Pomphopsilla spinosa, Jałoszyński, 2024

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2024, Three new species of Pomphopsilla Jałoszyński in Togo (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5471 (2), pp. 287-292 : 288-289

Pomphopsilla spinosa sp. n.

( Figs 1 , 4 , 7 )

Type material. Holotype: (TOGO): ♂, three labels: “ TOGO PALIME / Forêt de Klouto / 20-24-IV-74 S. Vit ” [white, printed], “Coll. S. Vit / MHNG - 2021” [white, printed], “ POMPHOPSILLA / spinosa m. / P. Jałoszyński, '24 / HOLOTYPUS” [red, printed] ( MHNG) . Paratype: ♂, same data as for holotype except that “Klouto” is crossed out and replaced with handwritten “Kpimé”, and with yellow “PARATYPUS” label ( MHNG) .

Diagnosis. Body ( Fig. 1 ) light brown; pronotum and elytra with inconspicuously fine punctures; pronotum with two pairs of antebasal pits, of which inner pair is conspicuously large and subtriangular, anteriorly slightly exceeding 1/3 of pronotal length, outer pits nearly punctiform; aedeagus in ventral view ( Fig. 4 ) with narrowly subtriangular apex and endophallus with lateral groups of strongly elongate pointed sclerites and median tubular structure.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) strongly elongate, weakly convex, light brown. BL 0.60–0.63 mm.

Head broadest at large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.08 mm, HW 0.15 mm; vertex strongly transverse, weakly convex, anteriorly confluent with subtriangular and similarly weakly convex frons; supraantennal tubercles small but distinct; punctures on frons and vertex fine and inconspicuous; setae very short and sparse, recumbent; frontal glands present, each situated behind supraantennal tubercle and near mesal margin of eye.Antenna moderately long, with abruptly broadened club composed of two antennomeres, AnL 0.26–0.28 mm, antennomeres 1 and 2 each elongate, 3 indistinctly transverse, 4–7 each about as long as broad, 8 indistinctly transverse, 9 and 10 each about as long as broad, 11 slightly broader and much longer than 10, indistinctly elongate.

Pronotum subrectangular with broadly rounded anterior corners, broadest near anterior fourth; PL 0.18 mm, PW 0.20 mm.Anterior margin nearly straight; anterior corners in strictly dorsal view not visible; lateral margins rounded in anterior third and weakly sinuate in posterior half, indistinctly microserrate; posterior corners obtuse-angled; posterior margin with narrow and rounded emargination in front of mesoscutellum, sides of posterior margin barely noticeably concave; pronotal base with two pairs of pits: inner pair conspicuously large, subtriangular and deep, slightly longer than third of pronotal length and narrowly separated at middle, outer pair much smaller, nearly punctiform, circular. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuously fine; setae short, moderately dense, recumbent.

Elytra oval, broadest slightly anterior to middle; EL 0.35–0.38 mm, EW 0.26–0.28 mm, EI 1.33–1.36; humeral calli small but distinctly elevated, slightly elongate. Punctures and setae similar as those on pronotum.

Hind wings well developed.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 4 ) stout, AeL 0.11 mm; median lobe in ventral view subtriangular, with narrowly subtriangular apex; endophallus with lateral groups of strongly elongate pointed sclerites diverging distally and with median tubular structure; parameres slender, their apices not reaching apex of aedeagus, each with one long apical seta.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Southern Togo ( Fig. 7 ).

Etymology. The specific adjective spinosa refers to the long and pointed endophallic sclerites.

Remarks. This species is unique in unusually large and subtriangular inner antebasal pronotal pits and this character alone is sufficient to distinguish P. spinosa from all congeners.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution of nominal Pomphopsilla species, with aedeagus of each species in ventral view (P. felicitas is known from a single female, and P. crenata is known from a single male with a strongly distorted aedeagus).

FIGURES 1–3. Dorsal habitus of holotype males. Pomphopsilla spinosa sp. n. (1); P. bifurcata sp. n. (2); P. klotoensis sp. n. (3).

FIGURES 4–6. Aedeagus in ventral view. Pomphopsilla spinosa sp. n. (4); P. bifurcata sp. n. (5); P. klotoensis sp. n. (6).