Atheta (Phanerosphaena) mondahensis, Roberto Pace, 2012

Roberto Pace, 2012, Aleocharinae from Gabon (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Tropical Zoology 25 (4), pp. 157-172 : 166

Atheta (Phanerosphaena) mondahensis n. sp.

( Figures 19 and 20 )

Holotype ♀, Gabon, Forêt de la Mondah, 0°36/26//N, 9°19/0 3//E, 10 m a.s.l., Cap Esterias, about 20 km N of Libreville, 6-16.XII.1995, leg. L. Bartolozzi and S. Taiti, num. mag. 1784 n. coll. 14817, MSNF. Description

Length 1.92 mm. Body shiny, brown, pronotum, base of the elytra and basal free tergite reddish-brown, antennae brown with the two basal antennomeres yellow, legs yellow. Eyes as long as the post-ocular region in dorsal view. Second antennomere shorter than the first, third shorter than the second, fourth to ninth transverse. Reticulation of the head strong, but weak on front. Reticulation of the pronotum distinct, that of the elytra distinct and that of the abdomen strong, undulated and very transverse. Puncturation of the head dense and very weak. Granulation of the pronotum dense and clearly visible, that of the elytra dense and weak, that of the abdomen fairly dense. Spermatheca: Figure 20 .

Comparative notes

The spermatheca of the new species is similar in shape to that of A. alboguttata Bernhauer, 1915 from Tanzania, of which I have examined the type series (in FMNHC). The proximal portion of the spermatheca of the new species is, however, less developed and is in tightly coiled, whereas in A. alboguttata the proximal portion of the spermatheca is more loosely coiled. The apical umbilicus of the distal bulb of the spermatheca is cylindrical and conical at the apex, whereas it is entirely conical in A. alboguttata . The posterior half of the brown elytra of A. alboguttata is yellow, in the new species the elytra are brown with reddishbrown base.

Figures

Figures 12 – 22. Habitus, aedeagus in lateral and ventral views, male sixth free tergite and spermatheca. 12 – 14: Amanota gabonensis n. sp.; 15 – 18: Atheta (Tropatheta) librevillensis n. sp.; 19 – 20: Atheta (Phanerosphaena) mondahensis n. sp.; 21 – 22: Drusilla gabonensis n. sp. Scale bars: 12: 1.92 mm; 15: 2.29 mm; 19: 1.92 mm; 21: 4.49 mm. Other scale bars: 0.1 mm.