Quedius (Raphirus) nivicola KIESENWETTER, 1858 (Figs 33-39, Map 4) M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Greece: m a i n l a n d: 5♂♂, Atikí, Oros Kithairón, 1210 m, VI.2004 - VI.2005, leg. Giachino & Vailati (cAss); 6♂♂, same data, but V.2003 - VI.2004 (cAss, cFel); 1♂, 1♀, same data, but VI.2002 - V.2003 (cAss); 1♀, Etolía-Akarnanía, Oros Arákinthos, road to Klima, 38°28'N, 21°28'E, 800 m, subterranean pitfall trap, 29.V.2011 - 11.VI.2012, leg. Giachino & Vailati (cAss); 1♀, Atikí, Oros Kithairón, 38°11'N, 23°16'E, 1210 m, subterranean pitfall trap, 3.IX.2015 - 26.V.2017, leg. Giachino & Vailati (cAss); 1♀, Thessalía, Parnassos Oros, 38°33'N, 22°34'E, 2000 m, 11.VI.2013, leg. Eifler (cAss). P e l o p ó n n i s o s: 1♂, 2♀♀, Lakonía, Oros Taygetos, Prof. Elías, 1940 m, VI.1999 - VI.2000, leg. Giachino & Vailati (cAss); 1♀, Taygetos, Prof. Elías, 36°57'N, 22°21'E, 2250 m, 16.V.2007, leg. Assmann (cFel); 1♂, Erimanthos, Kalentzi, 37°56'56''N, 21°46'14''E, 1200 m, 18.IV.2017, leg. Brachat & Meybohm (cAss); 4 exs., Likódimo, 35 km SW Kalamata, 36°56'N, 21°52'E, 790 m, oak forest, litter sifted, 25.IV.2015, leg. Schülke (MNB). C o m m e n t: The original description is based on several syntypes ("in einigen Exemplaren") collected from under stones "auf dem Parnes bei Athen" (KIESENWETTER 1858). Aside from Greece, this species has subsequently been reported from Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and Iran (ASSING 2016c, SCHÜLKE & SMETANA 2015). A re-examination of material from various regions in the East Mediterranean, which had previously been identified as Q. nivicola, revealed, however, that the distribution of the true Q. nivicola is confined to Greece and that records from other regions refer to closely related species. This also applies to previous records of Q. nivicola from the Aegean Islands Samos, Ikaría, and Kos (ASSING 2015, 2017c, d). For recent, correctly identified records from the Ionian Island Corfu see ASSING et al. (in press). The records from Greece in ASSING (2017a), too, refer to Q. nivicola. The currently known distribution is illustrated in Map 4. Quedius nivicola is reliably distinguished from other species of the Q. nivicola group (Q. ortrudae, Q. josue, Q. problematicus, Q. petraensis) by the shape of the aedeagus, from Q. problematicus, Q. josue, and Q. petraensis also by the coloration (pronotum completely black; elytra red, not yellowish or yellowish-red). The aedeagus is characterized by a conspicuously flat (lateral view) and apically acute apex (ventral view) of the median lobe and by a relatively broad paramere with usually 35-50 peg-setae (Figs 33-39). Most of the revised material of Q. nivicola was collected with subterranean pitfall traps. The remaining records are probably accidental, as can be inferred from the fact that they are mostly based on singletons. One specimen from Corfu was collected on the wing (with a car-net) in the beginning of June. These observations and the general rarity of records suggest that the reproduction habitat of Q. nivicola is hypogean.

Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2018, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some West Palaearctic Quedius species, with a focus on the East Mediterranean and the species allied to Quedius umbrinus and Q. nivicola (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), pp. 149-182 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1) on page 168, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3985368