Tachyura ferrugata
Creators: name: Kopecký, Tomáš
name: Bezděk, Jan
name: Mattila, Jaakko
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Tachyura
Tachyura ferrugata

description: Tachyura (s. str.) ferrugata (Reitter, 1895)
Figs 1, 2
Tachys ferrugatus Reitter, 1895: 79 (original description).
Tachys (Tachyura) quadrisignatus var. caramanicus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 b: 18 (unavailable infrasubspecific name).
Tachys schuberti Jedlička, 1968: 289 (original description).
Material examined.
Type material: Turkey • Lectotype (Fig. 1 A, B); “ Siria, Akbes [white label] \ coll. Reitter [white label] \ T. ferrugatus m. Akbes [white label] \ Holotypus 1895 Tachys ferrugatus Reitter [white label with red frame] \ Tachyura ferrugata Rtt. Det. K. Kult, 1955 [white label] ”; HNHM.
Note on the type material: Reitter (1895) used the word “ häufig ” in the description of Tachyura ferrugata, meaning that the species was abundant in the type locality, without specifying the number of specimens examined. We found only one syntype in the Reitter collection deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest (Fig. 1 A, B). The syntype has a holotype label added by the curator Zoltán Kaszab in the 1960 s without any justification. We cannot rule out that additional syntypes exist in other institutions. This is why we find it appropriate to follow Recommendation 73 F of the Code for avoidance of assumption of holotype (ICZN 1999) and design the specimen in question as lectotype.
Jedlička (1968) described Tachys schuberti from Turkish localities “ Selifke ” (holotype) and “ Namrum ” (3 paratypes in coll. Schubert in NMW). The holotype (Fig. 1 C, D) and 1 paratype are deposited in NMPC. The collections of the father Franz Theodor Adolf Schubert and his son Franz Xaver Schubert are stored in the Natural History Museum Vienna (Groll 2017) and two paratypes were traced there.
In the original description of Tachys (Tachyura) quadrisignatus var. caramanicus, Sahlberg (1913 b) mentioned “ 25 specimina pauca invenit filius Unio ” [= 25 specimens collected by his son Unio Johanson Sahlberg] collected in the valley of the Bulghar Dagh mountain range. In MZH, one original specimen of var. caramanicus from Bulghar Dagh, with the collector label “ U. Sahlb. ” is deposited (Fig. 1 E, F). The specimen is labelled “ var. anatolicus J. Sahlb. ”, which can either be a mistake, or the name was changed during publication process, as no taxon with such name was described by J. R. Sahlberg. This specimen is conspecific with Tachyura ferrugata.
Non-type material: Syria • 2 spec.; 35 km E Latakia, Slanfah; 1200–1400 m a. s. l.; 29 Apr. 2011; K. Orszulik leg.; KOCF • 14 spec.; Homs env., 10 km N of Crac des Chevaliers, Mashta Al Hilu; 24 Apr. 2011, K. Orszulik leg.; KOCF • 2 spec.; same data as for preceding; TKCJ.
Turkey • 1 ♀ (Fig. 1 C, D), holotype of Tachys schuberti Jedlička, 1968; “ Selifke, Anat. m. 7. – 9.6. 63 leg. F. Schubert [white label] \ Holotypus [red label] \ Tachys schuberti sp. n. det. Ing. Jedlička [red label] ”; NMPC • 3 spec., paratypes of Tachys schuberti Jedlička, 1968; “ Namrun, Anat. m. 10.5. – 3.6. 63 leg. F. Schubert [white label] \ Paratypus [red label] \ Tachys schuberti sp. n. det. Ing. Jedlička [red label] ”; NMW, NMPC • 1 spec. (Fig. 1 E, F) [original specimen of Tachys (Tachyura) quadrisignatus var. caramanicus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913]; Bulghar Dagh; U. Sahlberg leg.; MZH • 1 spec.; Hatay Prov., Amanos Mts., Aslanli Beli; 970 m a. s. l.; 1 Jun. 1991; S. Kadlec leg. ”; MGCC • 8 spec.; same data as for preceding; TKCJ • 1 spec.; Harbiya; 22 May 1993; J. Krátký leg.; TKCJ • 1 spec.; Samsun Prov., Yunddagi Mts.; Cakiralan env.; 800–1000 m a. s. l.; 16 Jun. 1998, P. Vonička leg.; PVCL.
