Achilia grandiceps Jeannel 1962
Creators: name: Sabella, Giorgio
name: Cuccodoro, Giulio
name: Kurbatov, Sergey A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Achilia
Achilia grandiceps

description: Achilia grandiceps Jeannel, 1962 (stat. nov.)
Figs 1, 12, 22, 29, 40-41, 51-54, 83
Achilia grandiceps grandiceps Jeannel, 1962: 421, figs 181 (habitus), 182 (aedeagus).
Achilia grandiceps Kurbatov & Sabella, 2015: 304, fig. 62 (habitus).
Achilia alticola Jeannel, 1962: 421, 423, fig. 185 (aedeagus) (syn. nov.).
Type material (10 ex.): SOUTHERN CHILI: Región Los Lagos: Chiloé prov.: MHNS; 1 ♂ (holotype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); labels verbatim “Type / Chepu, 17.X.1958, G. Kuschel / Achillia grandiceps / grandiceps (handwritten by Jeannel) / CHILE, M.N.H.N., Typo, n. 1839”. – MNHN; 1 ♀ (paratype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); same data. – MNHN; 1 ♀ (paratype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); same data, but 01.X.1958. – MNHN; 1 ♂ (paratype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); same data, but 02.X.1958 – MNHN; 1 ♀ (paratype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); labels verbatim “Chepu, 09.X.1958, Kuschel”. – MNHN; 3 ♀ (paratypes of A. grandiceps grandiceps); same data, but 11.X.1958. – MNHN; 1 ♀ (paratype of A. grandiceps grandiceps); same data, but 16.X.1958. – MHNS; 1 ♂ (holotype of A. alticola); labels verbatim “Type / San Pedro, 10.XI.1958, G. Kuschel / Achillia alticola / alticola (handwritten by Jeannel) / CHILE, M.N.H.N., Typo, n. 1842”.
Additional material examined (443 ex.): SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL CHILI: Región Los Lagos: Chiloé prov.: NHMW; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (the latter identifed by Franz as A. bicornis); Chiloé; H. Franz. – MHNG; 1 ♂; same data. – MHNS; 1 ♀ (mislabelled as paratype of A. grandiceps n. 2043); Chepu; 17.X.1958; G. Kuschel. – MHNS; 2 ♀ (mislabelled as paratypes of A. grandiceps n. 2044-45); same data, but 11.X.1958. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-77); 1 ♂ and 9 ♀; road to Miraflores, ca 0.6 km W Ruta 5; 42° 46.74’S 73° 47.70’W; 130 m; 12.XII.2002; site 1063, secondary valdivian rainforest with few conifers, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-78); 1 ♀; road to Colonia Yungay, ca 4 km NW Ruta 5; 42° 59.12’S 73° 42.02’W; 110-115 m; 13. XII.2002; site 1064, disturbed valdivian rainforest w/ recent selective cutting, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Solodovnikov & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-068); 3 ♂ and 3 ♀; Quemchi, 11 km W of (11 km E Hwy 5); 42° 10.40’S 73° 35.73’W; 140 m; 10. XII.2002; site 1060, valdivian rainforest remnant w/ thick bamboo understory, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Solodovnikov & A. Newton. – MHNG; 2 ♀; Chiloé National Park, Rancho Grande, near Cucao; 300-600 m; 04.I.1991; site 30a, Fitzroya forest; D. Agosti & D. Burckhardt. – MHNG; 1 ♀; Chiloé National Park, Rancho Grande, near Cucao; 42° 33’S 74° 02’W; 250- 400 m; 29.XII.1992; site 35b, sifting of moss on forest floor trees and vegetational debris; D. Burckhardt. – Llanquihue prov.: MHNS; 3 ♂ and 1 ♀ (mislabelled as paratypes of A. grandiceps n. 2046-47 and 1840-41); Los Riscos; 11.IV.1954; G. Kuschel. – MNHN; 7 ♂ and 2 ♀; same data. – MHNG; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; Alerce Andino National Park, above Laguna Chaiquenes; 41° 40’S 72° 35’W; 350-650 m; 04.I.1993; site 37, mixed Fitzroya cupressoides forest with thick moss cover inside, sifting of moss on floor and tree trunks and vegetational debris, hardwoods, berlese, litter; D. Burckhardt. – MHNG; 1 ♂; Alerce Andino National Park, Laguna Triàngulo; 41° 40’S 72° 35’W; 550 m; 05-06.I.1993; site 38b, sclerophyll rainforest, sifting of moss on tree trunks and of vegetational debris; D. Burckhardt. – MHNG; 1 ♂; road to Alerce Andino National Park, 40° 20’S 73° 43’W; 07.XII.2013; car net. – FMNH (FMHD #97-28); 25 ♂ and 31 ♀; Alerce Andino National Park, near Sargazo entrance, 11.4 km from Correntoso; 41° 30’S 72° 37’W; 350 m; 19.I.1997; site 998, valdivian rainforest, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD #97-30); 3 ♂ and 9 ♀; Alerce Andino National Park, N side Laguna Sargazo; 41° 30’S 