Hylota ochracea Casey, 1906

Brunke, Adam J., Pentinsaari, Mikko & Klimaszewski, Jan, 2021, Integrative taxonomy of Nearctic and Palaearctic Aleocharinae: new species, synonymies, and records (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 1041, pp. 27-99 : 27

Hylota ochracea Casey, 1906 Fig. 4A-H

Stichoglossa (Dexiogyia) forticornis Strand, 1939, syn. nov.

Material

(DNA barcoded specimens). Canada: Ontario: Guelph, Dovercliffe Road, 43.51, -80.254, backyard, compost and mouldy hay piles, 6.VI.2018, M. Pentinsaari (3, CBG); Guelph , Hanlon Preservation Park , 43.51, -80.221, mixed forest, at UV light, 30.VI.2018, M. Pentinsaari (1, CBG); Whitby , Julie Payette Public School , Malaise trap, 43.886, -78.934, 22.IV.-03.V.2013, Z. Turner (1, CBG) . Quebec: Montreal, Montreal Botanical Garden , 45.559, -73.566, Malaise trap, 24.VII-02.VIII.2014, M. Larrivee (1, CBG) . Finland: Al: Lemland, Äspholm, 60.0675, 19.9583, 9.X.2011, M. Pentinsaari (1, ZMUO); Al: Lemland, Nåtö, 60.046, 19.981, 26.VI.2014, M. Pentinsaari (2, ZMUO); N: Sipoo, Sipoonkorpi, 60.304, 25.202, window trap, 2.VIII.2013, S. Karjalainen and P. Martikainen (1, ZMUO) .

Distribution.

Origin: Nearctic (adventive in Europe). Canada: NB, NS, NT, ON, QC, SK. United States: NY, VT.

Bionomics.

Hylota ochracea is strongly associated with bird nests in forested habitats. It has also been collected from artificial analogs such as a pigeon coup, manmade nest boxes, and a plastic composter bin containing carrion and decaying vegetables ( Klimaszewski et al. 2018). The specimens recently collected in Ontario, Canada were found in compost and at UV light.

Comments.

Hylota ochracea , a widespread Nearctic species ( Klimaszewski et al. 2018), is newly reported from the Palaearctic region and had been previously known from Finland, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland ( Lundberg 2006; Schülke and Smetana 2015; Newton 2019) under the synonym Dexiogyia forticornis . Hylota is also a new genus record for the Palaearctic region.Nearctic Hylota ochracea and Palaearctic D. forticornis share a BIN and do not form separate clusters. One of the DNA barcode haplotypes is shared between Finnish and Canadian specimens. Nearctic and Palaearctic populations also have identical male and female genitalia. Based on its specialization on microhabitats in forests, we do not consider H. ochracea to be a naturally occurring Holarctic species. Holarctic beetles are generally those that occur north of the treeline and have crossed treeless Beringia in the last 2.8 Mya (reviewed in Brunke et al. 2020). Hylota ochracea may have been introduced to the Palaearctic region with the nest material of poultry or domestic pigeons, or with another form of decaying plant matter. A similar situation has occurred with the bird nest-associated staphylinid Bisnius palmi (Smetana), which was originally described from Italy but later found to be a native Nearctic species ( Smetana 1995).

With the above synonymy, the genus Dexiogyia is now known only from externally similar sister species D. angustiventris (Casey) (Nearctic) and D. corticina (Erichson) (West Palaearctic), plus Afrotropical D. congoensis (Scheerpeltz). As in the former D. forticornis , D. congoensis is probably misplaced due to superficial similarity. Hylota is readily separated from Dexiogyia by the shape of the pronotum, which is strongly convergent anteriad, such that its apical width is subequal to the width of the head. In Dexiogyia , the head is distinctly narrower than the pronotum.

Figures

Figure 4. Hylota ochracea Casey A habitus B median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view C median lobe of aedeagus in dorsal view D spermatheca E male tergite VIII F male sternite VIII G female tergite VIII H female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 1 mm (A); 0.2 mm (B-H). Illustrations after Klimaszewski et al. (2018), reproduced with permission.