Redescription.
Body (Fig. 2 A – C). In lateral view, elytra more strongly arched, in anterior third slightly lowered, highest in posterior third, from which they bow to apex at an angle of 40 °. Body length 2.38–2.50 mm, body width 0.88–0.95 mm.
Coloration. Dorsal side rusty shiny, not iridescent. Each elytron with indistinct traces of apical and humeral pale rust spots. Antennae rusty, antennomeres I, II and half of III pale rust. Legs pale rusty. Ventral part of head, prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax rusty, epipleuron of pronotum and elytra pale rusty, maxillary palpomeres I and II pale rusty, III pale, labial palpomeres I and II pale rusty, III pale.
Head. One-third narrower than pronotum, one quarter wider than long, eyes slightly prominent; labrum with convex anterior margin and with six short setae; clypeus with two punctures on anterior margin each one bearing long seta; frontal furrows double; external frontal furrows start near frontoclypeal suture, then sinuous to anterior setiferous punctures near eyes; internal frontal furrows broad, short and punctate, starting from clypeus and ending internally to anterior setiferous punctures; anterior setiferous punctures located on internal edges at anterior third of eyes, posterior setiferous punctures located on internal edges in posterior quarter of eyes; mandibles sharp, with one little tooth on internal edge; maxillae small, sharp, with two teeth and number of setae; antennomeres I – IV more than twice as long as wide, V – VI more than 1.5 times as long as wide, following antennomeres as long as wide, antennomere I with two setae, antennomeres II with four setae, rest of antennomeres with many setae.
Pronotum. 1.4 times as wide as long, widest before middle, lateral margins widely bent, except basal fifth subparallel; anterior margin nearly straight; posterior margin nearly straight, lateral parts of posterior margin slightly sinuate; anterior angles rounded; posterior angles sharp, each with posterolateral setiferous puncture bearing long seta; lateral margins bordered, each before middle with anterolateral setiferous puncture bearing long seta; basal humps indistinct; basal impressions acutely depressed, leading obliquely from posterior angle towards centre, each impression with ten punctures; area between basal impressions with deep median puncture; median line fine, impressed, beginning at anterior pronotal quarter and ending in median puncture of basal impression; surface without visible microsculpture at 50 × magnification.
Elytra. Oval, 1.4 times as long as wide, with broad margin, without humeral teeth, widest at middle; each elytron with eight striae and without scutellar strioles, striae I – V and VIII well visible, with deep punctures, striae VI and VII punctiform (formed only by punctures), stria I begins next to scutellum and passes along suture to apex where it is connected with similarly prolonged stria VIII, which sinuate subapically, striae II – VII begin in anterior tenth and end in apical third of elytra; apical striola long, bent and directed towards stria III; surface without visible microsculpture at 50 × magnification; humeral edge of the elytron passes humerus in form of short backward stria; each elytron with following setiferous punctures bearing long setae: large parascutellar puncture, four posthumeral umbilicate setiferous punctures, the first three at distance of their width, the fourth 1.5 times its diameter distant from third; one umbilicate puncture before apical third of elytral margin, two umbilicate puntures on elytral margin before apex; apical pore before half-length of apical striola at level of stria IV, two discal pores on inner edge of stria III, first in anterior third, second in posterior quarter.
