the pronotum, coarser puncturation of the elytra, finer puncturation of the abdomen, and the slightly lower distance between the carinae of the male sternite VII. The examined types are of almost uniformly yellowish brown coloration and apparently brachypterous. The processes of the male sternite VII are slightly less pronounced than is usually the case in L. anale . However, the aedeagus is identical to that of L. anale , and no additional characters were found distinguishing the Sardinian population from other populations of L. anale , so that the observed differences are attributed to intra- rather than interspecific variation and L. lostiae is synonymised with L. anale .

The original description of Lathrobium rufiventre is based on a male holotype and a female paratype from the Alpes Maritimes ( COIFFAIT 1953). The species was later also reported from Algeria ( COIFFAIT 1982). HERMAN (2003) recognised that the name was a junior primary homonym of Lathrobium rufiventre NORDMANN 1837 and of L. rufiventre FAUVEL 1878 , and replaced it with the new name L. rubriventre. An examination of the holotype during a personal visit to the MNHNP in 2003 revealed that the morphology of the male secondary sexual characters and the shape of the aedeagus are within the range of intraspecific variation of Lobrathium anale .

BORDONI (1977) described L. bellesi based on five type specimens collected in a Mallor-

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can cave, stating that it was similar to L. anale and L. lostiae , but separated by slightly different shape of the aedeagus of the processes of the male sternite VII, as well as by the darker coloration (from L. lostiae ) and the different coloration of the elytra (from L. anale ).

The study of material of Lobrathium anale from various parts of its distribution, including Mallorca, revealed that all the distinguishing characters emphasised in the original descriptions of L. lostiae and L. bellesi – not only the external, but also the male sexual characters – are not constant, but subject to pronounced intraspecific variation. As can be expected with a widespread species, this particularly applies to island populations, but is insufficient evidence that these populations represent distinct (sub-) species. Similar character variation was observed also in material from the Canary Islands (ASSING 2002). Also, the external and sexual characters of the male seen from Mallorca are indistinguishable from those of specimens examined from mainland Spain. Moreover, interspecific character divergence of the male primary and secondary sexual characters is generally pronounced in the genus, as is demonstrated by the species in the eastern parts of the Western Palaearctic, where species diversity is much higher than in the Western Mediterranean and where numerous species with restricted distributions occur. Finally, there is not a single confirmed example of a Lobrathium species with a restricted distribution in the whole of the Western Mediterranean west of Italy. Therefore, in view of the evidence available, both L. lostiae and L. bellesi are here placed in the synonymy of L. anale . It seems worth noting that BORDONI (1977), BORDONI & OROMÍ (1998), and HLAVÁý et al. (2007) classify L. bellesi as a truly troglobitic species, although it does not display any external characters typically observed in Staphylinidae strictly adapted to cave habitats. Lobrathium species are hygrophilous and mostly – but not exclusively – found in riparian habitats. Like other hygrophilous species (e.g. of Lesteva LATREILLE and Aloconota THOMSON ), they are occasionally found also in – or in the vicinity of – caves.

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Lobrathium anale is widespread in the Western Mediterranean (North Africa from Tunisia to Morocco, Canary Islands, Iberian peninsula), southern France (including Corsica), and Italy (Sardinia, Sicily) ( Map 1 ).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: In the Western Mediterranean, the distributions of L. multipunctum and L. anale overlap considerably. In external morphology, both species are highly similar and sometimes difficult to distinguish. According to the key by COIFFAIT (1982), they are separated by the elytral puncturation (arranged in rows in L. multipunctum and irregular in L. anale ). However, the material examined includes numerous specimens of L. anale with elytral puncturation just like that of macropterous L. multipunctum ; the elytral puncturation of brachypterous L. multipunctum , on the other hand, may be irregular. Therefore, this character is sometimes of little use for the separation of these species, and other characters are subject to considerable variation and overlap. However, both species are reliably separated based on the male primary and the male and female secondary sexual characters. For illustrations of the aedeagi of both species see COIFFAIT (1982). In L. anale , the male sternite VII has two conspicuous processes, which are clearly visible both in lateral and in ventral view (absent in L. multipunctum ) and the female sternite VIII is apically distinctly convex (in L. multipunctum usually truncate to weakly concave in the middle).

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Lobrathium anale, based on examined records.