Ptomaphagus (Ptomaphagus) thebeatles Schilthuizen, Latella & Njunjic 2020, sp. n.

Ptomaphagus (Ptomaphagus) thebeatles

Nomenclature

Ptomaphagus sericatus (Chaudoir, 1845) (Schilthuizen 1989: 61)

Ptomaphagus sericatus (Chaudoir, 1845) (Schilthuizen 2010: 2-3)

Examined material

Type specimens

Holotype: “ The Netherlands: prov. Noord-Holland, Amsterdam, Vondelpark, Koeienweide, 52.3558°N 4.8585°E, 25.iii.2019, leg. Taxon Expeditions participants” / “ Ptomaphagus thebeatles Schilthuizen et al., HOLOTYPE” (red label) / RMNH.INS.63376 ”, deposited in RMNH. Body size of the holotype is 2.7 mm. Type locality is Amsterdam.

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Other examined specimens

France. Grenoble, leg. D. Guedel, 1 male in MNHN. Soissons, leg. De Buffévent, 1 male in MNHN. Monts Luberon, 20.x.1904, leg. Ch. Fagniez, 1 male in MNHN. Sedan, xi.1883, leg. Des Gozis, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (ZMA. INS.1140958). Hautes-Pyrénées, Cauterets, coll. E. Everts, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (ZMA.INS.1141363). Braicon near Embrun, 44.521800° N 6.474050° E, 1.ix.2013, leg. W. v. Oostenbrugge & S. Visser, 1 male, 1 female in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH.INS.63367-63368). Hungary. Bükki National Park, Szilvásvárad, Tar-kö, 950 m, talajcsapda, 24.viii.1981, leg. Ádám, 1 male in HNHM. Hungary, leg. E. Frivaldszky, 1 male in HNHM. Pálháza Com., Zemplen, Istvánkút 6-11.vii.1955, leg. Kaszab & Szekessy, 1 male in HNHM. Romania. Herkulesfürdó, 1879, leg. Pável, 2 males in HNHM. Russia. Novorossiysk, 25.iii.1874, coll. E. Reitter, 2 males in HNHM. Slovakia. Szelecz, Kocsi, 1 male in HNHM. Bártfa, leg. Mihalovics, 1 male in HNHM. Spain. Caril, leg. Paganetti, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (ZMA.INS.1141332). Barcelona, 3.iv.1927, 1 male in MNHN. Caboalles, leg. G. Paganetti, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (ZMA.INS. 1140941). Ponferrada, leg. Paganetti, 1 male in HNHM, 2 males in RMNH+ZMAN (ZMA. INS.1141356-1141357). The Netherlands. Leiden, ii-iv.2011, leg. D. van der Horst, 5 males in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH.INS.63311, RMNH.INS.63313, RMNH.INS.63314, RMNH. INS.63316, RMNH.INS.63317). Arnhem, Koningsheide, 26.vi.-31.x.2013, leg. A. den Dees, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH. INS.63344). Oegstgeest, Leidse Hout, 1.iii.- 20.iv.2011, leg. D. van der Horst, 5 males in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH.INS.549289-549291, 549307-549308). Schiedam, Beatrixpark, pitfall with cheese, 19.vii.1987, leg. M. Schilthuizen, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH.INS.634264). Schiedam, pitfall with carrion, 19.iv.1983, leg. M. Schilthuizen, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH. INS.634239). Middelburg, pitfall with cheese, 29.vii.1987, leg. M. Schilthuizen, 1 male in RMNH+ZMAN (RMNH.INS.634265). Amsterdam, Vondelpark, 25.iii-9.viii.2019, leg. Taxon Expeditions participants, 6 males in TXEX.

Antennae (fig. 3b) more robust than in P. sericatus and P. medius: 6TH antennomere 2 times as wide as long in the male, 2.5 times as wide as long in the female. Aedeagus (fig. 4c) apex in dorsal view similar to P. sericatus, but more narrowed and with an even blunter apical angle; in lateral view clearly sinuous (sunken near the orifice); apical orifice very close to the tip, basal edge ± in line with the end of the parameres.

Etymology

Named for the band The Beatles, which no beetle has yet been named after. The name also commemorates the ‘Bed In for Peace’ by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the nearby Hilton Hotel, exactly 50 years (to the day) prior to the collection date of the holotype.

Distribution

This species has a wide distribution across southern and western Europe (fig. 5). It reaches southern Russia in the east and Spain in the west. In recent decades, it appears to have shifted or extended its distribution northward: whereas specimens from northern France date back to the late 19th century, all material from The Netherlands dates only from the past 35 years.

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Notes

The existence of this previously unrecognized species is probably one of the causes for much of the confusion regarding the sericatus- complex over the past century. The shape of the aedeagus of P. medius is strikingly different from that of P. thebeatles, and workers who had access to many P. thebeatles specimens would have considered these as P. sericatus and as different from P. medius at the species level. On the other hand, researchers whose image of P. sericatus was formed mostly by specimens of the true P. sericatus, of which the aedeagus shape is somewhat intermediate between P. thebeatles and P. medius, may have been more dubious about its specific status.

DNA barcodes

We have obtained 16 closely-related DNAbarcodes for specimens from France, the Netherlands, and Germany (fig. 7), most of which were confirmed with genital dissection. These sequences were either obtained from GenBank or generated with the internal ‘Ron’ and ‘Nancy’ primers (which avoid the amplification problems encountered with the ‘Folmer’ primers), and less than 500 bp in length. In both situations, they do not qualify for a Barcode Identification Number (BIN) to be determined. Genetic distance with P. sericatus amounts to c. 3%.