Sunius nigrinus ( EPPELSHEIM 1892)

Assing, V. & A, North, 2008, A revision of the Sunius species of the Western Palaearctic region and Middle Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (1), pp. 5-135 : 62-64

4.27. Sunius nigrinus ( EPPELSHEIM 1892) , revalidated ( Figs 50-54 , Map 13 )

Medon propinquus nigrinus EPPELSHEIM 1892: 337 .

Medon picinus BERNHAUER 1902: 245 ; nov.syn.

Medon meuseli BERNHAUER 1905: 584 f.; nov.syn.

Medon lebedevi ROUBAL 1926: 244 f.; nov.syn.

Typ e material ex amined:

M. nigrinus : Lectotype 3; present designation: "propinqua Bris., Margalan, Turkestan, Staudinger / nigrina / c. Epplsh. Steind. d. / Lectotypus 3 Medon nigrinus Eppelsheim , desig. V. Assing 2007 / Sunius nigrinus (Eppelsheim) det. V. Assing 2007" ( NHMW) . Paralectotype: 13 [originally mounted on the same pin as the lectotype]: same data as lectotype (NHMW).

M. picinus : Lectotype 3; present designation: "3 / Margalan, Centralasien / picinus Brh. Type, Staudinger / Fauvel vidit / Chicago NHMus. M. Bernhauer Coll. / Sunius picinus (Bh.) V. I. Gusarov det. 1993 / Lectotypus 3 Medon picinus Bernhauer , desig. V. Assing 2007 / Sunius nigrinus (Eppelsheim) det. V. Assing 2007" ( FMNH) . Paralectotypes: 1 ex. [heavily damaged by Anthrenus sp.]: same data as lectotype ( FMNH) ; 1 ex.: Aulie Ata, Staudinger / picinus Brh. Type, Centralasien / Chicago NHMus. M. Bernhauer Coll. ( FMNH) .

M. meuseli : Holotype ♀: "Transcaspien, K. Aris / Meuseli Brnh. Typus, det. Bernhauer / Meuseli Bernh. Typus / Chicago NHMus. M. Bernhauer Coll. / Sunius nigrinus (Eppelsheim) det. V. Assing 2007" ( FMNH). 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 Russia: 13, Wolgogradskaya Oblast, Krasnoarmeysk ["Sarepta", 48°32N, 44°36E] (cAss). Kyrgyzstan: 13, 1♀, Osh region, Sarychelek Nat. Res., 9.X.1989, leg. Gusarov (cTro); 1♀ [external morphology as in holotype of S. meuseli ], Osh region, Kitschi Alai , Abschir-Say valley , 40°05'N, 72°21'E, 2120 m, 13.IV.2006, leg. Schmidt (cAss); 1♀, Chatkal range, Sarychelek lake , 6.VI.1996 (cSch); 1♀, Karakol ["Prshevalsk, Semiretsh. obl."], IV.1901, leg. Kuzenko (cBoh). Turkmenistan: 1 ex., W Ashkhabad, Sulyukly ["Transcaspia, Neu-Saratow", 38°02N, 57°25E] ( MNHUB); 1 ex., Loţfābād ["Ljutfabad"] (cAss). Kazakhstan: 3 exs., Dzhambul ["Aulie Ata"] ( HNHM, cAss); 1 ex., Dzhambul , "Syrdaria" ( SMNS); 6 ex., Karatal river , 30 km Taldy-Kurgan, 1.VII.2004, leg. Kastcheev ( MNHUB, cAss); 2 exs., Kok-pek , Chyngilsu river , 13.VI.2004, leg. Kastcheev ( MNHUB, cAss); 1 ex., Ketmen mt. , Rodgornoe , 22.VI.1984, leg. Kastcheev ( MNHUB); 4 exs., Dzhetysay ["Djetysai"], Syrdaria river , 6.VI.1980, leg. Kastcheev ( MNHUB); 1 ex., Djungar mt. , Aksu river , Dzhansugurov , 15.VIII.1987, leg. Kastcheev (cAss); 4 exs., Ile river , Kapchagai , Pristan Nauka , 21.IX.1981, leg. Kastcheev ( MNHUB). Uzbekistan: 4 exs., Margil'on ["Margelan"], leg. Reitter ( HNHM, MNHUB); 1 ex., Margil'on ( SMNS); 2 exs., Tashkent ( NHMW, cAss); 4 exs., Buchara ( MNHUB, cAss); 1 ex., E Tashkent, Chatkalskyi range, Shikaftar , 26.VII.2001 (cSch); 1 ex., Syrdarja range, Talass valley , VI.-VII.1907, leg. Fischer & Willberg ( MNHUB); 1 ex., Talass valley , leg. Fischer (cBoh); 1 ex., "Ost-Buchara, Tschixschantan" ( MHNG). Tajikistan: 13, Alai , Dugoba river , 2000 m, VII.1995 (cAss). China: 1 ex., Xinjiang province, Tianshan mountains , north flank of Bogda Feng , ca. 110 km E Urumqi, Tianchi , 43°53'N, 88°08'E, 2000 m, VIII.1986, leg. Rougemont (cAss). Locality not specified, ambiguous, or not identified: 10 exs., "Turkestan", leg. Leder & Reitter ( HNHM, NHMW); 2♀♀, Alai, leg. Schröder ( NHMW); 4 exs., "Turcmenien", leg. Leder & Reitter ( DEI, HNHM); 1 ex., "Andischan", leg. Aris ( MNHUB); 8 exs. [without data] (cBoh).

