Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ , 1867

Assing, Volker, 2007, Proteinus crenulatus - a complex of five species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Proteininae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (2), pp. 355-366 : 357-361

Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ, 1867 (Figs 1-6, Map 1 )

Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ, 1867: 169 .

Type material examined:

Lectotype ♂, here designated: " ♂ 3315. / Syntype / 3315. Proteinus, Latreille , crenulatus Pand., Louron / Coll. R. I Sc. N. B, ex Coll. Pand. / Lectotypus ♂ Proteinus crenulatus Pandellé desig. V. Assing 2007" ( IRSNB) . Paralectotypes: 4 ♂ ♂, 4 ♀ ♀: same data as lectotype ( IRSNB) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀: " crenulatus, H. Pyrénées / Pand. / coll. Heyden / Hubenthal det. / Syntypus / DEI, coll. von Heyden / Proteinus crenulatus Pand. / coll. DEI

Müncheberg" ( DEI); 2 ♀♀: " crenulatus Pand. Ht.

Pyr. / coll. Kraatz / coll. DEI Müncheberg" ( DEI).

Comment:

The original description is based on an unspecified

number of syntypes from " H.-Pyrénées, Louron "

( PANDELLÉ 1867). One of the males in the collection

of the IRSNB is here designated as the lectotype.

Additional material examined: Scotland: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Inverness-Shire, Loch-Garten, X.1985, leg. Owen (cSch). Norway: 2 ♂ ♂, 2 ♀♀, RØa, Vestre Aker, 19.IX.1937, leg. Strand ( NHMW, cAss); 2 ♂ ♂, Gaustad V. A., 31.VIII.1933 ( NHMW, cAss); 1 ♂, Gaustad V. A., IX.1929, leg. Strand ( NHMW); 1 ♀, Asker, 20.V.1924 ( NHMW). Spain: 2 ♂ ♂, Navarra, Bosque del Irati, between Artzapar and Col Orión, 900 m, 20.VII.1996, leg. Wrase (cSch, cAss). France: Languedoc-Roussillon: 1 ♂, Pyrénées-Orientales , Massif du Madres , La Balmette , marmot burrow, 20.VI.1997, leg. Tronquet (cTro). Franche-Comté: Fig. 1: Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ : habitus

1 ♂, Malbouisson, on the wing (18 h), 4.VII.1972, leg. (photo by Marc Tronquet). Scale: 1.0 mm.

Tronquet (cAss); 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, same data, but 7.VII.1972 (cTro) ; 1 ♂, same data, but 8.VII.1972 (cTro) ; 1 ♂, Jura , NE Champagnole, Forêt de la Joux, on the wing (17 h), 23.VII.1972, leg. Tronquet (cTro) . Rhône- Alpes : A ♂, Haute-Savoie, Les Carroz-d’Araches, in Corylus litter, 29.IX.1975, leg. Vít ( MHNG) .

Germany: Nordrhein-Westfalen: 1 ♂, Menden, Hönnetal, NSG Klusenstein , 25.XI.1995, leg. Feldmann (cFel) ; 1 ♂, Aachen, Grüne Eiche , mushrooms, 1.XI.1983, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 2 ♂ ♂, Eifel, near Röttgen , mushrooms, 13.X.1983, leg. Wunderle (cWun, cAss) ; 1 ♂, Bielefeld, Teutoburger Wald, Hoberge- Uerentrup , compost sifted, 5.XII.1978, leg. Renner (cRen) ; 1 ♂, Bielefeld , 5.XII.1978, leg. Renner (cKöh) ; 1 ♂, Bielefeld , 7.XI.1975, leg Renner (cRen). Baden-WüBaden-Wü rttemberg : 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Löwensteiner Berge , 500 m, 25.X.1965, leg. Ulbrich ( SMNS) ; 1 ♂, Kreis Öhringen, Neuhütten, Mainhardter Wald , 15.X.1978, leg. Ulbrich ( SMNS) . Rheinland-Pfalz: 2 ♂♂, Bayerfeld, Bayerfeldstollen , pitfall trap, VIII.-X.2006, leg. Weber (cFel) ; 1 ♂, Altenahr, Langfigtal , 3.VII.1986, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ♂, SE Simmern, Soonwald [ca. 49°55'N, 7°35'E], Kelierbachtal , 4.VIII.1987, leg. Wunderle (cWun) , 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, Taben / Saar, Urwald von Taben, 8.X.1996, leg. Köhler (cKöh, cAss) . Niedersachsen: 1 ♂, S Hildesheim, Diekholzen, Kalte Beuster , 27.III.2003, leg. Schmidt (cScm) . Hessen: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Marburg , badger burrows, 12.X.1985, leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ♂, same data, but 6.X.1985 (cWun) ; 3 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, Nentershausen, Naturwaldreservat Goldbach- Ziehba , XI.1995, leg. Flechtner (cKöh, cAss) ; 1 ♂, same data, but X.1994 (cKöh) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Schlitz, Limnologische Station , XI.1987, leg. Wunderle (cZan) . Bayern: 1 ♂, Naturpark Altmühltal , pitfall trap, VI.1997, leg. Hendricks (cAss) . Sachsen: 1 ♂, Zittau, Lausche , 25.V.1989, leg. Vogel (cVog) ; 1 ♂, Auerbach , 27.XI.1974, leg. Kaufmann (cVog) ; 1 ♂, same data, but 9.X.1981 ( SMNS) ; 1 ♂, Bärenburg [50°48'N, 13°43'E], leg. Vogel ( SMNS) ; 1 ♂, Dresden, Pillnitz, NSG Borsberghänge / Friedrichsgrund , X.2001, leg. Lorenz (cVog) .

Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige: 1 ♂, Val di Non, NE Coredo, Val di Verdès , 1000 m, 12.VIII.1998, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1 ex., Val di Non, Verdès , 1000 m, car-net, 1.VIII.1996, leg. Zanetti (cZan) . Liguria: 1 ♂, Fontanigorda ( GE), Monte Montarlone , 1200 m, 3.X./ 8.XI.1991, leg. Gatti (cZan) . Basilicata: 1 ♂, La Maddalena, Abriola ( PZ), 1330 m, beech forest, sifted, 13.VI.1988, leg. Angelini (cZan) . Calabria: 1 ♂, La Sila, Mt. Botte Donato ( CS) [39°17'N; 16°27'E], 1500 m, 14.X.1978, leg. Montemurro (cZan) ; 3 ♀♀, same data, but 1900 m (cZan) ; 2 ♂♂, La Sila, Lorica , 1300 m, 10.-15.X.1978, leg. Angelini (cZan) ; 2 ♂♂, La Sila, Camigliatello, Fossiata ( CS), 1400 m, 2.VII.1987, leg. Angelini (cZan, cAss) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, La Sila, Croce Magara , 1300 m, 4.VII.1987, leg. Angelini (cZan) .

Bulgaria: A ♂, Rhodopi, De Smolian, near grotte d’Ushiovisa, 885 m, 28.V.2005, leg. Hlaváč (cTro) .

Greece: 2 ♂♂, Makedhonia , Pieria Ori, above Skotina, 40°12'N, 22°10'E, 900-1000 m, leaf litter sifted, 9.IV.1998, leg. Assing (cAss) .

Redescription:

Size variable, length of body 2.1-2.7 mm (abdomen extended); width of pronotum 0.55-0.70 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Coloration: body black; legs yellowish brown; antennae blackish, often with the basal antennomeres more or less distinctly paler.

Antennae relatively slender, approximately 1.5 times as long as width of head across eyes, antennomeres IV-VII approximately as long as wide; VIII weakly transverse; X approximately 1.5 times as wide as long (see figure 7 in DAUPHIN 1995a).

Pronotoum approximately 1.65 times as wide as long and 1.35-1.45 times as wide as head; anteriorly and laterally distinctly margined; posteriorly usually not margined, sometimes indistinctly margined; posterior angles obtusely angled; surface with distinct microsculpture composed of isodiametric meshes and with subdued shine; puncturation fine and sparse, barely noticeably in the microreticulation.

Elytra at suture 1.90-2.05 times as long and 1.4-1.5 times as wide as pronotum; puncturation dense and distinctly coarser than that of pronotum; interstices with or without very shallow microsculpture, shiny. Hind wings fully developed. Mesosternal process with simple (i. e. anteriorly not bifid) median carina. All legs with sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen with fine microsculpture and with moderately dense and extremely fine, barely noticeable puncturation; pubescence pale and very short, barely noticeable.

♂: protarsomere I conspicuously elongated and enlarged, approximately as long as combined length of protarsomeres II-V and distinctly wider than all other tarsomeres; mesotibia somewhat dilated in the middle and slightly curved in apical third (Fig. 1), internal face (i. e. area facing body) flattened and furnished with 9-12 blackish tubercles, external face with shallow furrow; metatibia somewhat dilated apically amd weakly curved, internal face flattened, but without tubercles, external face with shallow furrow; sternite VIII with U-shaped posterior excision, margin of this excision furnished with modified setae. Aedeagus approximately 0.40 mm long, slender, with apically curved and acute ventral process; dorsal plate weakly curved in lateral view; internal sac with rather long, thin, and straight flagellum ( Figs 2-5 ).

♀: for an illustration of the terminalia see figure 35 in DAUPHIN (1995a).

Distribution and bionomics:

Proteinus crenulatuscrenulatus has been reported from practically all of Europe, from the Iberian peninsula to the Caucasus region and including Scandinavia ( Norway, Sweden, Finland); there is even a record from Kazakhstan ( HERMAN 2001; HORION 1963; SMETANASMETANA 2004). Records from Ukraine ( GUSAROV 1989) are listed by neither HERMAN (2001) nor SMETANASMETANA (2004). However, since it has been confounded with at least four other species, all previous records have to be reexamined. The true Proteinus crenulatuscrenulatus is evidently more common and more widespread than any of the similar species described below. Based on the material examined, confirmed records are here reported from northern Spain, Great Britain, Norway, France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and northern Greece ( Map 1 ). The available evidence suggests that the distribution may be of the expansive ponto-Mediterranean type ( LATTIN 1967), but more data are needed to support this hypothesis.

Like the zoogeographic literature data, all previous ecological observations require revision. The above material was collected in a wide range of habitats by pitfall trapping, by sifting the litter of deciduous trees (beech, hazelnut), mushrooms, compost, and by sampling the burrows of badgers and marmot. On four occasions in July and August, flying specimens were caught with a car-net. The altitudes range from near sea-level up to 1900 m. Adult beetles were collected from March through December, with the majority of specimens taken during the period from July through November and a maximum in October: March (1 specimen /1 sample), April (2/1) May (3/3), June (3/3), July (13/7), August (6/5), September (6/3), October (23/13), November (12/6), December (2/1). According to DUVERGER (1995), P. crenulatuscrenulatus is parasitised by the fungus Rickia proteini MELEWSKY, 1986 (Laboulbeniales) , but again the identity of the host requires confirmation.

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ in Europe, based on examined records.

Figs 2-11: Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ (2-6) and P. abditus sp. n. (7-11): aedeagus in lateral view (2-10) of males from France (2-3; 2: lectotype), northern Spain (4), northern Italy (5), northern Greece (6), Germany (7-9; 7: holotype; 8: Hessen; 9: Thüringen), and Romania (10); apical part of aedeagus in dorsal view of male from Romania (11). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.