Euspilotus (Neosaprinus) rubriculus Marseul, 1855

Lackner, Tomas & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2017, A monograph of the Australopacific Saprininae (Coleoptera, Histeridae), ZooKeys 689, pp. 1-263 : 13-16

Euspilotus (Neosaprinus) rubriculus Marseul, 1855 Figs 48, 49-57, 58-60, 61-67, 754

Saprinus rubriculus Marseul, 1855: 489.

Saprinus gnathoncoides Bickhardt, 1909: 243 - Synonymized by Arriagada (1987): 68.

Type locality.

America? (without further data).

Type material examined.

Saprinus rubriculus Marseul, 1855: Lectotype, present designation: ♂, with genitalia placed in a small vial under the specimen, both protarsi, left mesotarsus, right metatarsus and left hind leg missing, pinned, with the following labels: tiny, rectangular pink label, followed by: "107 / Saprinus / rubriculus / m. / N." (round, green label, written); followed by: "Horn / 11 mars 43?" (almost illegible label, written); followed by: "6a rubriculus / N. Am" (written); followed by: "MUSEUM PARIS / COLL. / DE MARSEUL 1890" (printed); followed by: “TYPE” (red-printed label); followed by: " Saprinus rubriculus / Marseul, 1855 / LECTOTYPE / des. T. Lackner, 2014" (red label, written) (MNHN). The type locality of this species is “America?” with a question mark. It is unclear why Mazur (1997, 2011) does not mention this doubt with the type locality. This species was designated from unknown number of specimens and the lectotype designation fixes the identity of the species.

Saprinus gnathoncoides Bickhardt, 1909: holotype, ♂, side-mounted on a triangular mounting card, with the following labels: "Montevideo / 28.xi.[19]08 / J. Tremoleras" (black-margined printed-written); followed by: " gnathoncoides / Bickh." (written); followed by: " gnathoncoides / m / det. Bickhardt" (written-printed); followed by: “Type” (red label, printed); "Zool. Mus. / Berlin" (printed); followed by: “10-152” (yellow label, pencil-written, added by the senior author); followed by: “10-166” (yellow label, pencil-written, added by the senior author) (ZMHUB). This species was described from a single specimen (holotype by monotypy) examined here.

Additional material examined.

URUGUAY: 1 ♀, most likely collected with the type specimen, but without the type label: Montevideo, 28.xi.[19]08, J. Tremol eras (ZMHUB). ARGENTINA: 3 ♂♂, Cordoba prov., Balnearia, 17.-25.ii.2000, collector unknown (TLAN). La REUNION: 1 ♂, L’Eperon, Boyau de lave, Deject salanganes, 28.xi.2003, J. Pousserau leg. (CYG). AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 1 ♂, Brisbane, O.W. Tiegs (QM); 1 ♀ New South Wales: Sydney District, J.J.W, iii.1900 (OUMNH). NEW ZEALAND: North Island: CO: 1 ♀ Broun Tairua, Coll. Wakefield, Arthur Parrott Collection donated June 1983 (NZAC).

Biology.

Biology of this species is not well documented, but it has been found inside a lava tube on feces of the Mascarene Swiftlet ( Lackner 2013c; see also above) where it has been introduced to La Reunion. Arriagada (1987) reports this species from the excrements of common vampire bat ( Desmodus rotundus Geoffroy, 1810) in a cave in the Cordoba province of Argentina.

Distribution.

Described from “America?”, recorded from Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela as well as from islands of St. Helena and La Réunion; possibly adventive to New Zealand and Australia (Fig. 754).

Remarks.

The specimen from "Sydney District" (OUMNH) is slightly larger (PEL: 2.85 mm; APW: 1.05 mm; PPW: 2.00 mm; EL: 1.75 mm; EW: 2.125 mm) in size and has a short median fragment of the inner subhumeral stria, compared to the syntype specimen of S. gnathoncoides Bickhardt, 1909 (ZMHUB) that is slightly smaller (PEL: 2.25 mm; APW: 1.00 mm; PPW: 1.625 mm; EL: 1.25 mm; EW: 1.875 mm) and bears no trace of inner subhumeral stria. It is possible that E. (N.) rubriculus represents a complex of cryptic species though the male terminalia of the lectotype of S. gnathoncoides and those of the specimen from Brisbane are almost identical. The species is diagnosed above, as well as provided with a differential diagnosis that separates it from other Australopacific taxa. We chose not to fully re-describe it here, leaving its re-description to the revision of the genus Euspilotus (Arriagada, in prep.) For the sake of better species recognition, however, we decided to depict it here, including its male terminalia.