Achilia cosmoptera ( Blanchard, 1851 )

Kurbatov, Sergey A., Cuccodoro, Giulio & Sabella, Giorgio, 2021, A revision of the Chilean Brachyglutini - Part 7. Revision of Achilia Reitter, 1890: A. cosmoptera species group (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 128 (1), pp. 135-156 : 140-141

Achilia cosmoptera ( Blanchard, 1851)

Figs 1 , 43 , 45 , 47 , 63

Pselaphus cosmopterus Blanchard, 1851: 563 .

Achilia cosmoptera Raffray, 1904: 138 ; Jeannel, 1962: 426, 428, figs 193 (habitus), 194 (aedeagus); Jeannel, 1963: 353; Jeannel, 1964: 10.

Bryaxis chilensis Reitter, 1883: 49 , pl. 1 figs 11 (head and antenna), 12 (palpus), 13 (leg). – Reitter, 1885: 326 (synonymized by Raffray, 1904: 138).

Bryaxis tripunctata Reitter, 1885: 326 , 330 (synonymized by Jeannel, 1962: 429).

Type material (2 ex.): MNHN; 1 ♂ (lectotype of Achilia cosmoptera , here designated); labels verbatim: “ Lectotype / Chile; Gay 1849 / 4 / 40 / cosmoptera / Gen. Achilia Reitt. = Bryaxis aut. Raffray = Pselaphus Blanchard / cosmoptera Blanch. = chilensis ; A. Raffray det. 1904” . – SOUTHERN CHILE: Región Los Ríos: Valdivia Prov.: MNHN; 1 ♀ (Holotype of Bryaxis tripunctata ); labels verbatim: “ Bryaxis tripunctata ; m. Valdivia 1880 / Type / tripunctata Reitt. (handwritten by Jeannel) / B. tripunctata ; A. Raffray det. / Museum de Paris; 1917; coll. Raffray ”.

