Oedichirus rufulus, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, New oriental Oedichirus (Staphylinidae, Paederinae, Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 461-536 : 499-500

Oedichirus rufulus nov.sp. (Figs 20)

M a t e r i a l s t u d i e d: ♂ Holotype: S-INDIEN 16.XI.1993. Tamil Nadu, Nilgiri hills, 15 km SE Kotagiri (3) Kunchappanai 900 m / 76º56’E 11º22’N, Boukal & Kejval / HOLOTYPE Oedichirus rufulus des. 2016 G. de Rougemont [NHMW].

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l: 1♀: S-INDIEN 16.XI.1993. Tamil Nadu, Nilgiri hills, 15 km SE Kotagiri (3) Kunchappanai 900 m / 76º56’E 11º22’N, Boukal & Kejval / Oedichirus rufulus nov.sp. det. 2016 G. de Rougemont [CRO].

D e s c r i p t i o n: length: 6.5 mm; length of fore-body: 2.7; length of head: 0.75; breadth of head: 0.95; length of antenna: 1.8; length of pronotum: 1.05; breadth of pronotum: 0.9; length of elytron: 0.82; breadth of elytra: 1. Fore-body and abdominal segments III-VI rufo-testaceous, segments VII-IX black, all appendages uniformly testaceous. Dorsal surfaces devoid of microsculpture except for faint micropunctures on abdominal tergites VII-VIII. Pubescence moderately long, pale, erect and semi-erect. Habitus: Fig. 20h.

Head strongly transverse, eyes strongly protruberent; post-ocular carina salient, forming a prominent dentiform angle removed from posterior margin of eye; puncturation sparse, consisting of a group of ca. 8 punctures on anterior part of frons and two transverse rows of punctures before base. Pronotum short; lateral margins not or indistinctly bordered; disc with a pair of series of 6-7 punctures preceded by a cluster of 8-9 punctures, a lateral series of four punctures in basal half that curves away from discal series anteriad, and the usual punctures along lateral margins. Micropterous, elytra short and broad; puncturation dense near suture, sparser on sides. Punctures of abdominal tergites arranged in three discrete rows behind anterior row of keels on each tergite.

Male: aedoeaegus: Fig. 20arl.

Female: sternite IX: Fig. 20vp.

Variability: the elytra of the female recorded above are more sparsely punctate than those of the holotype, its abdominal segment VII is infuscate but not deep black, and segments VIII-IX are concolorous with segments III-VI. In view of the different puncturation of the elytra the possibility must remain that the specimens belong to different species,

although this seems unlikely considering the distributions of specimens of this group.

Keys: above and 4.