Rove beetles of the genus Quedius (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) of Russia: a key to species and annotated catalogue

Abstract

This paper is the first inventory of the fauna of the rove beetle genusQuediusin the Russian Federation. It provides an annotated catalogue of 88 species ofQuediuscurrently recorded from Russia, based on several collections and a critical evaluation of all earlier published records. All species are listed with a summary of their overall distribution and bionomics. Species distributions within Russia are given as lists of regions where they occur with references to the respective source collections or publications which any record is based on. For that, the territory of Russia is divided into 40 regions that mostly follow the administrative division of the country. The annotated catalogue is supplemented by a well-illustrated identification key to all species and a concise checklist in form of an easily visualized table.QuediusfususCai & Zhou, 2015,QuediushumosusSolodovnikov, 2005, andQuediuslundbergiPalm, 1973 are recorded from the territory of Russia for the first time. Based on an analysis of literature and available material, records ofQuediuscincticollisKraatz, 1857,QuediushumeralisStephens, 1832,Quediusmaurorufus(Gravenhorst 1806),QuediusnemoralisBaudi de Selve, 1848,QuediusnigrocaeruleusFauvel, 1876, andQuediuspicipes(Mannerheim, 1830) from Russia are considered doubtful. The distribution ofQuediusbrachypterusCoiffait, 1967, described from the ‘Caucasus’, remains ambiguous and its presence in Russia is unlikely. The identity ofQuediusfulvipennisHochhuth, 1851 from ‘Dahuria’ remains unknown, pending examination of the type material. ForQuediuscitelliKirschenblatt, 1933 a lectotype is designated. For that species andQ.sofiriKhachikov, 2015 illustrations of the aedeagi are provided for the first time. The paper stresses the currently poor state of knowledge of theQuediusdiversity in Russia and provides a platform for its improvement, which should begin with a large-scale sampling program, especially in Siberia and Far East.

New species and records of Quedius rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae) from Middle Asia

“…This first record of Q. tenellus from Middle Asia is not unexpected because it had already been recorded from Altai Mountains in Russia (Salnitska & Solodovnikov 2019) and Mongolia (Smetana 1976).…”

Vertical Stratification of Beetles in Deciduous Forest Communities in the Centre of European Russia

“…Larvae of this species develop in the hollow of dead deciduous trees for 3 years, most often in oaks [68,71,76]. Quedius dilatatus also preferred the highest layers of forest layers, occurring as well at an altitude of 7.5 m. It shows a connection with Vespa crabro nests, where its larvae feed on Diptera larvae in the nest debris [77]. It also occurred in wasp nests living in natural conditions.…”

The limits of Quediini at last (Staphylinidae: Staphylininae): a rove beetle mega‐radiation resolved by comprehensive sampling and anchored phylogenomics

“…The rove beetle tribe Quediini (alternatively subtribe Quediina) is a diverse group of just over 800 species (updated from Newton, 2019) distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, extending southward at successively higher elevations (Brunke et al, 2016; Smetana, 2017; Salnitska & Solodovnikov, 2019). Quediines are predators and often abundant in moist, forest‐based microhabitats such as wet moss, leaf litter, rotting wood and fungi (Smetana, 2017).…”

“…Recently, achieving a comprehensively sampled phylogeny of Quediini has become more tractable through a combination of significant taxonomic and methodological advances. During the past 3 years, regional taxonomic reviews of Quediini in China (Smetana, 2017), Middle Asia (Salnitska & Solodovnikov, 2018c) and Russia (Salnitska & Solodovnikov, 2019) have been published, complementing previous efforts for North America (Smetana, 1971) and the West Palaearctic (Coiffait, 1978) such that this diversity is easier to navigate for phylogenetic sampling using informal species groups and other morphological groupings elucidated by keys. However, only a fraction of the hundreds of taxa needed for adequate representation of Quediini are optimally preserved for the high quality of DNA required for the PCR‐based workflows that have become standard in the aforementioned phylogenetic studies.…”