New and little known species of Quedius from West Palaearctic (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae)
Author
Yu, A.
Author
Solodovnikov
text
Zootaxa
2005
902
1
13
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.170972
f93b6cae-09b4-47ce-8eba-27d769ba4e26
11755326
170972
Quedius
(
Raphirus
)
henrii
Solodovnikov
,
sp. nov.
Type
material.
Holotype
:
GEORGIA
: ɗ, “
Holotype
/ Mestia, forest,
1700 m
, Svanetia, 4.7.[19]68 [label in Cyrillic]/
Quedius brachypterus
Coiff. H. Coiffait
det. 1968/ Museum Paris coll. H. Coiffait” [not a
holotype
of
Quedius brachypterus
Coiffait
, for details see below] (
MHNP
).
Description.
Measurements of the
holotype
: HL: 1.20; HW: 1.45; PL: 1.80; PW: 1.90; EL: 1.45; EW: 1.85. Body length
8.5 mm
.
The new species (habitus in
Fig. 2
) differs from
Quedius nonseriatus
only in dark (piceous black) coloration of the body and in minute details of the structure of the aedeagus. Namely, the aedeagus of
Q. henrii
has a relatively shorter paramere with all four pairs of setae clustered at its apex (in
Q. nonseriatus
two pairs of setae located distinctly more basally, below the apical pairs cf.
Figs. 7 and 10
), and the dorsal tooth is located closer to the apex of the median lobe (cf.
Figs. 5 and 8
).
Comparison.
Quedius henrii
is a sister taxon of
Q. nonseriatus
, from which it differs externally only in the strikingly different (dark) body coloration. The aedeagal difference between these two species is distinct but rather insignificant. Better known examples of large intraspecific variability displayed by some species of
Quedius
(e.g.,
Q. umbrinus
Erichson, 1839
,
Q. vulneratus
Gemminger and Harold, 1868
; see
Solodovnikov 2002
) suggest that, with more material available for study, a separate species status for the pair
Q. nonseriatus
Q. henrii
may be put in doubt. However, based on the striking difference in body coloration between these two taxa (which is a rare phenomenon in
Quedius
), combined with some hiatus in the structure of their aedeagi, I assume the absence of gene flow between the two observed forms and thus provide a separate species status for them. Additional material is desirable to test this hypothesis.
Remarks.
The
holotype
of
Quedius henrii
was erroneously labeled by H. Coiffait as the
holotype
of
Q. brachypterus
Coiffait
(for details see
Q. brachypterus
in
Solodovnikov 2004
).
Distribution.
Known only from the
type
locality in the western
Georgia
.
Etymology.
The species name is derived from the first name of Dr. Henri Coiffait, a late specialist on
Staphylinidae
, who completed massive and important descriptive work on West Palaearctic
Quedius
.