Oedichirus mahnerti, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, New species and records of African and Lemurian Oedichirus ERICHSON (Staphylinidae, Paederinae, Procirrina), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 447-460 : 450

Oedichirus mahnerti nov.sp. (Figs 4)

♂ Holotype: KENYA, 9.XI.74, N. de Kisumu, env. 1400 m., Mahnert Perret ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus mahnerti des. 2015 G. de Rougemont [ MHNG] .

D e s c r i p t i o n: length: 6.6 mm; length of fore-body: 2.75; length of head: 0.7; breadth of head: 0.85; length of antenna: 1.5; length of pronotum: 1.05; breadth of pronotum: 0.82; length of elytron: 1.7; breadth of elytra: 1.1. Head black, pronotum red, abdominal segments III-VI red with centre of tergites infuscate, forming a mid-longitudinal dark band, segments VII-IX entirely black; mouthparts testaceous, last two segments of maxillary palpi somewhat infuscate, antennae and legs testaceous. Dorsal surfaces devoid of microsculpture except on abdominal tergites VII-VIII. Pubescence semierect, sparse, short, whitish. Habitus: Fig. 4.

Head moderately transverse; eyes very large; post-ocular border narrow, extending to under posterior margin of eye without forming a discernible angle; lateral margins of frons between anterior angles and eyes bordered by a bead; puncturation sparse, consisting of a pair of widely spaced frontal punctures, two series of three punctures each on vertex with a single puncture between the hindmost two punctures of the series, some small ocular punctures and a pair of punctures near base, besides the small punctures in post-ocular grooves. Pronotum rather short, the sides retracted in almost straight lines from broadly rounded anterior angles to base; lateral margins not bordered; disc with a pair of series of five punctures each preceded by a group of six punctures arranged in a transverse ellipse, two lateral punctures and a number of smaller punctures along anterior and lateral margins. Elytra relatively small and short for an alate species, with prominent humeral angles; puncturation consisting of a series of ten juxta-sutural punctures narrowly separated in posterior half from the irregular and sparse puncturation of rest of disc, the interstices there mostly wider than diameter of punctures. Punctures of abdominal tergites arranged in three discrete transverse rows behind the anterior row of long keels and grooves along anterior margin of each tergite.

Male: abdominal sternites VII and VIII unmodified; aedoeagus: Figs 4al, 4av.

In FAGEL’ s key (1970) to the African species, section III (pronotum not bordered, punctures of abdomen arranged in transverse rows), the new species runs, notwithstanding the short antennae (dichotomy 6), to O. abyssinicus FAGEL , but the tubercles of the humeral angles are less pronounced; it differs moreover from O. abyssinicus and the three species that follow in the key by its entirely black elytra without paler posterior margins, and by the shape of the aedoeagus.