Mocyta scopula (Casey, 1893) Brunke & Pentinsaari & Klimaszewski, 2021

Brunke, Adam J., Pentinsaari, Mikko & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2021, Integrative taxonomy of Nearctic and Palaearctic Aleocharinae: new species, synonymies, and records (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 1041, pp. 27-99 : 27

Mocyta scopula (Casey, 1893) comb. nov. Fig. 30A-F

Eurypronota scopula Casey, 1893

Pancota laetabilis Casey, 1906

Dolosota abundans Casey, 1910

Dolosota flaccida Casey, 1910

Dolosota redundans tergina Casey, 1910

Dolosota scopula : Casey (1910) (as type species of Dolosota )

Dolosota secunda Casey, 1910

Dolosota sequax Casey, 1910

Acrotona (Dolosota) abundans : Seevers (1978) (as valid species)

Acrotona (Dolosota) flaccida : Seevers (1978) (as valid species)

Acrotona (Dolosota) scopula : Seevers (1978) (as valid species) ( Dolosota syn. of Acrotona , in part; some species moved to Pancota )

Acrotona (Dolosota) secunda : Seevers (1978) (as valid species)

Acrotona (Dolosota) sequax : Seevers (1978) (as valid species)

Pancota laetabilis : Seevers (1978) (as valid species)

Pancota redundans tegrina : Seevers (1978) (implied, subspecies not directly mentioned)

Acrotona abundans : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona flaccida : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona laetabilis : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona redundans tergina : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona scopula : Majka and Sikes (2009) (valid species following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona secunda : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Acrotona sequax : Majka and Sikes (2009) (syn. of A. scopula following Gusarov (2003b))

Material

(DNA-barcoded specimens). Canada: Ontario: Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Fairy Lake , 44.8929, -79.8514, mostly conifer forest with moss, Berlese funnel, 5.VIII.2015, BIObus 2015 (1, CBG) .

Distribution.

Origin. Nearctic. Canada: ON [new record]. United States: IA, MO, MS, NY, PA, RI.

Diagnosis.

Mocyta scopula can be distinguished from bicolored Canadian species and paler specimens of M. fungi by its finely punctate pronotum that is almost as wide as the elytra and ca. as long, and the distinctly transverse antennomeres 6-10 (Fig. 30A ). The barcode sequences of M. scopula forms a sister cluster with M. luteola (BOLD:ABW2813), with a sequence divergence of ~ 7.5%. These species can be easily separated using the above diagnosis.

Bionomics.

The Canadian specimen was collected from forest litter with a Berlese funnel but nothing specific is known about this species’ microhabitat preferences.

Comments.

Mocyta scopula is a native Nearctic species distributed in eastern North America. Here we newly report it from Canada based on one male specimen collected in southern Ontario. Its distribution in the United States is based on type material, including its putative synonyms, which should be verified.

Mocyta scopula is the type species of Dolosota Casey, which has been treated as a subgenus of Acrotona since Seevers (1978). However, using the generic concepts of Klimaszewski et al. (2015), this species best fits in genus Mocyta based on the following character states: dorsal surface without fine white pubescence; broad tergite VIII with basal line not touching base of tergite; spermatheca with pear-shaped capsule and distinct but small invagination, and thin and irregularly shaped stem ending in a tightly deflexed apex (Fig. 30F ) (based on images taken of female syntypes (NMNH). Further evidence comes from barcode sequences of this species, which cluster with the other species of Mocyta . Therefore, we synonymize Dolosota Casey syn. nov. with Mocyta Mulsant and Rey. The other species included in Dolosota by Seevers (1978) were treated as synonyms of M. scopula by Majka and Sikes (2009), in addition to two other Casey names (see above synonymy), following the unpublished results of a type revision by V. Gusarov ( Gusarov 2003b). These synonyms and M. scopula are here comb. nov. in Mocyta .

The aedeagus, coloration and punctation of the Canadian specimen are consistent with type material of M. scopula , previously examined and imaged by JK. The two other members of the BIN BOLD:ACH8720 originate from a study by Elven et al. (2010), and were mined into BOLD from GenBank. They were collected in the USA and identified verbatim as Mocyta scopula by V. Gusarov.

Figures

Figure 30. Mocyta scopula (Casey) A habitus (hind legs missing on specimen, taken from related species) B median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view C median lobe of aedeagus in dorsal view D male tergite VIII E male sternite VIII F spermatheca (female syntype). Scale bars: 1 mm (A); 0.2 mm (B-F).