Additional material examined (83 ex.): HNHM; 1 ♂; “ Chili ”. – MNHN; 8 ♂ and 2 ♀; “ Chili ” [Valdivia?] . – PCVB; 1 ♂; “ Chili ”. – SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL CHILE: Región Los Lagos: Palena Prov.: PCTS; 1 ♂ and 6 ♀; Homopirén; 41° 87’S 72° 36’W; 17.XII.2013; forest layer. – Chiloé Prov: MHNG; 2 ♂; Chiloé ; H. Franz. – NHMW; 1 ♂; Chiloé ; H. Franz. – PCVB; 4 ♂; Isla Chiloé , Mocopulli ; 04.II.1983; ex Berberis buxifolia ; T. Cekalovic. – NHMW; 1 ♂ (identified as A. bifossifrons ); Quinchao Island . – MSNG; 1 ♂; 1 km W of Lago Huillinco; 24.I.1998; site TC-564; T. Cekalovic. – FMNH (FMHD #2002- 72); 3 ♂; S side of Huillinco lake, road to Bellavista , 1.3 km S road of Cucao; 42°41.81’S 73° 55.88’W; 45 m; 12-22.XII.2002; valdivian rainforest w/emergent Saxegothea conspicua , flight intercept trap; A. Newton, M. Thayer & M. Chani 1062. – MSNG; 1 ♂; Rio Pudeto ; 21.II.1989; site SyTC-226; S. & T. Cekalovic. – FMNH; 1 ♂; 2 km N of Puente Pudeto; TC-554; 17.I.1998; Berlese; T. Cekalovic. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-91); 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; Castro, S of Cabañas Trayen ; 42° 31’S 73° 48’W; 20.XII.2002; grassy yard on hill, some tres nearby, Berlese, cut grass pile ca. one week old; A. Solodovnikov, M. Chani, A. Newton & M. Thayer. – MSNG; 2 ♂; Chepu ; 26.I.2000; site TC-624; T. Cekalovic. – FMNH (FMHD# 97-21); 1 ♂; Puente La Caldera, 9.8 km E of Cucao; 42° 39.96’S 74° 00.70’W; 10 m; 14.I.1997; valdivian rainforest, Berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton & M. Thayer 991. – Osorno Prov: MHNG; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀; Puyehue National Park , Aguas Calientes , station 20b ; 40° 40’S 72° 20’W; 450-600 m; 01-03.XII.1992; sifting of moss on dead tree trunks, branches and rocks and vegetational debris; D. Burckhardt. – Región Los Ríos, Valdivia Prov: MHNG; 4 ♂; Corral , 39° 95’S 73° 20’W; 06.XII.2013; car net. – MHNG; 4 ♂; Corral , 39° 95’S 73° 20’W; 06.XII.2013; car net. – PCTS; 1 ♂; Caleta Chaihuín , 39° 963’S 73° 586’W; 76. XII.2013; litter layer. – MHNG; 1 ♂; Parque Nacional Alerce Costero , Chaihuín ; 0-100 m; 16.II.2018; forest litter; S. Kurbatov. – JEBC; 1 ♂; Chaihuín , Camino a Huaicolla ; 39° 59.926’S 73° 38.976W; 107 m; 12.I.2007; fogging Nothofagus dombeyi ; J. E. Barriga-Tuñón. – JEBC; 5 ♂ and 3 ♀; Chaihuín , Reserva Costiera Valdiviana , en estero; 39° 58.186’S 73° 34.230’W; 30 m; 28.II.2008; J. E. Barriga-Tuñón. – PCVB; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀; Panguipulli. – Región Araucanía: Malleco Prov . – FMNH (FMHD #96-222); 1 ♂; Nahuelbuta National Park , 4.5 km W Los Portones entrance; 37° 49.25’S 72° 59.82’W; 1300 m; 21.XII.1996 / 07.II.1997; Nothofagus spp. emergent Araucaria araucana , Chusquea understory, flight intercept trap; A. Newton & M. Thayer 975. – Cautín Prov: NHMW; 1 ♂ (identified as Achilia approximans ); Rio Pedregoso . – Región Bío Bío: Concepción Prov . – PCVB; 1 ♂; Parque Hualpén ; 29.III.1986; site TC-165; T. Cekalovic. – MHNG; 1 ♂; same data; T. Cekalovic. – PCVB; 2 ♂; Concepción ; 05.XI.1987; T. Cekalovic. – MHNG; 1 ♂; Periquillo ; 21.IX.1996; site TC- 486; T. Cekalovic. – MSNG; 1 ♂; same data. – MNHN; 1 ♀; Cerro Caracol ; 23.V.1957. – Ñuble Prov.: MNHN; 2 ♂ and 2 ♀; Chillán ; P. Germain. – MNHS; 4 ♀ (2 ♀ identified as A. testacea ); same data. – MHNG; 1 ♂; near Recinto, about 60 km E Chillán; station 7a; 400-450 m; 12.XII.1990; forest litter; M. Agosti & D. Burckhardt. – Región Maule: Cauquenes Prov . – JEBC; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; Los Ruiles, 20 km W of Cauquenes; 01.X.2003; J. E. Barriga-Tuñón.

Description: Body 1.20-1.40 mm long, dark brown with reddish elytra, generally with darker head and sometimes also darker pronotum, some specimens brown with darker abdomen; antennae and legs reddish; palpi reddish or yellowish.

Male: Head as in Figs 43, 45 & 47 , wide, surface with distinct but very scattered fine punctures; occipital region and basal half of frons raised at middle, with flattened and slanting anterior margins; basal half of frons separated by deep transverse sulcus from anterior half of frons, the latter prolonged posteriorly as large median process reaching transverse sulcus and producing median constriction; vertexal foveae lacking. Antennae with scape and pedicel longer than wide; antennomeres III-VI longer than wide; antennomere VII about as long as wide; antennomere VIII slightly wider than long; antennomere IX slightly wider than VIII and wider than long; antennomere X distinctly wider than long and wider than IX; antennomere XI elongate, about as long as VII-X combined. Metaventrite with deep and wide transverse sulcus on apical twothirds, sulcus with prominent margins. First abdominal sternite slightly raised and flattened at middle; remaining abdominal sternites slightly flattened at middle. Protibiae with distal two-thirds swollen, distal third densely pubescent; mesotibiae with small subapical spur on medial margin, distal half swollen and densely pubescent. Aedeagus ( Fig. 1 ) 0.20-0.21 mm long, with suboval dorsal plate distinctly narrower apically; dorsal longitudinal struts divergent. Parameres relatively wide with very large and long recurved seta on well-developed outer lobe; apical portion of parameres slightly recurved posteriorly, prolonged laterally as short tip; apex bearing one ventral medial seta. Copulatory pieces consisting of two subequal pointed sclerites recurved at both ends and more robust basally.