Legs. Profemora with four setae on dorsal side, two long setae on anterior margin of ventral side and two long setae in middle of ventral side; outer edges of frontal parts of protibiae obliquely arcuately cut, with three spines, one spine on anterior margin interiorly next to protarsomere I, one spine on anterior margin exteriorly next to protarsomere I and one bigger spine on interior margin of ventral side; protibiae on exterior margin of dorsal side and in ventral side with row of setae; first two protarsomeres in male slightly serrated and extended to sides, each protarsomere on dorsal ventral sides with two setae, protarsomere I 1.5 times as long as wide, protarsomeres II – IV as long as wide, protarsomere V 3.0 times as long as wide, claw falcate. Mesofemora with some setae on anterior margins of dorsal and ventral sides; mesotibiae with rows of setae on dorsal and ventral sides; mesotibiae at apical margin with three spines, two spines interiorly next to mesotarsomere, first in dorsal side and second on ventral side, one spine exteriorly next to mesotarsomere in dorsal side; mesotarsomeres I and V 3.0 times as long as wide, mesotarsomere II 1.5 times as long as wide, mesotarsomere III – IV as long as wide, all mesotarsomeres with two setae on dorsal and ventral sides, claw falcate; metafemora with some setae on anterior margins of dorsal and ventral sides; metatibiae with rows of setae on dorsal and ventral sides; metatibiae at apical margin with three spines, two spines interiorly next to metatarsomere, first in dorsal side and second on ventral side, one spine exteriorly next to metatarsomere in dorsal side; metatarsomere I 4.0 times longer as wide, metatarsomeres II – III 1.5 times as long as wide, metatarsomere IV as long as wide and metatarsomere V 3.0 times as long as wide, all metatarsomeres with two setae on dorsal and ventral sides, claw falcate.
Ventral surface (Fig. 2 D). Mentum with deep incision on front edge, anterior margin on each side next to incision pointed, in centre of incision with small tooth, surface below incision on each side with one setiferous puncture; maxillary palpomeres I and II 2.5 times as long as wide, with tiny setae, maxillary palpomere III small and narrow, twice longer as wide and without setae; labial palpomere I narrow, 4.0 times as long as wide, without setae, labial palpomere II 1.5 times as long as wide, kidney shaped, with setae, labial palpomere III small and narrow, 3.0 times as long as wide and without setae; anterior part of gula laterally widened; anterior part of prosternum wide, tapering posteriorly, in middle with pore, prosternal projection rounded axe-shaped; procoxa rounded; procoxal trochanter 1.5 times as long as wide; mesosternum triangular; mesepisternum 1.5 times as long as wide; mesepimeron very narrow, attached laterally to mesepisternum, almost indistinct; mesocoxa rounded; mesotrochanter 2.0 times as long as wide, pointed at end; metepisternum wide, elongate triangular; metepimeron narrow, almost indistinct; metasternum diamond-shaped, in middle with two pores in fine grove; metacoxa horn-shaped; metatrochanter elongate rounded, 2.5 times as long as wide; abdomen with six visible ventrites, ventrite I narrow, widened from centre to sides, ventrites II – III fused, laterally with indistinct sutures, ventrites III – V with two setiferous punctures in middle, ventrite VI with four setiferous punctures in middle.
Aedeagus (Fig. 2 E, F). Length 0.396 mm, evenly curved from base to apex in lateral view; superior margin with three shallow depressions and strong incision before apex; apex rounded and strongly sclerotized on underside; inferior margin slightly rounded, sclerotized along its entire length, internal structure not sclerotized; length of right paramere 0.223 mm, more sclerotized at base, with two long setae at apex.
Female. Length of gonocoxite 0.204 mm, from base to middle of amphora shape, basal gonocoxite on ventral side with two long apical setae, and one medial seta, apical gonocoxite separates by abdominal collar from basal one, formed on ventral side with tooth-shaped, the anterior part sickle-shaped with three pores (Fig. 2 G).
Bionomy. The species lives on sandy gravel banks of streams, from lowlands to mountains.
Differential diagnosis.