72° 36’W; 400 m; 21.I.1997; site 1000, Fitzroya cupressoides w/ valdivian rainforest, understory steep slope, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD #97-26); 5 ♀; Lago Chapo, 1.2 km N of NW end; 41° 25’S 72° 35’W; 265 m; 19.I.1997; site 996, small secondary Nothofagus dombeyi w/valdivian rainforest understory, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – MHNG; 5 ♂ and 6 ♀; Lenca, 41°58’S 72° 57’W; 18.XII.2013; layer litter. – PCTS; 14 ♂ and 7 ♀; same data. – FMNH (FMHD #97- 11); 3 ♂; Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, SW slope Vn Osorno, km 10.1 to La Burbuja; 41° 08.30’S 72° 32.15’W; 925 m; 03-27.I.1997; site 988, Nothofagus dombeyi & Podocarpus nubigena w/ valdivian rainforest understory, flight intercept trap; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – Osorno prov.: NHMW; 4 ♂ (1 identified by Franz as A. spinifer) and 4 ♀ (1 identified by Franz as A. denticornis); Puyehue National Park, Osorno; H. Franz. – FMNH; 2 ♂ and 1 ♀; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road; 470 m; 20-25.XII.1982; valdivian rainforest, leaf & log litter, berlese, vouchers associated with larvae; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – UNHC; 1 ♂; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road; 720 m; 18-24. XII.1982; site 659, Nothofagus ssp. forest, forest floor, leaf & log litter, berlese; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – UNHC; 7 ♂ and 13 ♀; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road; 690 m; 18-24.XII.1982; site 661, valdivian rainforest, window trap; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – UNHC; 1 ♂; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road; 470-720 m; 18-24.XII.1982; valdivian rainforest, pyrethrin fogging moss; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – MHNG; 2 ♂; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road; 500-1000 m; 18-20.XII.1984; car netting; S. & J. Peck. – MHNG; 2 ♂ and 10 ♀; Puyehue National Park, Aguas Calientes, 400-500 m; 31. XII.1990 / 1.I.1991; site 25a, sifting of vegetational and alluvial debris, and moss; D. Agosti & D. Burckhardt. – MHNG; 5 ♂; Puyehue National Park, Aguas Calientes; 500 m; 20.XII.1984 - 08.II.1985; FIT derumbes forest trail, sifting; S. & J. Peck. – FMNH (FMHD #85-928, #85-43); 1 ♀; same locality, but 20.XII.1984; forest litter on trail, sifting; S. & J. Peck. – PCTS; 8 ♂; Aguas Calientes, 40° 74’S 72° 27’W; 13.XII.2013; car net. – PCTS; 3 ♂ and 8 ♀; same data, but 14.XII.2013; litter layer. – FMNH (FMHD #96-244); 14 ♂; Puyehue National Park, Antillanca road, 7.2 km above Aguas Calientes; 40° 45.55’S 72° 17.82’W; 660 m; 29. XII.1996 / 01.II.1997; site 982, valdivian rainforest w/ Saxegothea dominant, dense Chusquea, flight intercept trap; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – PHPC; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; Puyehue National Park, 26.2 km E Entre Lagos, near Termas Aguas Calientes; 460 m; 40° 44.130’S 72° 18.427’W; 09-12.III.2008; sifting litter; H. Wood & C. Griswold. – PHPC; 2 ♂ and 4 ♀; Puyehue National Park on Antillanca road, 30.9 km ESE Entre Lagos, Aguas Calientes; 760 m; 40° 46.569’S 72° 15.791’W; 11-12.III.2008; H. Wood & C. Griswold. – MHNG; 2 ♂ and 10 ♀; Puyehue National Park, Anticura Repucura trail; 500 m; 06.II.1985; forest litter; S. & J. Peck. – FMNH (FMHD #85-996, #85-113); 2 ♀; same data. – FMNH (FMHD # 96-250); 6 ♂; Puyehue National Park, 4 km E Anticura; 40° 39.73’S 72° 08.10’W; 460 m; 30. XII.1996 / 30.I.1997; site 985-1, valdivian rainforest w/ large, Saxegothea; flight intercept trap; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD # 97-4); 3 ♂ and 1 ♀; same data, but 01-30.I.1997; 985-2. – FMNH (FMHD # 97-5); 10 ♂; same data, but 30.I.1997; site 985-3. – FMNH (FMHD # 97-39); 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; same data, but berlese, leaf & log litter. – FMNH (FMHD # 97-41); 3 ♂ and 5 ♀; same data, but site 985-1. – FMNH (FMHD # 97-40); 1 ♂ and 12 ♀; same data, but site 985-2, berlese, leaf and log litter. – FMNH; 1 ♂ and 5 ♀; Puyehue National Park, 4.1 km E Anticura; 430 m; 19-26.XII.1982; trap site 662, valdivian rainforest; A. Newton & M. Thayer. