Lithocharis vilis KRAATZ , 1859

Assing, Volker, 2015, A revison of the Lithocharis species of the Palaearctic, Oriental and Australian regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Medonina), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (2), pp. 1133-1178 : 1142-1143

Lithocharis vilis KRAATZ, 1859

Lithocharis vilis KRAATZ, 1859: 159 .

Lithocharis jacobsoni CAMERON, 1928: 246 ; nov.syn.

Lithocharis vexans CAMERON, 1936: 159 ; nov.syn.

Type material examined L. vilis : see ASSING (2008).

L. jacobsoni : Lectotype ♂, present designation: " Fort de Kock (Sumatra) 920 M. / 1926, leg. E. Jacobson / 10 / / L. jacobsoni Cam , Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147. / Type / Lectotypus ♂ Lithocharis jacobsoni Cameron , desig. V. Assing 2015 / Lithocharis jacobsoni Cameron , det. V. Assing 2015" ( BMNH) . Paralectotypes: 4♀♀: same data as lectotype ( BMNH).

L. vexans : Holotype ♀: "Holotype / ♂ [sic] / JAVA. F.C. Drescher. B.M. 1934-264. / Leg. Dr. Ed. Jacobson, Preanger, Java, 800 m, Dago Bandoeng, III.1933 / L. vexans Cam , Type / Holotype Lithocharis vexans Cam. , det. R.G. Booth 2014 / Lithocharis vilis Kraatz , det. V. Assing 2015" ( BMNH).

Additional material examined Sri Lanka: 1♀, Kandy, Udawattakele Reserve , 7°20'N, 80°37'E, 500 m, rain forest, rotting fruit of Artocarpus heterophyllus on ground, 10.I.1983, leg. Darby ( BMNH). China: 1♂, Hubei, Xingshan Co., Zhenziling , 1600 m, 3.VII.1998, leg. Bolm ( cAss). Laos: 1♂, S-Udomxai Prov., Pak Beng , 19°54'N, 101°08'E, 450 m, 18.- 27.V.2001, leg. Kolibáč ( cAss). Thailand: 1♀, Mae Hong Son, Ban Si Lang , 1200 m, 23.- 31.V.1991, leg. Horák ( cAss) ; 1♂, 130 km NE Bangkok, 12 km SW Pak-Chong , 400 m ,, fruit orchard, light trap, 9.XI.1992, leg. Thielen ( cAss). Malaysia: 1♂, Pahang, Cameron Highlands , Tanah Ruta , grass heap, 19.-23.III.2008 l, leg. Hammond ( cAss) ; 1♂, Penang, X.1913, leg. Bryant ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Borneo , Sarawak, Gn. Mulu National Park, near Base Camp, 50-100 m, henhouse litter, V-VIII.1978, leg. Hammond & Marshall ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Sarawak, Gn. Mulu National Park , Clearwater Cave , 13.IV.1978, leg. Hammond & Marshall ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Sarawak, Gn. Mulu National Park , Deer Cave, 14.V.1978, leg. Hammond & Marshall ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Sarawak, Gn. Mulu National Park , Clearwater Cave, rice bait, I.1981, leg. Chapman ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Borneo , Sabah, Poring , 8 km N Keningau, 1000 m, bat dung, 20.IX.1977, leg. Bacchus ( BMNH) ; 7 exs., Sabah, 8 km S Mt. Trus Madi , 550 m, rotten tapioca skins, 18-28.VIII.1977, leg. Bacchus ( BMNH, cAss). Singapore: 1♂, 3♀♀, 6.VIII.1922, leg. Saunders ( BMNH) ; 1♂, 1♀, leg. Saunders ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Angello Kio , fruit ( BMNH). Indonesia: 2♂♂, 2♀♀, Sumatra, Bukittinggi [" Fort de Kock "], 920 m, 1926, leg. Jacobson ( BMNH, cAss) ; 1♂, 1♀, Sumatra, Sumatera Utara, Tangkahan, Gunung Leuser National Park , 3°41'N, 98°04'E, 100 m, 4.II.2011, leg. Cibuļskis ( cSha, cAss) ; 1♂, 1 ex., Sulawesi, Minahassa, Tomohon , VII.1954, leg. Alston ( BMNH) ; 2♂♂, 4♀♀, 3 exs., Sulawesi, locality not specified ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Sulawesi Utara, Gng. Ambang F.R., near Kotamobagu , 1200 m, at light, 1.-2.IV.1985 ( BMNH) ; 2♂♂, 2♀♀, Sulawesi Utara, Dumoga Bone National Park, 200 m, light trap, IV.1985, leg. Barlow ( BMNH) ; 4 exs., Sulawesi Tengah, near Morowali, Ranu River area , lowland rain forest, at light, I-IV.1980, leg. Brendell ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Sulawesi Tengah, Solato River, Taronggo , 1°45'S, 121°40'E, forest floor litter, 27.-30.III.1980, leg. Brendell ( BMNH). Philippines: 1♂, Palawan, Bacuit ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Mindanao, Momungan ( BMNH). Micronesia: 1♂, Caroline Islands, Ponape Island , Colonia, 6.X.1981, leg. Kirby & Muniappan ( ANIC). Australia: 1♀, Queensland, Mt. Webb National Park , 15°04'S, 145°07'E, malaise trap, 1.X.1980, leg. Colless ( ANIC) ; 1♀, Queensland, 11 km ENE Mt. Tozer , 12°43'S, 143°18'E, 11-16.VII.1986, leg. Weir & Calder ( ANIC) ; 1♂, Queensland, Rockhampton, chicken manure, 16.VII.1984, leg. Halliday ( cAss) ; 1♀, South Australia, Brookfield Con. Pk., 34°21'S, 139°29'E, 3-12.IX.1991, leg. Lawrence et al. ( ANIC ; 1♀, New South Wales, Bawley Point, 35°30'S, 150°24'E, 9.III.1997, leg. Rentz & McCarron ( ANIC).

Comment: The type material of L. vilis was revised and a lectotype was designated earlier ( ASSING 2008). The original description of Lithocharis jacobsoni is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from " Sumatra: Fort de Kock" ( CAMERON 1928). Five syntypes, one male and four females, were located in the Cameron collection at the BMNH. The male is evidently teratological: its abdomen did not contain an aedeagus and its sternite VII lacks a comb of palisade setae at the posterior margin. Similar malformations were observed also in another male of L. vilis , in one of L. mateui , and in one of L. sororcula . The examined male, which is designated as the lectotype, is undoubtedly the specimen which Cameron (1928) based his diagnosis and illustration on. Externally, the type material of L. jacobsoni is indistinguishable from L. vilis , which too was found in the type locality of L. jacobsoni . Thus, there is no reasonable doubt that L. jacobsoni is in fact conspecific with L. vilis .

Lithocharis vexans was described from a unique female holotype from "Dago Bandoeng" ( CAMERON 1936). In external characters the holotype is identical to L. vilis . Hence the synonymy proposed above.

According to SCHÜLKE & SMETANA (2015), L. vilis has a cosmopolitan distribution. Confirmed records are currently known from the Canary Islands ( ASSING 2000), Madeira (ASSING & SCHÜLKE 2006), Sri Lanka ( ASSING 2008), China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Sulawesi, Java, Sumatra), the Philippines, Micronesia, and Australia (see material examined). In view of the frequent misidentifications all other previous records require revision. The male sexual characters are illustrated in ASSING (2008).