Phanolinopsis discedens ( Sharp, 1884 )

Chatzimanolis, Stylianos, 2017, And then there were six: a revision of the genus Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Zootaxa 4323 (1), pp. 49-67 : 54-57

Phanolinopsis discedens ( Sharp, 1884)

( Figs. 1 , 7 , 13 , 19–27 , 43 )

Phanolinus discedens Sharp, 1884: 368 .

Phanolinopsis discedens ; Scheerpeltz, 1968: 67.

Type material. Holotype, female, on paper card mount in Sharp’s handwriting: “♀ Phanolinus discedens , Type, D. S.” / “Type” / “Bugaba, Panama. Champion.” / “B.C.A. Col. I. 2. Phanolinus discedens, Sharp ” / “ Sharp Coll. 1905-313.” / “HOLOTYPE Phanolinus discedens Sharp, 1884 det. R.G. Booth 2011”. In the collection of BMNH. Sharp (1884) mentioned that he had a single female specimen, which is the holotype.

Additional Material. COSTA RICA: Puntarenas: Altamira Biological Station , 1510–1600m, 9°01.76’N 83°00.49’W, 4–7.vi.2004, J.S.Ashe, Z. Falin, I. Hinojosa, FIT, CR1AFH04 144, SM0606681, SM0607497, SM0607486 (3 ♂ SEMC) ; Las Alturas Biological Station , 1660m, 8°56.17’N 82°50.01W, 31.v.–3.vi.2004, J.S. Ashe, Z. Falin, I. Hinojosa, FIT, CR1AFH04 0 92, SM0606932, SM0606860 (2 ♂ SEMC) ; same locality, 1500m, 27.v.1993, J.S & A.K. Ashe, #63, FIT, SM0079878 (1 ♂ SEMC) ; PANAMA: Bocas del Toro: Cerro Pata de Macho Trail, W. of Cerro Horqueta, near Boquete , 8°53’N 82°23’W, 1780m, 10–12.viii.1987, D.M. Olson, #754, lower montaine rainforest, pitfall trap, Field Museum (1 ♂ FMNH) ; Chiriquí: Cerro Pelota, 4km N. Sta. Clara , 1500m, vii.1982, B. Gill (2 ♂ CNC) ; La Fortuna, Continental Divide Trail , 8°46’N 82°12’W, 1150m, 23.v.– 9.vi.1995, J.S. Ashe, R. Brooks, #155, FIT, SM0007031; SM0079927 (1 ♂ SEMC, 1 ♂ UTCI) ; same locality, 9.vi.1995, R. Anderson, PAN2 A95 10F, Berlese forest litter, SM0035769 (1 ♂ SEMC) ; La Fortuna, Hydrolog. trail, 8°42’N 82°14’W, 1150m, 23.v.–9.vi.1995, J.S. Ashe, R. Brooks, #156, FIT, SM0003744 (1 ♂ SEMC) ; same locality and collectors, 1200m, 9–12.vi.1995, #187, FIT, SM0079928 (1 ♀ SEMC) ; Unknown Country: (1 ♂ FMNH).

Diagnosis. Among all species of Phanolinopsis , P. discedens can be diagnosed based on the following characteristics: medium size (9.5–13.2mm); disc of pronotum with four punctures at the center of the pronotum, each one delimiting the corner of a square (few specimens with less punctures); coloration of head and pronotum not red; posterolateral corners of head not extremely pointed; aedeagus as in Figs. 25–27 . Phanolinopsis metaksenios is sympatric with P. discedens through much of their range, but these two species can be distinguished from each other based on their coloration (pronotum and elytra different color in P. discedens ( Fig. 1 ); similar color in P. metaksenios ( Fig. 5 )); the distance between the eye and the postmandibular ridge in lateral view (short in P. discedens ( Fig. 13 ); long in P. metaksenios ( Fig. 17 )), and the shape of the aedeagus (tip of median lobe pointed and apex of paramere narrow in P. discedens ( Figs. 25–27 ); tip of median lobe wider and rounded and apex of paramere wide in P. metaksenios ( Figs. 37–39 )).

