Oxytelus piceus (Linnaeus, 1767)

Lü, Liang & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2012, 3576, Zootaxa 3576, pp. 1-63 : 38-41

Oxytelus piceus (Linnaeus, 1767)

( Figs. 1C, H; 14A–M)

Linné, 1767: 686 ( Staphylinus ; Type locality: Upsaliae); Fabricius, 1775: 267 ( Staphylinus ; Europe); Gravenhorst, 1802: 105 ( Oxytelus ); Latreille, 1804: 363 ( Oxytelus ); Gravenhorst, 1806: 191 ( Oxytelus ); Thomson, 1859: 43 (type species of Caccoporus ); Fauvel, 1876a: 242 [= Fauvel, 1876b: 57] ( Oxytelus ; Syria; Northern China); Ganglbauer, 1895: 639 ( Oxytelus ; subgenus Caccoporus ; Palaearctic region); Fauvel, 1907: 16 ( Oxytelus ; China); Horion, 1963: 227 ( Oxytelus ; subgenus Caccoporus ; China); Herman, 1970: 410 ( Oxytelus ); Gusarov, 1991: 4 ( Oxytelus ); Staniec, 1992 ( Oxytelus ; larval morphology); Staniec, 1993: 241 ( Oxytelus ; pupal morphology); Herman, 2001: 1447 ( Oxytelus ); Smetana, 2004: 517 ( Oxytelus , subgenus Oxytelus ; distribution); Lee and Ahn, 2007: 27; Samin, Zhou, and Imani, 2011: 279 ( Iran).

Oxytelus humilis Heer, 1839: 204 (Type locality: Genf); Erichson, 1840: 788 (synonym of Oxytelus piceus ).

Oxytelus japonicus Motschulsky, 1862: 10 (Type locality: Japan); Fauvel, 1902: 64 (synonym of Oxytelus piceus ).

Oxytelus mamillatus Hochhuth, 1851Hochhuth, 1851: 53 (Type locality: Dahurien); Gusarov, 1991: 4 ( Oxytelus ; synonym of Oxytelus piceus ; lectotype designation).

Oxytelus piceus ssp. defectivus Normand, 1947: 5 (Type locality: Afrique du Nord); Herman, 2001: 1450 (synonym of Oxytelus piceus ).

Oxytelus sulcatus Gebler, 1848: 79 (preoccupied; Type locality: Not cited); Fauvel, 1876a: 242 [= Fauvel, 1876b: 57] (synonym of Oxytelus piceus ).

Staphylinus sulcatus Müller, 1776: 97 (Type locality: Danicae); Olivier, 1811: 614 ( Oxytelus ; synonym of Oxytelus piceus ).

Material examined. 426 specimens, 213 males and 213 females. CHINA : 1 male, 19.VII.1919, E. Licent leg. (IZ- CAS) ; 1 male, Tapingti [possibly in Hebei Prov.], 9.VII.1915, E. Licent leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; CHINA, Chongqing: 1 male, Chengkouxian, Pingbazhen , 19.VII.2003, Cai-Xia Yuan & Yu-Shuang Liu legg. ( HBUM) ; CHINA, Hubei, Shenlongjia : 1 male, Yuping , 1250m, light trap, 1.VII.1981, Yin-Heng Han leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; 153 males, 152 females, Muyuzhen, 1150m, light trap, 22.VII.1998, Hai-Sheng Zhou leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; 12 males, 22 females, same data as previous except: Chan-Juan Ye leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; 2 males, 4 females, Dongxi , 600m, 2.VIII.1998, Tian-Hong Luo leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; 3 males, 3 females, same data as previous except: light trap ( IZ-CAS) ; 14 males, 10 females, Dongxi, 600m, light trap, 3.VIII.1998, Chan-Juan Ye leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; CHINA, Hubei, Zigui : 6 males, Jiulingtou , 100–110m, 25.VII.1993 – 1.V.1994, Xing-Ke Yang & Jian Yao legg. ( IZ-CAS) ; 8 females, same data as previous except: 100–150m, 25.VII.1993 – 30.IV.1994 ( IZ-CAS) ; 11 males, 6 females, Maoping , 60–170m, 28.IV–3.IX.1994, Wen- Zhu Li et al. legg. ( IZ-CAS) ; CHINA, Inner Mongolia: 1 male, Xinba'erhuyouqi , 23.VII.2004, Guo-Dong Ren & Wen-Jun Hou legg. ( HBUM) ; CHINA, Liaoning: 1 male, Ying Kou County, 1987, Jing-Ke Li leg. ( FMNH) ; CHINA, Xinjiang: 1 male, Nanshan , VIII.1986, Rougemont leg., Oxytelus piceus (L.) det. P.M.Hammond (IZ- CAS) ; CHINA, Xizang: 1 female, Chayuxian [= Zayü County], Shangchayu [=Upper Zayü], 2000m, light reap, 24.VIII2005, Jie Wu leg. ( IZ-CAS) ; EGYPT: 1 male, Sakara Bordure [=Sakara border], I.1934, Lotte leg. (IZ- CAS) ; FRANCE: 2 females, Bandol , VIII.1899 ( IZ-CAS) ; LAOS: 1 male, Vientiane Pr., Phou Khao Khouay NBCA, Ban Vangheua (= Khua ) school, 18º20.37'N 102º48.529'E, 775m, settlement near forests & rice fields, at light (UV & MV), 25–30.V.2008, A. Newton, M. Thayer et al. legg. ( FMNH) ; S. KOREA: 4 males, 5 females, Pusan, on human excrement, 30.X.1945, E. Ray leg. ( FMNH) .

