Atheta (Alaobia) sodalis ( Erichson, 1837 )

Gusarov, Vladimir I., 2003, Revision of some types of North American aleocharines (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), with synonymic notes, Zootaxa 353 (1), pp. 1-134 : 65-66

Atheta (Alaobia) sodalis ( Erichson, 1837)

( Fig. 68 in Strand & Vik 1964; Fig. 2 , p. 175 in Benick & Lohse 1974)

Homalota sodalis Erichson, 1837: 328 .

Atheta (s. str.) sodalis: Bernhauer & Scheerpeltz, 1926: 649 (as valid species).

Atheta (Alaobia) sodalis: Strand & Vik, 1964: 332 (as valid species).

Atheta (Mischgruppe II) sodalis: Benick & Lohse, 1974: 173 (as valid species).

Atheta (Alaobia) sodalis: Silfverberg, 1992: 29 (as valid species).

(Other references are omitted)

Type material. Lectotype of Homalota sodalis (here designated): ♂ (the specimen No. 3 among the three potential syntypes of H. sodalis ; see Discussion) ( ZMHB).

Additional material. GERMANY: ♂, env. of Bayreuth , 30.ix.1992 ; ♀, Bavaria, Mittelfranken, env. of Feuchtwangen , vi.1991 (Th.Blick) ( SPSU) ; RUSSIA: Samara Reg.: 2 specimens, Zhiguli Nature Reserve , 25.vii–15.viii.1988 (Krasnobayev) ( SPSU) .

Diagnosis. See Benick & Lohse (1974).

Discussion. The types of Homalota sodalis were examined to clarify the status of At. ventricosa and At. sodalis . The historic collection at ZMHB which contains the Erichson types has 5 specimens arranged as Homalota sodalis in the following order: 1) ♀, labeled “ sodalis Er. Berol. [Berlin] Er. [Erichson]”, “5411”; 2) ♂, without labels; 3) ♂, without labels; 4) ♂, labeled “Aust.”; 5) ♀, without labels. My examination of these five specimens demonstrated that only specimens Nos. 1–4 belonged to At. sodalis in the commonly used sense (e. g., Strand & Vik 1964; Benick & Lohse 1974). In specimen No. 5 the shape of the antennal articles is different and that specimen is not conspecific with At. sodalis . Specimen No. 4 is not a syntype because it was not collected in the type locality of At. sodalis (Mark Brandenburg). Specimen No. 3 was selected as the lectotype. It agrees with the commonly accepted concept of this species in external characters, including the shape of the tergum 8. The lectotype was not dissected. Specimens Nos. 1 and 2 were labeled as paralectotypes.

Distribution. Atheta sodalis is a common European species. Although formerly reported from North America ( Bernhauer & Scheerpeltz 1926), to the best of my knowledge, At. sodalis does not occur there. In North America At. sodalis is replaced by a closely related species, At. ventricosa Bernhauer, 1907 .

Figures

FIGURES 64–69. Genitalia of Atheta modesta (Melsheimer) (male, Lac Lapêche, Québec (64– 66); male, paralectotype of At. vierecki Casey (67–68); and female, 8 km SEE Springfield, Vermont (69)). 64 — median lobe with retracted internal sac, parameral view; 65 — median lobe with retracted internal sac, abparameral view; 66 — median lobe with retracted internal sac, lateral view; 67 — apex of median lobe with everted internal sac, parameral view; 68 — median lobe with everted internal sac, lateral view; 69 — spermatheca. Scale bar 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 1–4. Abdominal segment 8 of Tinotus acerbus (Casey) (lectotype of Acrimea acerba (1–2) and lectotype of Acri. resecta (3–4)). 1 — male tergum 8; 2 — male sternum 8; 3 — female tergum 8; 4 — female sternum 8. Scale bar 0.2 mm.