Description. Body length 9.5–13.2mm. Head and pronotum metallic green-brown; elytra dark metallic bluegreen. Mouthparts, antennae, mesoscutellum, ventral surface of thorax and legs reddish brown. Abdominal terga and sterna reddish brown but with darker areas medially; posterior half of terga slightly lighter color; posterior 1/5 of segment VII and segment VIII orange. Head transverse, width: length ratio = 1.47. Epicranium with transverse and polygon-shaped microsculpture and sparse micropunctures; with large to medium-sized punctures around margin of head (becoming more numerous near posterior margin), but with no other punctures on epicranium. Eyes large, length of eyes / length of head ratio = 0.66, distance between eyes as wide as 1.44 times length of eye. Area between postmandibular ridge and eye (lateral side of head) narrow, with polygon-shaped microsculpture; posterolateral corner of head not pointed. Antennomeres 1–9, 11 longer than wide; antennomere 10 subquadrate. Neck with micropunctures, microsculpture, and with sparse small punctures. Pronotum subquadrate, width: length ratio = 0.95; surface of pronotum uniformly covered with sparse micropunctures and dense polygon-shaped microsculpture; appearing matte due to microsculpture. Pronotum with few large punctures around margin; disc of pronotum with four large punctures at center, each one delimiting corner of square, but some specimens with three or fewer punctures (at least one puncture present). Elytra with large uniform punctures (about 10 punctures / elytron width); punctures almost confluent. Elytra appearing shiny; with sparse longitudinal microsculpture. Abdominal terga sparsely punctate with small to medium-sized punctures. Male secondary sexual structures with sternum VIII having shallow emargination medially; sternum IX with deep U-shaped emargination medially. Female without obvious sexual structures. Aedeagus as in Figs. 25–27 ; in dorsal view paramere converging to rounded tip; paramere shorter and narrower (apically) than median lobe; in lateral view paramere straight, narrower apically; paramere with peg setae along the lateral margins from tip to middle. Median lobe in dorsal view wide, converging to pointed apex, with two broad teeth apically; in lateral view becoming much narrower near apex.

Distribution. Known from the province of Puntarenas in Costa Rica and the provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí in Panama.

Habitat. Collected with flight intercept traps, pitfall traps and in leaf litter from cloud forests between 1150– 1780m.

Remarks. An additional specimen from FMNH can be tentatively included here. The specimen was labeled as “ Trigonopselaphus assmanni” by Bierig as a manuscript type from San Isidro del Cotou, Costa Rica. However, I hesitate to include it above with the other “additional specimens” since the specimen is in bad condition and it is hard to see all the characters.

Figures

FIGURE 43. Distribution map of P. discedens (Sharp), P. erythros Chatzimanolis and P. goniakos Chatzimanolis.

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus photographs of species of Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz. 1. The holotype of P. discedens (Sharp), total length = 13 mm. 2. The holotype of P. erythros Chatzimanolis, total length = 14.2 mm.

FIGURES 7 – 12. Heads and pronota of Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz. 7. P. discedens (Sharp). 8. P. erythros Chatzimanolis. 9. P. fassli (Bernhauer). 10. P. goniakos Chatzimanolis. 11. P. metaksenios Chatzimanolis. 12. P. norahae Chatzimanolis. Not to scale.

FIGURES 13 – 18. Lateral view of heads of Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz indicating the differences in the temple area and specifically the distance between the eye and postmandibular ridge. White arrows point to the extent of the postmandibular ridge. 13. P. discedens (Sharp). 14. P. erythros Chatzimanolis. 15. P. fassli (Bernhauer). 16. P. goniakos Chatzimanolis. 17. P. metaksenios Chatzimanolis. 18. P. norahae Chatzimanolis. Not to scale.

FIGURES 19 – 24. Phanolinopsis discedens (Sharp). 19. Dorsal view of right mandible, scale bar = 0.77 mm. 20. Left maxilla, scale bar = 0.55 mm. 21. Antenna, scale bar = 1 mm. 22. Hypopharynx with labial palps, scale bar = 0.36 mm. 23. Abdominal sterna V – VII, scale bar = 1.23 mm. 24. Magnification of abdominal sternum VI showing the different types of microsculpture, scale bar = 0.58 mm.

FIGURES 25 – 27. Aedeagus of P. discedens (Sharp). 25. Dorsal view. 26. Lateral view. 27. Detail of paramere, ventral view.

FIGURES 5 – 6. Habitus photographs of species of Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz. 5. The holotype of P. metaksenios Chatzimanolis, total length = 12.5 mm. 6. The holotype of P. norahae Chatzimanolis, total length = 13.5 mm.

FIGURES 37 – 39. Aedeagus of P. metaksenios Chatzimanolis. 37. Dorsal view. 38. Lateral view. 39. Detail of paramere, ventral view.