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  Platydracus cinnamopterus (Gravenhorst 1802)  
 

Staphylinus cinnamopterus Gravenhorst, 1802: 164; Platydracus cinnamopterus: Newton 1973, Smetana and Davies 2000,
      Herman 2001, etc. (see Herman 2001: 3447 for additional literature citations).

 
  Type material: Lectotype, male, in ZMHB, here designated by Newton, with labels: "5959" [white printed label]; "cinnamopterus Gr. Am. Spt." [green, bordered, handwritten label]; and red lectotype designation label by Newton dated 1978.
Paralectotypes: 1 male and 2 females, in ZMHB, with no original labels, each with yellow paralectotype designation labels by Newton dated 1978.
Other material examined: 1386 specimens throughout the range of the species, all but a few being males with examined aedeagus. Full data will be presented in the pending revision of Platydracus by Newton, but all records that could be georeferenced are shown in Map 11.
 
  With the characters of the P. cinnamopterus Complex, plus: average pronotal length 2.53 mm (n = 10); head, pronotum and elytra usually light to medium reddish, less often dark red, pronotum evenly colored; antenna not reaching middle of pronotum when extended posteriorly, antennomere 9 distinctly transverse; impunctate median line of pronotum at least one puncture diameter wide at narrowest point, usually about two puncture diameters wide; emargination of sixth visible male sternite in ventral view moderately deep, about 1/4 as deep as wide; apex of median lobe of aedeagus projected, the converging sides of the projection in parameral view slightly convex and forming an acute angle, the apex broadly rounded; sides of median lobe in lateral view even, not toothed.  
 

Figure 7.9.1 Platydracus cinnamopterus (Gravenhorst), dorsal habitus of regular colour morph. 7.9.2 P. cinnamopterus, dorsal abdomen. 7.9.4 P. cinnamopterus, dorsal habitus of rufous color morph. 7.9.5 P. cinnamopterus, pronotum with narrow impunctate median line. 7.9.6 P. cinnamopterus, aedeagus, parameral view. 7.9.7 P. cinnamopterus, apical antennomeres. 11.8.1 P. cinnamopterus, from flood debris. 11.8.2 P. cinnamopterus, aedeagus, lateral view.

 
 

Platydracus cinnamopterus may be distinguished from all other species of the genus in ECAS by the combination of generally reddish color (light to very dark) with uniformly colored head and pronotum (Fig. 7.9.1, 7.9.4), black scutellum, and variegated abdomen with sparse gold setae only, and paired, patches of black velvet setae on the first five visible segments (Fig. 7.9.2); antennae with distinctly transverse antennomere 9 (Fig. 7.9.7); and the narrow but complete impunctate medial line of pronotum about 2 puncture diameters wide at narrowest (Fig. 7.9.5). However, it is definitively distinguished from the other members of the P. cinnamopterus Complex, P. praetermissus and P. zonatus, by the structure of the aedeagus (Fig. 7.9.6 and 11.8.2).

 
 

The species is widely distributed in the forested areas of eastern North America: from Nova Scotia, west to southern Manitoba, south to Texas and east to the Florida panhandle (Map 11).  Its range in ECAS is shown in greater detail in Map 12.  Note that historical records of P. cinnamopterus in the literature up to the present time are unreliable since they may refer to any of the three species of the P. cinnamopterus Complex. 

Eastern Canada: ON, QC, NB, NS
Adjacent U.S.: MI, IN, OH, PA, NY, NH, ME

In ECAS, P. cinnamopterus has been collected from January through November, with a majority (55%) found in May or June.

 
 
 
  This common species is most frequently found under the loose bark of hardwood trees but is also collected in leaf litter, under stones and logs and in rotten wood.  It also frequents decaying plant matter such as flood debris (Fig. 11.8.1) and grass clumps.  Other specimens have been collected on beaches of the Great Lakes under drift, from fungi, at a UV light, and from a beaver lodge. Unlike the other two species of the complex, P. cinnamopterus is often found in disturbed areas under patio stones, in gardens and in compost.  The relatively short antennae compared to the other members of the cinnamopterus complex may be correlated with greater maneuverability within subcortical microhabitats and under objects.  The presence of a rufous morph (Fig. 7.9.4) is unique to P. cinnamopterus within the cinnamopterus Complex.  The description of larvae and pupae of this species by LeSage (1977) may be correctly assigned to P. cinnamopterus since over 85% of the specimen records of the P. cinnamopterus Complex from Ontario and Québec are P. cinnamopterus, and P. praetermissus n. sp. is not known from Canada.  
 
  BSC