Anhoraeomorphus adamsoniae (Franz) Jałoszyński, 2024

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2024, The ‘ curse of Horaeomorphus’ (almost) lifted. Revision of misplaced species from Madagascar, Comoros and Mascarenes (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5505 (1), pp. 1-96 : 19-24

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5505.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:93F5E9F6-9EDC-4ED2-8F2B-1E6D0C18F893
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E7FF50-FFE2-5017-FF23-FDF5FC7040C6
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Anhoraeomorphus adamsoniae (Franz)
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

Anhoraeomorphus adamsoniae (Franz) , comb. n.

( Figs 52–82 View FIGURES 52–59 View FIGURES 60–62 View FIGURES 63–70 View FIGURES 71–78 View FIGURES 79–82 )

Horaeomorphus adamsoniae Franz, 1986b: 153 View in CoL .

Horaeomorphus anjouanensis Franz, 1986b: 161 View in CoL . Syn. n.

Horaeomorphus robinsoni Franz, 1986b: 155 View in CoL . Syn. n.

Type material studied. Holotype of Horaeomorphus adamsoniae ( Madagascar): ♂, four labels: “S-Madagaskar / Umg. Betioky / lg. H.Franz 1969” [white, printed], “ Horaeomorphus / adamsoniae m. / det. H.Franz ” [yellowish, handwritten and printed], “Typus” [red, handwritten], “ ♂ ” [white, printed] ( NHMW) . Paratypes of Horaeomorphus adamsoniae : 2 ♀♀, same data as for holotype ; ♀, “S-Madagaskar / Umg. Beloha / lg. H.Franz 1969” [white, printed] ; ♀, “ Ambovombé / Euphorbien-Rinde ” [white, handwritten] (all with yellow “ Paratypus ” labels) ( NHMW) . Paratypes of Horaeomorphus anjouanensis ( Comoros, Ndzwani Island) : ♂, “ Anjouan / MtRemani 800m / IX-58 Raharizorina ” [white, printed], “INSTITUT / SCIENTIFIQUE / MADAGASCAR” [bluish, printed], “ ♂ ” [white, printed], “ Penis Zeich / nung veröffentl.” {i.e., penis drawing published} [red, handwritten], “ Horaeomorphus / anjouanensis m. / det. H.Franz / PARATYPUS ” [yellowish, handwritten and printed] ; ♀, same data as for holotype but with red handwritten “ Allotypus ” label ( NHMW) . Paratypes of Horaeomorphus robinsoni ( Madagascar): 2 ♂♂, 3 exx., “ Madagascar Sud-Ouest / LAMBOMAKANDRO 500m / Tuléar / VII-57 Andria R.” [white, printed], “INSTITUT / SCIENTIFIQUE / MADAGASCAR” [bluish, printed], “ Horaeomorphus / robinsoni m. / det. H.Franz / PARATYPUS ” [yellowish, handwritten and printed] ( NHMW) .

Revised diagnosis. Body ( Fig. 52 View FIGURES 52–59 ) slender; head ( Figs 53 View FIGURES 52–59 , 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ) about as long as wide, with vertex posteriorly broadly rounded; pronotum ( Fig. 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ) bell-shaped, broadest clearly anterior to middle, with one pair of large and deep antebasal pits; antennomeres 3–10 not elongate; all femora similarly slender; metatibiae in males modified, slightly recurved and slightly broadening to distal third, then narrowing towards apex; aedeagus ( Figs 79–82 View FIGURES 79–82 ) in ventral view broadest near base, with apical region of dorsal wall weakly curved dorsally and broadened, distolateral endophallic sclerites widely separated and with subtriangular pointed apices, each paramere with a group of several subapical and apical setae distributed on distal fourth.

Redescription. Body of male ( Figs 52 View FIGURES 52–59 , 63 View FIGURES 63–70 , 71 View FIGURES 71–78 ) moderately dark brown, tarsi and palps lighter, setae yellowish; BL 1.93–2.08 mm.

Head ( Figs 53–54 View FIGURES 52–59 , 60–61 View FIGURES 60–62 , 64–65 View FIGURES 63–70 , 72–73 View FIGURES 71–78 ) in anterodorsal view rounded, broadest at eyes, HL 0.33–0.38 mm, HW 0.35–0.38 mm; temple in lateral view ( Fig. 54 View FIGURES 52–59 ) subequal to length of eye; vertex and frons confluent, together weakly convex and slightly transverse; vertex posteriorly evenly rounded; each eye moderately large and weakly convex, oval, with or without shallow posteromedian emargination, weakly projecting from head silhouette. Punctures on vertex fine, inconspicuous; setae short, dense and suberect; frons and vertex densely covered with thick bristles directed posteriorly. Antenna ( Figs 55 View FIGURES 52–59 , 66 View FIGURES 63–70 , 74 View FIGURES 71–78 ) slender but short, nearly as long as half BL, AnL 0.93– 1.00 mm, antennomeres 1 and 2 each weakly elongate, 3–10 each about as long as broad, 11 slightly shorter than 9 and 10 combined, almost as wide as 10, about 1.8 times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ) bell-shaped, broadest between middle and anterior third; PL 0.48–0.55 mm, PW 0.45–0.48 mm. Anterior margin strongly rounded, lateral margins rounded in anterior half, sinuate in posterior half; posterior corners blunt; posterior margin straight. Base with one pair of round large and deep pits ( Fig. 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ; abp), and with short sublateral carinae ( Fig. 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ; slc). Disc with fine, inconspicuous punctures; setae dense, short and suberect, lateral surface of pronotum with dense thick bristles.