Redescription. Body dark brown to pitchy black, elytra as well as pronotum or abdomen in some cases a little lighter; maxillary palpi, first 4 antennomeres, and legs brownish. Length [average] male, 4.0 mm; female, 4.0 mm.

Male. Head ( Figs. 1C; 14A) sub-pentagonal with widest at eyes. Disc densely punctate, sparsely pubescent. Clypeus subquadrangular and protruding a little beyond anterior margin of supra-antennal ridges in some cases, as long as 1/3 head length, slightly depressed in anterior part, surface glabrous and coriaceous, almost impunctate; anterior margin truncate or weakly emarginate. Epistomal suture with lateral portions incurved and running backward beyond level of anterior margin of eyes. Vertex densely punctate, slightly convex, posterior part welldemarcated from neck by occipital suture; mid-longitudinal suture present. Eyes with coarse facets, longer than temples, and obviously protruding laterally. Temples punctate, dilated in some cases. Occipital suture with middle portion present; nuchal ridge and dorsal basal ridge present.

Mandible ( Fig. 14C) stout, slightly curved; two denticles on inner edge near middle. Antenna (type I) as long as head and pronotum together, with apical antennomere shorter than two preceding together.

Pronotum transverse, broadest at near anterior 1/3, as broad as or a little wider than head. Disc 3-sulcate ( Fig. 1H), median sulcus and two slightly curved paramedial sulci deep and punctate; lateral depressions shallow and strigose. Lateral margins smooth, with posterolateral angles rounded and finely crenulate. Elytra punctate and rugose, with lateral longitudinal ridge present.

Abdomen coriaceous and pubescent, broadest at segment V. Sternite VII ( Fig. 14E) with posterior margin protruding in middle and gradually narrowed. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 14F) with subbasal ridge continuous in middle, with two deeply V-shaped ruptures near middle, forming large and subrectangular median plate, posterior margin of which almost truncate but a little produced in middle, in center of median plate with small tubercle, with midlongitudinal internal ridge, and with seta at each posterolateral corner. Tergite X ( Fig. 14H) longer than wide, posterior margin truncate and with M-shaped notch in middle, with two lines of setae on haired posterior part.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 14K–M). Median lobe oblong-ovoid; with membranous structures inside; apico-medial hook C-shaped in lateral view and bent at near middle, with apical part sharply pointed and upcurved at tip, basal process well developed and with round tip; dorsal membranous area covering most of dorsum median lobe. Paramere armlike, with seta on apical 1/4, with highlighted zone nearby; apex with tiny hook.

Female. Head ( Fig. 14B) smaller than male; eyes convex and protruding laterally, temples extremely obsolete, and almost invisible in lateral view; mid-longitudinal suture present. Mandible ( Fig. 14D) shorter and slenderer.

Abdominal sternite VII with posterior margin straight. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 14G) with posterior slightly protruding in middle, on each side with tiny tooth. Tergite X ( Fig. 14I) with posterior margin truncate and often with two notches in middle.

Spermatheca ( Fig. 14J) hook-shaped, right-angled at basal 1/3, with basal portion slightly bulbous, gradually narrowed apically, incurved before apical 1/3.

Distribution. China (Beijing, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanghai, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang); Mongolia; South Korea; Japan; Laos; Azerbaijan; Georgia; Kyrgyzstan; Kazakhstan; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan; Syria; Saudi Arabia; Iran; Europe; Russia; Africa (including Madagascar, Canary Islands, and Madeira).

Remarks. Males of this species are similar to those of O. bengalensis and O. varipennis in form of sternites VII and VIII, but sternite VII of O. varipennis is more protruding than that in other two species, and the apical margin of sternite VII of O. bengalensis is broader and shallowly emarginate. Apical margin of sternite VIII of O. varipennis is sharply notched in the middle, while those of the other two species are projecting. In the females of O. piceus and O. varipennis , these structures are nearly same in size and appearance, but the species differ in the shapes of spermatheca ( Figs. 14J; 22J). O. nigriceps is could be confused with O. piceus , but they differ in shape of sternite VII (male) and VIII and tergite X ( Figs. 13E–I; 14E–I). This species is cosmopolitan in distribution and is present in almost entire Chinese territory with different climatic zones, and it also occurs in Europe, Russia, and Africa, but has been rarely reported in Qinghai-Tibetan plateau or in south of Himalaya, and America.