Aegialites debilis

Trial with key

(= Zerche 2004) resulted in that this is not A. debilis!

It comes closest to A. charlottae Zerche from Haida Gwaii / Queen Charlotte Islands (BC).

caution note: Lothar Zerche has yet a few times proven to be an evil splitter, defining imaginary species. If your survey indicates divergent results, it won't be surprising.

… Boris Büche, 25 December, 2018 - 12:56pm

Moved

Moved from Aegialites.

… v belov, 10 October, 2011 - 6:04am

Type

Forgot to include the link to the Aegialites debilis type specimen at Harvard.

… Matt Goff, 9 October, 2011 - 9:10pm

thanks for sharing this, Matt

you can edit your submission form at any time.
Q: the only recorded sp. for AK in(1) is A. californicus -- with no synonyms listed; which makes me wonder about the status of A. debilis...

… v belov, 9 October, 2011 - 9:59pm

Aegialitis Revisions

Perhaps if Derek Sikes sees this, he can comment further - but I believe he said the genus was recently revised by a German author (I think Zerche?). As I understand it, these beetles are flightless and generally slow moving, and as such probably don't disperse very well (though they've managed to make it out to isolated islands, including islands in the Aleutians). My impression was these beetles have been poorly studied, and there is some expectation that there may be several species yet to be described.

The student of a friend of mine will be looking at the genetic diversity within beetles from different nearby locations around Sitka. I think the intention is this will fit within a larger project looking at the genetics and morphology of these beetles throughout Alaska.

… Matt Goff, 9 October, 2011 - 10:14pm

Zerche 2004

Zerche, L. 2004. Revision der Gattung Aegialites Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Salpingidae: Aegialitinae). Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde, Serie A (Biologie), no. 666. 1-99.

A. californicus doesn't occur in Alaska. Four species are known from AK:
A. debilis Mannerheim (type locality = Sitka)
A. alaskaensis Zerche (type locality = 17 mi se Anchorage)
A. saintgeorgensis Zerche (type loc. = Pribiloffs, St. George)
A. saintpaulensis Zerche (type loc. = Pribiloffs, St. Paul)

The larger project Matt refers to is that of my MS student, Casey Bickford, who will be focused on the taxonomy of Aegialites in Alaska.

… Derek Sikes, 10 October, 2011 - 12:02am

awesome. thanks, guys.

… v belov, 10 October, 2011 - 6:03am