Elytra ( Fig. 52 View FIGURES 52–59 ) together oval, broadest slightly in front of middle; EL 0.1.08– 1.15 mm, EW 0.70–0.78 mm, EI 1.39–1.48; humeral calli weakly elevated, basal elytral foveae ( Fig. 60 View FIGURES 60–62 ; bef) vestigial, barely discernible. Punctures small but sharply marked and dense, those on anterior half of elytra separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures; setae sparse, short and suberect.

Metaventrite ( Fig. 62 View FIGURES 60–62 ) densely setose.

Legs moderately long, slender, unmodified except slightly recurved and distally slightly broadened metatibiae (best visible in Fig. 71 View FIGURES 71–78 ).

Aedeagus (partly erected: Figs 56–59 View FIGURES 52–59 , 75–78 View FIGURES 71–78 ; fully erected: Figs 67–70 View FIGURES 63–70 ; in repose: Figs 79–82 View FIGURES 79–82 ) stout, AeL 0.35– 0.43 mm; in ventral view broadest near base and drop-shaped, distinctly narrowing towards broadly subtriangular apex; in lateral view apical region of dorsal wall weakly curved dorsally and broadened; endophallus with slightly asymmetrical and elongate distolateral sclerites and with strongly asymmetrical and complex assemblage of median sclerotized structures occupying most of median lobe, distolateral sclerites broadly separated, subtriangular with pointed apices directed laterodistally; parameres broad and their apices not projecting beyond aedeagal apex, each paramere with a group of several short setae occupying distal fourth.

Female. Externally similar to male, but with less broadened and nearly straight hind tibiae. BL 1.73–1.88 mm; HL 0.33–0.38 mm, HW 0.35–0.38 mm, AnL 0.83–0.93 mm; PL 0.45–0.48 mm, PW 0.43–0.45 mm; EL 0.93–1.03 mm, EW 0.60–0.73 mm, EI 1.32–1.44.

Distribution. Southern Madagascar (Atsimo-Andrefana and Androy Regions), and Ndzwani Island ( Comoros).

Remarks. Anhoraeomorphus adamsoniae belongs to a group of species with the pronotum broadest in front of middle, which includes also A. ambodivoangyi , A. ankaratrae , A. anosyensis , A. barbatus , A. compactus , A. diegoi , A. gigas , A. globosus , A. inermis , A. lambomakandroi , A. longicollis , A. manangotryanus , A. maximus , A. moheliensis , A. nudipennis , A. sikorai , A. vadoni , and A. vellyi . The remaining species have the pronotum broadest at or behind middle, often close to the base. Anhoraeomorphus adamsoniae differs from congeners in slender body, head about as long as broad, antennomeres 3–10 not elongate, moderate body length, metatibiae in males slightly modified, recurved and slightly broadened, and the structure of the aedeagus. The hind tibiae are similarly modified in males of A. diegoi (but hind tibiae in this species are broader and not recurved), A. lambomakandroi (but this species has much slenderer legs and antennae), A. roussettensis and A. anosyensis (but in these species the hind tibiae are much broader and in subapical regions with concave outer margins), and A. vellyi (which is externally most similar to A. adamsoniae , but its aedeagus has a narrow and elongate subtriangular apex, and a smaller endophallus, with distolateral sclerites more asymmetrical and of different shapes).

The studied type specimens of H.adamsoniae , H. anjouanensis , and H. robinsoni are externally indistinguishable. The aedeagi of specimens dissected by Franz have partly erected endophallic sclerites projecting through the ostium, but comparison of these sclerites demonstrates that they have the same shapes as those in the resting position ( Figs 79–82 View FIGURES 79–82 ).

One specimen at NHMW labeled as a paratype of H. robinsoni does not belong in this species and must be excluded from the type series.According to Franz (1986b), the type series of H. adamsoniae consists of ten specimens, all deposited in his collection. However, NHMW holds only the holotype and four paratypes; depositories of the remaining five specimens are unknown. The type series of H. anjouanensis includes the holotype and two paratypes ( Franz 1986b), of which the holotype is in Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris and was not available for my study. Finally, the type series of H. robinsoni consists of an unknown number of specimens, but Franz used the terms “ holotypus ” and “ paratypes ” and certainly labeled the holotype in his usual way (e.g., with a red “Typus” label), and this action should be regarded as a valid fixation of the holotype. The holotype is deposited in Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris and was not available for my study.