Oedichirus peckorum, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, The genus Oedichirus in New Caledonia (Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 537-586 : 561-562

Oedichirus peckorum nov.sp. (Figs 3)

Material studied: ♀ Holotype: Monts Koghis bei Noumea, Neu-Kaledonien, leg. H. Franz, IX.1970 ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus peckorum des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ MNHN] ; 1 paratype (lacking abdominal segments VIII and IX): NEW CALEDONIA, Mt. Koghis , Elev 500m, Montane forest, 22-24 May1987, N.I. Platnick, R.J. Raven ♀ PARATYPE Oedichirus peckorum des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ AMNH] .

Additional material: 1♀: NEW CALEDONIA 8641, 21º45’S x 166º09’E, Ningua Res. Camp, 1100m, 12-13 Nov 2001, CBurwell, GMonteith. hand collect. ♀ PARATYPE Oedichirus peckorum des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [QM].

Description: length: 10.5 -11 mm; length of fore-body: 4.4; length of head: 1.2; breadth of head: 1.47; length of antenna: 2.8; length of pronotum: 1.75; breadth of pronotum: 1.42; length of elytron: 1.37; breadth of elytra: 1.57. Body black, palpi antennae and legs testaceous, the knees broadly infuscate. Head strongly and densely microsculptate, the surface sericeous; pronotum strongly microsculptate, but reticulation less dense than that of head; elytra shiny, devoid of microsculpture; abdominal tergites shiny, slightly alutaceous, the tergites entirely covered in fine transverse micro-striae. Pubescence very sparse, pale, short, erect (rubbed off on paratype). Habitus: Fig. 3h.

Head strongly transverse; eyes large but distinctly shorter than temples; temples gently rounded to base; grooves of post-ocular border broad and shallow, inconspicuous, adjacent to carina on lateral margins, bearing four setiferous punctures; puncturation very sparse, the punctures small, shallow, irregularly scattered. Pronotum strongly convex, rather short, behind anterior angles slightly wider than head, the sides retracted in almost straight lines to base; all margins entirely and sharply bordered; puncturation coarse, moderately dense, irregular, but with punctures forming a distinct pair of discal series in basal half and leaving a median and a pair of lateral longitudinal impunctate spaces in basal 1♀ 3 rd. Elytra longer than usual in micropterous species, widest a little before middle, humeral angles obsolete, the sides slightly rounded between widest point and posterior margin; puncturation coarse, dense on centre of disc, irregular on sides. Rows of keels and furrows of anterior margins of abdominal tergites obsolete; puncturation very coarse, sparse and irregular, leaving centre of tergites III-VI impunctate, tergite VII almost entirely impunctate.

Female: sternite IX: Fig. 3vp.

This species resembles O. manautei nov.sp. in the microsculpture of the head and puncturation of abdominal tergites, but has conspicuously rounded temples.

The specimen from Ningua Reserve is only tentatively ascribed to this species because the head is notably more transverse than in the type.