C o m m e n t s: Medon nigrinus was described as a variety of Sunius propinquus from few syntypes ("in wenigen Ex.") from "Taschkent" and "Margalan" ( EPPELSHEIM 1892). The name was previously listed as a synonym of S. bicolor (e. g. COIFFAIT 1984; SMETANA 2004). Two male syntypes from Margalan were located in the Eppelsheim collection at the NHMW; one of them is here designated as the lectotype.

The original description of Medon picinus is based on a "grössere Anzahl von Stücken von Margelan und Turkestan (Aulie Ata)" ( BERNHAUER 1902). Three syntypes, two from Margelan and one from Aulie Ata were found in the Bernhauer collection; a male in good condition from the former locality is here designated as the lectotype. It is conspecific with the lectotype of Medon nigrinus .

Medon meuseli was described from a single specimen ("ein einziges Stück") from "Transkaspien ohne nähere Fundortangabe" ( BERNHAUER 1905). The female holotype of S. meuseli is distinguished from the type material of M. picinus by longer and broader elytra. However, since no further distinguishing characters were found, there is little doubt that it represents the macropterous morph of S. nigrinus .

The original description of Medon lebedevi is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "Rossia or.: Kazan" ( ROUBAL 1926). The aedeagus of a syntype from the Roubal collection was examined and figured by BORDONI (1980b). The illustration matches the aedeagus of S. nigrinus ; hence the synonymy proposed above.

D i a g n o s i s Sunius nigrinus is evidently wing-dimorphic or -polymorphic, and the relative length and width of the elytra are subject to considerable variation, as is shown by the following ratios: length of elytra/length of pronotum: 0.95-1.15; combined width of elytra/width of pronotum: 1.15-1.25. The coloration is highly variable, the colour of the pronotum and the elytra ranging from reddish to blackish.

The species is characterised by moderately large size, moderately long (submacropterous morph) to very long (macropterous morph) and broad elytra, and especially by the morphology of the aedeagus.

3: sternite VII with weakly modified pubescence, posterior margin weakly concave ( Fig. 50 ); sternite VIII with finely margined and distinctly U-shaped posterior excision, pubescence unmodified ( Fig. 51 ); aedeagus of distinctive shape, internal sac with two distinctly sclerotised spines, one of them long, slender, and more or less straight, and the other shorter, stouter, and apically curved ( Figs 52-54 ).

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: The species is subject to pronounced intraspecific variation affecting especially external characters such as coloration, size, the puncturation of the forebody, and the length and width of the elytra.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: Sunius nigrinus is widespread in Middle Asia; records from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan are here confirmed. Previous records from Afghanistan ( SMETANA 2004) are probably based on misidentifications and are likely to refer to S. afghanicus . The species is here reported from Russia and China for the first time ( Map 13 ).

The examined material with labels specifying ecological data and dates was collected mostly in river valleys at altitudes of approximately 2000 m in spring, summer, and early autumn (April, July-October).

Figures

Map 13: Distributions of Sunius nigrinus (EPPELSHEIM) (filled circles), and S. praecisus nov.sp. (open circles), based on examined records.

Figs 50-54: Sunius nigrinus (EPPELSHEIM): (50) male sternite VII; (51) male sternite VIII; (52-53) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (54) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 50-51: 0.5 mm; 52-53: 0.2 mm; 54: 0.1 mm.