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-90); 3 ♂ and 8 ♀; Puyehue National Park, Ruta 215; km 4.5 of Aduana station; 40° 40.23’S 72° 05.21’W; 580 m; 19.XII.2002; site 1071, valdivian rainforest, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton, M. Thayer, D. J. Clarke & M. Chani. – MHNG; 1 ♂ and 2 ♀; 3 km S Maicolpué, Bahia Mansa; 200 m; 21.XII.1984; mixed forest litter; S. & J. Peck. – MHNG; 2 ♂ and 17 ♀; same locality; 03.II.1985; mixed forest litter; S. & J. Peck. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-083); 6 ♂ and 7 ♀; Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, SW slope Volcàn Osorno, road to Ref. La Picada; 41° 01.05’S 72° 32.90’W; 430 m; 16.XII.2002; site 1068, Nothofagus dombeyi w/conifers, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Newton, A. Solodovnikov & M. Chani. – FMNH (FMHD #2002-82); 2 ♂ and 25 ♀; Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, SW slope Volcàn Osorno, road to Ref. La Picada 41° 03.25’S 72° 30.18’W; 660 m; site 1067, Nothofagus dombeyi w/ conifers dense Chusquea bamboo understory, flat area, berlese, leaf & log litter; A. Solodovnikov, A. Newton & M. Thayer. – Región Los Ríos: Ranco prov.: MHNG; 10 ♂ and 27 ♀; 35 km WNW La Unión; 700 m; 07. II.1985; forest mixed litter; S. & J. Peck. – Valdivia prov.: NHMW; 3 ♂ and 2 ♀ (1 ♂ and 1 ♀ sub A. denticornis); Cordillera de la Costa, Mehuín; H. Franz. – PCPH; 5 ♀; Oncol Park, 12 km NW Valdivia, Sendero Bonifacio; WDS-T-201; 39° 42’S 73° 19’W; 22.II.2008; sifting litter; W. D. Shepard. – PHPC; 1 ♀; Valdivia; 485 m; T. Cekalovic. – Región Araucanía: Cautín prov.: FMNH (FMHD #85-999, #85-116); 1 ♂ and 1 ♀; 15 km NE Villarrica, Flor del Lago; 500 m; 10.II.1985; site 16, forest litter; S. & J. Peck. – Malleco prov.: MHNG; 1 ♂; Purén, Contulmo Natural Monument; 350 m; 11.XII.1984 - 13.II.1985; S. & J. Peck 85-16.
Description: Body 1.35-1.55 mm long, dark brown with reddish elytra, sometimes darker apically, and along sutural stria; antennae and legs reddish or reddishbrown; palpi yellowish. Pronotum with disc moderately convex; posterior portion of lateral margins slightly converging. First abdominal tergite with diverging basal striae extending to about one-fourth of paratergal length, separated at base by more than one-third of tergal width. Male: Head as in Figs 51-54, very wide, with occipital region and basal half of frons raised in two quadrangular protuberances, wider than long, and separated by large U-shaped median notch; lateral arms of notch densely pubescent apically; anterior portion of frons deeply excavated; median apophysis curved and directed backwards, originating inside median notch from very broad median sub-basal clypeal hump, tip in dorsal view triangle with densely pubescent sides; median sub-basal clypeal hump covered by very thick and long converging bristles. The head morphology of all the male specimens examined does not show significant differences. Antennae (Fig. 12) with scape and pedicel longer than wide; antennomeres III-VIII wider than long; antennomere IX slightly wider than VIII and wider than long; antennomere X distinctly wider than long and wider than IX; antennomere XI very elongate, a little longer than VI-X combined, bearing occasionally one long subbasal setae on mesal margin. Distal half of metaventrite pubescent, raised at middle on two thirds of its distal portion, this surface entirely divided by medial sulcus. Protrochanters (Fig. 22) bearing one long seta; mesotrochanters (Fig. 29) with ventral margin forming spine on basal third; mesofemora (Fig. 29) with ventral margin covered by broad, short and thick setae on basal third; mesotibiae with medial margin forming short and rounded apical spine, without setae (Fig. 40) except for specimen from Malleco (Fig. 41) with some setae there that are not recurved; apical margin forming very small second spine. Aedeagus (Fig. 1) 0.30-0.32 mm long, with suboval dorsal plate, dorsal longitudinal struts slightly divergent. Parameres relatively wide with large seta on small outer lobe; tips of parameres slightly enlarged, laterally pointed, bearing small broad median seta. Copulatory pieces consisting of pair of thin and subequal lateral sclerites that are sharp and laterally curved at their apices, with pair of long and wide medial sclerites recurved and sclerotized at bases, and with distal half frayed as numerous long and thin spines.
