Microhoria unicolor (W. L. E. Schmidt, 1842)

Telnov, Dmitry & Degiovanni, Augusto, 2024, Notes On Some Greek Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Anthicidae) With New Descriptions And Synonymy, Acta Biologica Universitatis Daugavpiliensis 24 (1), pp. 81-127 : 115-118

Microhoria unicolor (W.L.E. Schmidt,

1842) ( Fig. 29 )

= Anthicus patagiatus Kiesenwetter, 1861

= Microhoria sydowi sydowi ( Pic, 1936) syn. nov.

= Microhoria sydowi reductior ( Pic, 1936) syn. nov.

= Microhoria sydowi olympiae (Pic, 1941) syn. nov.

= Microhoria unicolor calliger ( Marseul, 1879) syn. nov.

= Microhoria validicornis (La Ferté-Sénectère, 1849)

Anthicus calliger – Pic 1894: 50 (checklist; distribution: ‘ France, Grèce); Winkler 1927: 848 (checklist; distribution: ‘Ga.m.Gr.’ [Gallia meridionalis, Greece]).

‘ Anthicus Sydowi ’ ‒ Pic 1936: 21 (description: ‘ Grèce: Olympia’).

‘ Anthicus Sydowi v. reductior ’ ‒ Pic 1936: 21 (description: ‘ Grèce: Olympia’).

‘ Anthicus Sydowi v. n. Olympiae ’ ‒ Pic 1941b (description: ‘Olympia en Morée’).

Microhoria sydowi ‒ Kejval & Chandler 2020: 131 (assigned to the M. terminata speciesgroup).

Microhoria sydowi olympiae – Nardi 2003: 64 (taxonomy, new status & combination); Chandler et al. 2008: 443 (checklist; general distribution: Greece); Telnov 2020a: 613 (checklist; general distribution: Greece).

Microhoria sydowi reductior – Nardi 2003: 64 (taxonomy, new status & combination); Chandler et al. 2008: 443 (checklist; general distribution: Greece); Telnov 2020a: 613 (checklist; general distribution: Greece).

Microhoria sydowi sydowi ‒ Nardi 2003: 64 (taxonomy, new combination); Chandler et al. 2008: 443 (checklist; general distribution: Greece); Telnov 2020a: 613 (checklist; general distribution: Greece).

Anthicus patagiatus – Kiesenwetter 1861: 247 (description; ‘Nauplia’); Gemminger & Harold 1870: 2098 (checklist; distribution: ‘Nauplia’); Winkler 1927: 848 (checklist; distribution: ‘Gr.’ referring to Greece).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) patagiatus – Pic 1901b: 180 (records: ‘Athènes’, ‘près du Mont-Hymettos’); Pic 1911: 66 (checklist; distribution: ‘Griechenland’ [ Greece]).

Microhoria patagiata – Telnov 2006: 62 (new combination & new synonym).

Anthicus unicolor – Marseul 1857: 128 (checklist; distribution: ‘F G A I’ referring to France, Greece, Austria, Italy); Schaum 1859: 74 (checklist); Stein 1868: 89 (checklist).

Microhoria unicolor – Uhmann 1985: 201 (records: ‘ Creta, Antr. Iovis, Mt. Ida’, ‘ Creta, Amari’, ‘ Creta, Heraklion’, ‘ Griechenland, Monemvasia, Peloponnese’, ‘ Griechenland, Zante’, ‘ Griechenland, Athen’).

Anthicus validicornis – Schaum 1859: 75 (checklist); Kiesenwetter 1861: 247 (records: ‘Zante’ (Zakynthos Island), ‘Athen’); Stein 1868: 89 (checklist); Marseul 1879: 192 (record: ‘G’ referring to Greece), 226 (redescription, record: ‘ Grèce, Zante’); Pic 1901b: 176 (record: ‘Corfou’ [Corfu]); Bucciarelli 1978: 162 (new synonym).

Anthicus (Immicrohoria) validicornis – Pic 1901b: 180 (records: ‘Corinthe, Olympia, Zante et Cephalonia’); Pic 1911: 78 (checklist; distribution: ‘ Griechenland, Türkei’ [ Greece, Turkey]).

Microhoria validicornis – Uhmann 1985: 202 (records: ‘Athen’; ‘Graecia, Attica’; ‘Graecia, Athen; Cap Sunion’; ‘Cephalonia’; ‘Corfu, Vido’, ‘Corfu, Potamos’); Uhmann 1990: 592 (record: ‘Graecia’); Uhmann 1996: 35 (record: ‘Misrra bei Sparta’).

