Philonthus feralis Erichson, 1840: 469 Solsky, 1868: 135 Sharp, 1885: 416 Fauvel, 1891: 115 longicornis Fauvel, 1903: 271 longicornis Bernhauer and Schubert, 1914: 337 Bruch, 1915: 444 Scheerpeltz, 1933: 1349 longicornis Blackwelder, 1943: 410 longicornis Blackwelder, 1944: 133 longicornis Smetana, 1958: 189 longicornis Smetana, 1994: 346 Herman, 2001b: 2821 Revision of the southern South American species of Philonthus Stephens (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) 2595 Chani-Posse, Mariana Zootaxa 2010 2010-08-31 2595 1 70 6V9N8 Erichson, 1840 Erichson 1840 [151,560,223,249] Insecta Staphylinidae Philonthus Animalia Coleoptera 64 65 Arthropoda species feralis      Philonthus feralis Erichson, 1840: 469; Guérin – Méneville, 1855: 583 (catalog);  Solsky, 1868: 135(rev.);  Sharp, 1885: 416(rev.);  Fauvel, 1891: 115(syn. of  longicornis);  Fauvel, 1903: 271(syn. of  longicornis);  Bernhauer and Schubert, 1914: 337(catalog);  Bruch, 1915: 444(catalog);  Scheerpeltz, 1933: 1349(syn. of  longicornis);  Blackwelder, 1943: 410(syn. of  longicornis);  Blackwelder, 1944: 133(list), 134 (list, syn. of  longicornis);  Smetana, 1958: 189(syn. of  longicornis);  Smetana, 1994: 346(characters; lectotypedesignation: Colombia; valid species);  Herman, 2001b: 2821(catalog); Chani-Posse, 2004: 230 (list).   Diagnosis.  Philonthus feralismay be identified by the distance separating medial interocular punctures on frons more than four times as large as distance separating medial punctures from lateral punctures, and the abdominal terga moderately punctuate at basal area, with a distance separating punctures about equal as diameters of punctures. It differs from  P. aeruginosusby the infraorbital ridge reaching postgenal ridge, the antennal segment 2 shorter than the preceding segment, and the coloration at abdominal segments, shiny, not iridescent.   Redescription.Length of the body 8.0–10.0 mm. Coloration. Head and thorax black; elytra piceousblack; abdominal segments piceous-black to castaneous-piceous at last abdominal segments, shiny but not iridiscent; antennae, palpi and legs castaneous-brunneous. Head about as long as wide (HW/HL= 1.1) and at basal third as wide as distal third in both sexes, moderately to distinctly narrower than pronotum (HW/PW= 0.79–0.68); dorsal surface coarsely and moderately punctate, with three to four postocular punctures and three to four epicranial punctures; distance separating medial interocular punctures on frons more than four times as large as distance separating medial punctures from lateral punctures; infraorbital ridge present, reaching postgenal ridge. Eyes moderately longer than temples (EL/TL= 1.5–1.4) seen from above. Antennae with segment 1 slightly shorter than segments 2 and 3 combined, segments 2 shorter than segment 3, segments 4–10 elongate. Maxillary palpus with segment 2 not swollen, no more than twice as long as its maximum width; last segment fusiform, about 1.5 times longer than segment 3. Submentum about 1.5 times as long as mentum. Labial palpus with last segment 1.4– 1.8 times as long as preceding segment. Neck more than 0.5 times as wide as head at widest point (NW/HW= 0.7). Pronotum slightly longer than wide (PW/PL= 0.90–0.85), distinctly narrowed anteriad; dorsal surface of pronotum with two rows of punctures, each with five punctures. Hypomeron not visible in lateral view. Basisternum with medial longitudinal carina moderately developed, bulbous. Metasternum with circummesocoxal ridge broadly rounded medially. Elytra at sides moderately to distinctly longer than pronotum at midline (EtL/PL=1.4–1.2), distinctly longer than elytra along suture (EtL/Etl= 1.8–1.6); transverse distance between punctures about as large as to distinctly smaller than diameters of punctures. Both front and middle tarsi as long as front and middle tibiae; first segment of hind tarsus as long as segments 2 and 3 combined, and longer than last segment (S1/S5= 1.4). Abdominal terga moderately punctuate at basal area, distance separating punctures about equal as diameters of punctures; terga 2 and 3 with elevated area between basal lines punctuate, posterior basal line straight medially. Male sternum 7 with apical margin straight. Tergum 8 inboth sexes with posterior margin truncate. Male genitalia. Sternum 8 deeply emarginate medio-apically. Tergum 10 subacute medio-apically, with two long subapical macrosetae and 2–6 short apical setae. Sternum 9 with a moderate triangular emargination apically, four long subapical macrosetae and three apical setae at each side. Aedeagus with median lobe gradually narrowed from base of paramere; apex of median lobe subacute (in dorsal view) and simple in its apical fourth (in lateral view); paramere elongate and entire, leaf-like, reaching two thirds of median lobe length, with two lateral rows of sensory peg setae at distal third and joined at apex. Internal sac without sclerotized structures. Female genitalia. Tergum 10 similar to that of male, with two long subapical macrosetae and three to four short apical setae. Second gonocoxite with 2–5 strong setae along its outer margin, and stylus with two long apical setae.  Notes on geographical distribution.  Philonthus feraliswas cited from Argentina( Buenos Airesand Misiones) by Bruch (1915)and Blackwelder (1944). As stated by Smetana (1994),  P. feraliswas placed in synonymy with  P. longicornis Stephens, 1832by Fauvel (1891)and the synonymy was accepted by most subsequent authors, including Blackwelder (1943). According to the recent catalog of Herman (2001b),  P. feralisis cited from Central and South America, up to Brazil. After examining southern South American material of  Philonthusfrom different collections, I found two specimensfrom the Richter collection at the MLPA, determined by Bernhauer as “  Philonthus ferialisErichs.” from Buenos Aires, Argentina, which are in fact  Philonthus aeruginosusNordmann. Ifound another five specimenswith the same locality data as above from the Bernhauer collection at the FMNH. These were first labeled as “  ferialisdet. Bernhauer”, and later relabeled as “  aeruginosusdet. Bernhuer” which is correct. Additionally, there are two specimensfrom Cali, Colombiaat the FMNH which were first determined by Bernhauer as "  ferialisEr.vgl. Typusin Mus. Berlin", and later relabeled as “  longicornisdet. Bernhuer” which is also correct. There is no information about the date in which all these specimens were determined as “  ferialis” by Bernhauer, and then properly identified as a different species. Thus, it is possible that at the moment Bruch published his list in 1915, he based his records on specimens that were not reviewed by Bernhauer. Those records were later considered by Blackwelder in his catalog (1944) but not in his previous work ( Blackwelder, 1943). Additionally, I found no specimen under this name from Misiones, Argentinaor from any other southern South American locality. Based on the available information, I conclude that the occurrence of  P. feralisin southern South America is rather doubtful.  Bionomics.Unknown.   Type material.   Lectotype: ♂, with labels: “Columbia Moritz” (green label), “6109”, “  Philonthus feralisEr.” (white label), “Zool. Mus. Berlin”, “ LECTOTYPE  Philonthus feralisErichsondes. A. Smetana1991” (red label) ( MNHUB).   Paralectotypes: two specimenswith same original data as the lectotype and additional red label “ PARALECTOTYPUS  Philonthus feralis Erichson, 1840labelled by MNHUB 2006” ( MNHUB). MNHUB A. Smetana Berlin 65 66 1 1 Berlin lectotype MNHUB A. Smetana Berlin 65 66 1 Berlin paralectotype