Female: Similar to male except head not modified. Antennae shorter with antennomere XI much shorter; metaventrite, abdominal sternites, and legs unmodified.

Collecting data: Collected from September to March, in different types of forests (i.e. Berberis buxifolia ; Valdivian rainforest with Saxegothea conspicua ; Nothofagus spp. forest sometimes with Araucaria araucana and Chusquea ) at elevations ranging from 0 m to 1300 m. Most specimens come from sifted samples of leaf and log litter, sometimes with moss and vegetational debris, and males have also been collected by flight intercept traps, window traps, and car netting.

Distribution: Achilia cosmoptera is distributed in Southern and Central Chile ( Fig. 63 : red square) from Palena Province to Cauquenes Province. Jeannel (1962: 429) mentions that this species occurs in Valdivia based on 8 males and 2 females, which probably refers to the specimens we identified as such from the Raffray collection labeled “ Chili ” without further label data.

Jeannel mentions the presence of specimens of A. cosmoptera from Nahuelbuta (1963: 353, 1 ♀ collected by F. Castri in 14.XII.1961) and Tiltil (1964:10-11, 1 ♀ collected by F. Castri in VIII.1962), that appear to be based on two misidentified females of A. testacea .

Comments: Blanchard described Pselaphus cosmopterus (1851: 563) based on an unspecified number of specimens from San Cárlos (Region Bío Bío, Ñuble Province). The description was so imprecise that subsequent authors ( Reitter, 1885; Schaufuss, 1886; and Raffray, 1895) thought the species belonged in the Tyrini.

Reitter (1883: 50) described Bryaxis chilensis based on an unspecified number of specimens from Valdivia. Raffray (1904: 138), having studied the type of Pselaphus cosmopterus Blanchard, 1851 , which he mentions as being housed in the MNHN collections, established that this species was not a member of Tyrini and should be transferred to Achilia in the Brachyglutini, pointing out that Bryaxis chilensis Reitter, 1883 was the same taxon as Achilia cosmoptera ( Blanchard, 1851) .

Jeannel (1962: 429) claimed that Bryaxis tripunctata Reitter, 1885 , which was described based on one single female from Valdivia, was indeed a female of A. cosmoptera but was darker and had a small pit on the head vertex. These characters are apparently variable within this species.

Jeannel (1962: 428) affirmed that the types of Achilia cosmoptera ( Blanchard, 1851) , Bryaxis chilensis Reitter, 1883 , and Bryaxis tripunctata Reitter, 1885 were present in the MNHN collections. In the MNHN we found in the Raffray collection the holotype female of Bryaxis tripunctata Reitter, 1885 . We also found 8 females (the first bearing a red label Type) and 2 males with the label locality “ Chili ” without further data, identified by Raffray as A. cosmoptera , these ten specimens could well represent the type series of B. chilensis Reitter, 1883 , or possibly part of it. Finally, we found in the general collection 1 male labeled “ Chile; Gay 1849/ 4 / 40 / cosmoptera / Gen. Achilia Reitt. =; Bryaxis aut. Raffray =; / Pselaphus Blanchard / cosmoptera Blanch. =; chilensis ; A. Raffray det. 1904”. We think that this male, which was collected by Gay and studied by Raffray, belongs to the type series of Achilia cosmoptera ( Blanchard, 1851) , and therefore we designate it as the lectotype of Pselaphus cosmopterus Blanchard, 1851 .

The males of A. cosmoptera are easily distinguished from other species of the A. cosmoptera group by the shape of the head ( Figs 43, 45, 47 ), and aedeagus ( Fig. 1 ). The females of this species are very similar to those of A. elfridae , from which they can be distinguished by their more convex frons, smaller vertexal foveae, and narrower frontal sulcus.

Figures

Figs 1-6. Aedeagi of Achilia. (1) A. cosmoptera. (2) A. covidia. (3) A. blanchardi. (4) A. elfridae. (5) A. bifrons. (6) A. temporalis.

Figs 43-48. (43, 45, 47) Achilia cosmoptera. (44, 46, 48) A. covidia n. sp. Male head in (43-44) dorsal, (45-46) lateral and (47-48) frontal views. Scale bars (200 μm) left for (43, 45, 47) and right for (44, 46, 48).

Fig. 63. Distribution map of the Achilia cosmoptera species group. (q blue inverted triangles) A. bifrons. (u green diamonds) A. blanchardi. (J red square) A. cosmoptera. (p blue triangles) A. covidia n. sp.