Female: Similar to male except body sometimes paler than male, head not modified with frons slightly depressed medially behind sparsely impressed frontal sulcus.
Collecting data: Collected from October to April in different types of forest, at elevations ranging from 110 m to 1000 m. Most of the specimens came from sifted samples of leaf and log litters, sometimes including moss and vegetational debris, but a number of males of this species have also been collected by flight intercept traps, window traps, and car netting.
Distribution: Achilia grandiceps is distributed in southern and central Chile (Fig. 83: green diamonds) from Chiloé province to Malleco province.
Comments: Jeannel (1962: 422) described two subspecies (A. grandiceps grandiceps and A. grandiceps delamarei), distinguishing them by the following characters of the male head: 1) an apical tuft of setae on each side of median apohysis in A. g. grandiceps (without apical tuft of setae in A. g. delamarei); 2) two densely pubescent lobes covering the semicircular sulcus at the base of the clypeus in A. g. grandiceps (no trace of pubescence at the base of the clypeus in A. g. delamarei).
We have examined the holotype of A. grandiceps grandiceps Jeannel, 1962 and the lectotype of A. grandiceps delamarei Jeannel, 1962, and found that in addition to the differences outlined by Jeannel (though some not well-described) the males of these two taxa differ also significantly with respect to the morphology of the head (cfr. Figs 51-54 and 55-58), antennae (cfr. Figs 12 and 13), mesotibiae (cfr. Figs 40-41 and 42), and lateral sclerites of the copulatory pieces of the aedeagus (cfr. Figs 1 and 2). Examination of abundant additional specimens pertaining to these two taxa has shown that these differences are stable, and that there are not intermediate character states even in where they occur together. Moreover, even the females of these two taxa can be distinguished by the following characters: 1) antennomeres III and V longer than wide in A. g. delamarei (transverses or at most as long as wide in A. g. grandiceps); 2) Frontal sulcus well-impressed in A. g. delamarei (scarsely impressed in A. g. grandiceps); 3) anterior margin of frontal lobe slightly pointed in A. g. delamarei (straight in A. g. grandiceps); 4) median part of frons distinctly depressed behind frontal sulcus in A. g. delamarei (slightly depressed in A. g. grandiceps). Also, the shape of the pronotum is slightly different: disc more convex, and with lateral margins subparallel in posterior portion in A. g. delamarei (disc less convex, lateral margins convergent in posterior portion in A. g. grandiceps). Based on these observations, we decided to raise the two subspecies proposed by Jeannel to species level, and to treat them accordingly – i.e. A. grandiceps Jeannel, 1962 (stat. nov.) and A. delamarei Jeannel, 1962 (stat. nov.).
We have also examined the holotype of A. alticola Jeannel, 1962. It corresponds in all the characters of the external morphology (head, antennae, metaventrite, legs, etc.) to A. grandiceps Jeannel, 1962, and consequently we consider A. alticola Jeannel, 1962 as a junior synonym of A. grandiceps Jeannel, 1962 (syn. nov.).
description: Published as part of Sabella, Giorgio, Cuccodoro, Giulio & Kurbatov, Sergey A., 2020, A revision of the Chilean Brachyglutini - Part 6. Revision of Achilia Reitter, 1890: A. grandiceps, A. valdiviensis, and A. bicornis species groups (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), pp. 129-156 in Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (1) on pages 131-133, DOI: 10.35929/RSZ.0013, http://zenodo.org/record/5743391