Quedius molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806)

Hansen, Aslak Kappel, Brunke, Adam, Simonsen, Thomas & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2022, Revision of Quedius sensu stricto (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 62 (1), pp. 225-299 : 255

Quedius molochinus -group

Diagnosis. Species of medium size. Coloration variable from completely dark to dark with brown, reddish, or yellowish pale elytra and appendages. Eyes smaller, temples larger, with temporal puncture separated from posterior margin of eye by a distance equal to the diameter of the puncture. Frons without interocular punctures (cf. Fig. 6F ). Scutellum punctate and pubescent. Pronotum without puncture(s) in the posterior part of sublateral row. Palearctic; Q. molochinus introduced to North America.

Comments. The Quedius molochinus -group is composed of four species ( Q. molochinus , Q. meridiocarpathicus , Q. vicinus , and Q. balticus ) that usually have red elytra, although some variants have them darkened. All of these are distributed within the Palearctic Region – although Q. molochinus has been introduced to the Nearctic (Sආൾඍൺඇൺ 1981). Among others of the subgenus, these species are characterized by usually having reddish-brown to orange elytra, frons without interocular punctures, scutellum punctate and pubescent, and sublateral rows on pronotum without punctures on the posterior half ( Fig. 8 ). The species are externally very similar and have been confused for a long time, rendering their real distributions unknown. They have also been confused with the red elytral species of the Q. pallipes -group, from which they are distinguished by sublateral rows on pronotum without punctures in posterior half. Thorough investigation of representative material here demonstrates that Q. molochinus , Q. meridiocarpathicus and Q. vicinus are almost entirely allopatric ( Fig. 20 ). Quedius molochinus is a more northern species, distributed in Europe from the UK and European Russia to the Alps and the Czech Republic, in Asia it is widespread from the Urals to Transbaikalia. In southern Europe it is replaced by Q. meridiocarpathicus , which is found in the Italian and Balkan peninsulas and continuing eastwards through Hungary to the Black Sea coast of Ukraine and Russia. Quedius vicinus is confined to Eastern Transcaucasia along the Caspian Sea, southeastern Anatolia, and the northern Middle East across to central Asia. The only overlap is in Anatolia where both Q. meridiocarpathicus and Q. vicinus can co-occur. In this area the species can be most easily distinguished by differences in male genitalia ( Fig. 13 ). Another minor difference includes the antennal coloration, where the middle antennomeres (from fourth to sixth) are slightly lighter in Q. vicinus compared to Q. meridiocarpathicus ( Fig. 8 ). Quedius meridiocarpathicus in turn has slightly lighter middle antennomeres as compared to Q. molochinus ( Fig. 8 ). All three species are found in similar habitats, mainly in various types of moist litter or under rocks either near creeks and rivers or in forests. Quedius balticus is found across a large part of the Palearctic and thus has an overlapping distribution with the other three species in parts of their ranges ( Fig. 19 ). Unlike the three former species, Q. balticus is almost exclusively found in bogs and on floodplains, to which it is highly adapted.Also, it is externally easy to recognize based on the darkened basal three antennomeres, which are pale in the three other species ( Fig. 8 ). If there is any doubt in external characters, these four species in the Q. molochinus -group can most easily be identified through differences in male genitalia (see descriptions).

Figures

Fig.6. Head and pronotal chaetotaxy of Quedius s. str.A – general scheme; B – Q. curtipennis Bernhauer, 1908, C – Q. fuliginosus (Gravenhorst, 1802); D – Q. levicollis Brullé, 1832; E – Q. afrofuliginosus Gusarov, 1991; F – Q. molochinus- and Q. laticollis-groups; G – Q. molochinoides-group. Abbreviations as follows: anterior frontal puncture (AFP); basal punctures (BP); interocular punctures (IOP); lateral puncture (LP); lateral row (LR); posterior frontal puncture (PFP); parocular punctures (POP); sublateral row (SLR).

Fig. 8. Habitus of Quedius s. str. A – Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832); B – Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958; C – Q. molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806) (red elytra variant); D – Q. molochinus (black elytra variant); E – Q. balticus Korge, 1960; F – Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003.

Fig. 20. Distribution of Quedius molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806), Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958, and Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832) (top), Q. subunicolor Korge, 1961 (middle), and Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003 (bottom).

Fig. 13. Aedeagus of Quedius s. str. A – Q. vicinus (Ménétriés, 1832); B – Q. sundukovi Smetana, 2003; C – Q. subunicolor Korge, 1961; D – Q. molochinus (Gravenhorst, 1806); E – Q. balticus Korge, 1960; F – Q. meridiocarpathicus Smetana, 1958. I – parameral view of whole aedeagus; II – apices of paramere in antiparameral view with peg setae; III – lateral view of whole aedeagus; IV – apices of median lobe in parameral view.

Fig. 19. Distribution of Quedius levicollis Brullé, 1832 (top), Q. hispanicus Bernhauer, 1898 and Q. pallipes Lucas, 1846 (middle), and Q.balticus Korge, 1960 (bottom).