Type material examined M. sydowi sydowi . syntype 1♂ MNHN: Griechenland Olympia 16.5.1908. [printed, label light blue, black frame] // TYPE [printed, label red] ; 6 syntypes MNHN: Griechenland Olympia 16.5.1908. [printed, label light blue, black frame] ; 1 syntype MNHN: Griechenland Olympia 16.5.1908. [printed, label light blue, black frame] .

Type material examined M. sydowi reductior . Syntype 1♂ MNHN: Griechenland Olympia 16.5.1908. [printed, label light blue, black frame] // Sydowi Pic var [handwritten] // v. reductior mihi [handwritten] // ♂ … Coll Sydow le ♂ a … [handwritten, in part

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Dmitry Telnov, Augusto Degiovanni illegible].

Type material examined M. sydowi olympiae . Syntype 1♀ [?] MNHN: Olympia 16 Mai [handwritten] // Sydowi Olympiae mihi [handwritten] .

New material examined. 3 specimens ZMC & 1 DTC: GREECE: Pelopónnisos, Taïyetos Mts , 950-1800 m, 15-19.v.1990 Zool. Mus. Copenh. Exp. [printed] [this record erroneously published in Telnov (1998) for M. raveli ] .

Synonym, M. unicolor calliger . Based on the original descriptions and comparative material. Schmidt (1842) described ‘ Anthicus unicolor ’ from unspecified number of specimens from southern Austria, Hungary, and France (‘…Steyermark und Ungarn …, Frankreich’). Marseul (1879) described ‘ Anthicus calliger ’ also from unspecified number of specimens from southern France and continental Greece (‘ France méridionale, Hyères; Grèce, Parnasse’). Two pages beyond, Marseul (1879) also listed ‘ Anthicus unicolor Schmidt’ with related references, provided a short diagnosis for it, compared this taxon with Anthicus caliginosus La Ferté-Sénectère, 1849 (now Microhoria caliginosa caliginosa ), and listed ‘ Allemagne; Autriche, Dalniatie, Hongrie, Gènes; France méridionale, Marseille’ as know records for it with an additional comment ‘very rare’ (from French). Marseul (1879) placed both taxa to the ‘ XVIIIe Groupe. — Bifossicolles ’ of Anthicus , now a synonym of Microhoria . In the key provided in the same monograph ( Marseul 1879: 192) the author attributed calliger to a group of species with ‘testaceous legs’ and unicolor to a group with ‘testaceous legs and black antennae’ (from French). Both calliger and unicolor were treated as separate species by earlier authors (e.g., Heyden 1891; Pic 1894, 1901b, 1911 (in the latter both are considered members of Immicrohoria Pic, 1894, at that time a subgenus of Anthicus , now a synonym of Microhoria )) until Bonadona (1955) in his review of the French Microhoria listed and redescribed only ‘ M. ( Platyoria [sic!]) calliger ’ and, for unstated reason and without further explanations did not mention unicolor ,

116 the taxon originally described from France (see references above). Subsequently, Bucciarelli (1976) discussed on the morphology of Microhoria (Platyhoria) calliger from Corfu, Ionian Islands and referred to the same localities and specimens as Bonadona (1955). He also mentioned specimens from Austria and what is now North Macedonia and stated, that the Austrian specimens are different from the Greek ones in the external morphology, but aedeagus is found to be substantially identical ( Bucciarelli 1976: 134‒138). In the same paper, Bucciarelli (1976) also highlighted the ‘rarity’ of this taxon and found its distribution fragmented and localities distant from each other with obvious gaps in the distribution. Interestingly, the epithet of M. unicolor is not mentioned by this author in the context. In fact, the differences between the Austrian and Greek specimens as was summarized by Bucciarelli (1976) can be attributed to M. unicolor and M. calliger as follows (from Italian, adapted by the authors):

i. Total body length: 2.3‒2.4 mm ( unicolor ) / 2.4‒3 mm ( calliger );

ii. Colouration of tibiae and tarsi: pale brown ( unicolor ) / dark brown ( calliger );

iii. Shape of pronotum: transverse ( unicolor ) / about as wide as long ( calliger );

iv. Elytral humerus: obsolete to hardly indicated ( unicolor ) / distinct, broadly rounded ( calliger );

v. Elytral apex in male: broadly rounded, gland channel opening with a small denticle-like process visible in dorsal view ( unicolor ) / subtruncate, apical denticle-like process not visible in dorsal view ( calliger );

vi.i. Sculpture of dorsum: forebody shiny, elytra subopaque due to the presence of a minute microsculpture ( unicolor ) / not reported ( calliger );

vi.ii. Punctures of dorsum, male: very delicate and barely perceptible on head, even finer on pronotum, very delicate and perceptible only at humerus on elytra ( unicolor ) / elytral punctures delicate on humeral and apical part, coarser on elytral disc ( calliger );