In the East Mediterranean and the Near East, Tachyura (s. str.) ferrugata can be mixed with T. (s. str.) confusa Coulon & Felix, 2011, T. (s. str.) emerita (Péringuey, 1898), T. (s. str.) sinaitica (Schatzmayr, 1936), and T. (s. str.) thoracica (Kolenati, 1845). Therefore, we list differential characters that help to distinguish the above five species (Table 1).
Distribution.
Syria (Kopecký 2009; present paper), Turkey (Reitter 1895; Sahlberg 1913 b; Jedlička 1968; Kopecký 2009; present paper), Yemen (Socotra Island) (Kopecký 2009). The occurrence in Greece, reported in the first edition of Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera (Kopecký 2003), was based on erroneously determined specimens of Tachyura thoracica (Kopecký 2009). However, the occurrence in Greece was erroneously repeated in the second edition (Kopecký 2017).
Key to the identification of the East Mediterranean and the Near East species related to Tachyura ferrugata
The varieties described by Johan Reinhold Sahlberg in Tachyina
Johan Reinhold Sahlberg (1903, 1913 a, 1913 b) described altogether six varieties in Tachyina. During a careful reading of Sahlberg’s papers we found that four of these varieties represent unavailable infrasubspecific names since a subspecies concept was used in the same works, and according to available information, these names were not validated prior to 1985 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Article 45.6.4.1). The type specimens and one specimen of each species from the former Johan Reinhold Sahlberg collection are deposited in the Finnish Museum of Natural History (MZH) and the rest of his collection is deposited in the Zoological Museum of the University of Turku (Groll 2017). However, from the original material of the varieties described in Tachyina, we found only one specimen of Tachys (Tachyura) quadrisignatus var. caramanicus in MZH.
Tachys scutellaris var. flavicollis J. R. Sahlberg, 1903: 5
An available name. A junior primary homonym of Tachys flavicollis Motschulsky, 1862. In catalogues it is usually listed as synonym of Tachys (Tachys) dimediatus dimediatus Motschulsky, 1849 (Kopecký 2003, 2017).
Tachys (Tachyta) parvulus var. coarctatus J. R. Sahlberg, 1903: 5
An available name. Sahlberg was evidently considering whether to describe this taxon as a separate species (“ An species distincta? ”) but ultimately chose to describe it as a new variety. In catalogues it is usually listed as synonym of Tachyura (Tachyura) parvula (Dejean, 1831) (Csiki 1928; Kopecký 2003, 2017).
Tachys (Tachyura) sexstriatus var. brunneicollis J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 b: 19
An unavailable infrasubspecific name since a subspecies concept was used in the same work and the name was not validated prior to 1985 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Article 45.6.4.1). It was previously listed as synonym of Tachys euphratica Reitter, 1885 (Kopecký 2017).
Tachys (Tachyura) quadrisignatus var. caramanicus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 b: 18
An unavailable infrasubspecific name since a subspecies concept was used in the same work and the name was not validated prior to 1985 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Article 45.6.4.1). It was listed by Kopecký (2017) as a subspecies of Tachyura (Tachyura) quadrisignata (Duftschmid, 1812).
Tachys scutellaris var. obscurus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 a: 7
Tachys scutellaris var. obscurus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 b: 19
Sahlberg (1913 a, 1913 b) proposed the name obscurus twice for the specimens from different localities. If they were available names, they would be homonyms. Because the subspecies concept was used in both works and the names were not validated prior to 1985 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999, Article 45.6.4.1), they are infrasubspecific and unavailable. The first name was previously listed as a synonym of Tachys centromaculatus Wollaston, 1864, and the second name as a homonym of T. scutellaris var. obscurus J. R. Sahlberg, 1913 a (Kopecký 2017).
description: Published as part of Kopecký, Tomáš, Bezděk, Jan & Mattila, Jaakko, 2025, Redescription of Tachyura (s. str.) ferrugata (Reitter, 1895) (Coleoptera, Carabidae), with the comments on the availability of varieties described by Johan Reinhold Sahlberg in Tachyina, pp. 195-206 in ZooKeys 1233 on pages 195-206, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1233.145545