Agonum muelleri (Herbst, 1784)

Bousquet, Yves, 2012, Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera, Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico, ZooKeys 245, pp. 1-1722 : 753-754

Agonum muelleri (Herbst, 1784)

Carabus VI-punctatus O.F. Müller, 1776: 78 [primary homonym of Carabus sexpunctatus Linnaeus, 1758]. Type locality: Denmark and Norway (inferred from title of the book). Syntype(s) lost.

Carabus muelleri Herbst, 1784: 139. Replacement name for Carabus sexpunctatus Müller, 1776. Etymology. The specific name was proposed in honor of Otto Friedrich Müller [1730-1784], a Danish naturalist, theologian, linguist, and trumpet player. Following his marriage in 1773, Müller became financially independent and devoted himself exclusively to science.

Carabus parumpunctatus Fabricius, 1792: 157. Type locality: «Germania» (original citation). Two syntypes in ZMUC (Zimsen 1964: 57). Synonymy established by Illiger (1798: 195).

Platynus hardyi LeConte, 1879b: 53. Type locality: «Newfoundland» (original citation). Three syntypes [3 originally cited] in MCZ [# 28696]. Synonymy established by Hatch (1953: 141), confirmed by Lindroth (1954b: 138).

Platynus hornii Hausen, 1890: 235. Type locality: "S[ain]te-Rose [= Laval] and Ile Perrot, P[rovince of] Q[uebec]" (original citation). Syntypes presumably lost. New synonymy. Note. Lindroth (1966: 629) listed this name as synonym of Agonum decorum (Say, 1823) on the basis of an "authentic ♂," labeled "Montreal. Hausen" in the CNC. Unfortunately the specimen could not be located. However, there is serious doubt that the specimen was really a syntype. Hausen (1890: 236) stated that "on being shown a specimen, Dr. Horn declared he doubted the American origin of this species." It would have been surprising that Horn did not recognize Agonum decorum . On the other hand, Agonum muelleri was little known in North America, being first noticed by LeConte in 1879 when he described it under the name Platynus hardyi . The description is poor but seems to fit better Agonum muelleri than Agonum decorum , particularly the size (0.375 in = 9.5 mm).

Distribution.

This Palaearctic species is adventive in North America where it is known from west-central Alberta (Emerald Lake, Gerald J. Hilchie pers. comm. 2009) and southern British Columbia, including Vancouver Island (Lindroth 1966: 593), to northwestern California (Humboldt County, James R. LaBonte pers. comm. 1992) in the west and from Newfoundland (Lindroth 1955a: 121) to northeastern Minnesota (Kamal J.K. Gandhi pers. comm. 2008), south to northeastern Iowa (Larsen and Purrington 2010: 570) and northeastern West Virginia (Tucker County, CMNH) in the east. The first inventoried specimen collected in the east was found in Newfoundland around 1840 (Lindroth 1955a: 122) and in the west in 1933 (Lindroth 1966: 593; Leech 1935: 122, as Platynus hardyi ). The species is also adventive in Hawaii (Liebherr et al. 2009: 98).

Records.

FRA: PM CAN: AB, BC (VCI), NB, NF, NS (CBI), ON, PE, QC USA: CA, CT, IA, MA, ME, MI, MN, NH, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV - Adventive