Notes on Some Greek Microhoria Chevrolat, 1877 ( Insecta: Coleoptera : Anthicidae ) with New Descriptions and Synonymy vi.iii. Punctures of elytra, female: sparse and delicate, as those on pronotum ( unicolor ) / very delicate and indistinct ( calliger );

vii. Dorsal vestiture: short, whitish in both sexes ( unicolor ) / not reported ( calliger ).

Bucciarelli (1978) discussed the morphology of calliger , highlighted some misinterpretations of this taxon by previous authors and considered records of calliger by ‘(De Marseul, 1879, p. 225) partim; Bonadona, 1955, p. 116, partim; Bucciarelli, 1976, p. 136, partim ’ referring to unicolor . But Bucciarelli (1978) did not propose a new synonym and clearly considered calliger a valid subspecies of unicolor : ‘subsp. calliger (De Marseul 1879, p. 225) partim; Bonadona, 1955, p. 116, partim; Bucciarelli, 1976, p. 136, partim’. Later, Bucciarelli (1980) highlighted the following differences between the two taxa (from Italian, adapted): short and robust pronotum, head wide, with smooth and shiny integuments among indistinct dorsal punctures, elytra oval [likely to be read elliptical] with a maximum width posterior to midlength, in male elytral apex denticulate ( unicolor ) / pronotum elongate, humerus more prominent, dorsal punctures more distinct ( calliger ).

Uhmann (1985) provided additional faunistic records of both M. calliger and M. unicolor including those from Greece and Crete for the latter (the record from Crete is doubtful and requires further confirmation). Uhmann (1989, 1990) provided more faunistic records for M. unicolor , including those from Greece. Telnov (2022) suggested that M. unicolor and M. calliger are likely conspecific based on the examined material from Greece (see Telnov 2022). During the present study we (re)examined several dozens of specimens from SE Europe including large series from Corfu ( Telnov 2022) and Puglia, Italy (coll. ADC). We confirm that both morphological forms (as of Bucciarelli 1976) may occur sympatrically at the same localities. The external features as discussed above considered of low evolutionary value, appear randomly in specimens from the same localities and herewith considered unsuitable for splitting the two taxa. Therefore, a new synonymy is introduced.

Synonym, M. sydowi and subspecies. Based on the type material and the original descripttions. All three taxa apparently described from the same material collected likely the same date range and place (see Type material examined above). The varieties, not recollected since their original descriptions, were treated as subspecies by Chandler et al. (2008) in accordance with article 45.6.4 of the ICZN (1999) and subsequently followed by Telnov (2020a). The type material of M. sydowi and its two subspecies is apparently conspecific with some minor morphological differences in the shape and comparative width of the head and pronotum, the width and length of the elytra, the presence / absence of the elytral humeri (winged / brachypterous / apterous forms), and the punctures of the dorsum. The aedeagus of the nominal form agrees with that of M. unicolor which is known to be variable in external morphology to the same extent as explained above (see the previous paragraph) and explained by Bucciarelli (1976, 1980) and Bonadona (1990, 1991, 2013). Specimens with obsolete and available humeri can be observed at the same locality (e.g., some of the Greek localities in Telnov (2022)). Therefore, the ‘distinctive’ features of M. sydowi syn. nov., ssp. olympiae syn. nov. and ssp. reductior syn. nov. are within the morphological variability of M. unicolor ( Fig. 29 ), and a new synonymy is introduced.

Ecology. Kiesenwetter (1861) reported this species ‘in large numbers in various flowers’ (from German). Pic (1901) reports the species from flowering umbellifers.

Distribution. Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece (incl. Zakynthos Island and Ionian Islands - Corfu), Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey (also see Telnov 2022). The records from Crete ( Uhmann 1985) require further confirmation and are likely based on misidentified specimens.

Chorotype. S-European (2.04 SEU), restricted to southern and some parts of central Europe and western Turkey ( Telnov 2022).

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Dmitry Telnov, Augusto Degiovanni

Figures

Figure 29. Microhoria unicolor (W.L.E. Schmidt, 1842), ♂♂, habitus, dorsal view. A – Breclav, Moravia mer., Czechia; B – Volos, Greece; C – Otranto, Puglia, Italy [not to scale]. Images: A. Degiovanni & D. Telnov.