Pseudocephennium auriculatum, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2016

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2016, A new species and new records of Pseudocephennium Reitter in Venezuela, with notes on movable endophallic structures (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4088 (4), pp. 563-570 : 566-567

Pseudocephennium auriculatum sp. n.

(Figs 13–14, 22)

Type material studied: HOLOTYPE: VENEZUELA (Aragua State): ♂, two labels: "Rancho Grande [i.e., Henri Pittier National Park] / b. [bei] Maracay, Vene- / zuela, leg. Franz" with "SA258" on the reverse side [white, printed, reverse handwritten in green ball pen]. " PSEUDOCEPHENNIUM / auriculatum m. / det. P. Jałoszyński, 2015 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] (NHMW).

Diagnosis. Aedeagus with long apical lateral projections oblique in relation to the long axis of median lobe, with broad bases and subrectangular apical portions; median lobe in ventral view narrowly and deeply constricted in subapical region and broadly, shallowly constricted in submedian region.

Description. Externally indistinguishable from Pseudocephennium araguanum ( Fig. 2 ); body suboval and strongly convex, light reddish brown, constriction between pronotum and elytra barely marked, setae yellowish; BL 1.23 mm.

Head broadest at small, moderately convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.13 mm, HW 0.30 mm; vertex and frons confluent, weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles weakly raised. Punctures on vertex and frons fine and inconspicuous, setae sparse, short, suberect. Antennae short, strongly thickened distally, AnL 0.50 mm, antennomeres I–II distinctly elongated, III–VII indistinctly elongated, VIII–X each distinctly transverse, XI about as long as IX–X together, about 1.6× as long as broad, broader than X and with blunt apex.

Pronotum semioval, strongly convex, broadest at base; PL 0.38 mm, PW 0.55 mm. Anterior and lateral margins in anterior half strongly rounded, sides nearly parallel in posterior fourth; posterior pronotal corners nearly right-angled, with acute tips; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral marginal carinae narrow and sharply demarcated from disc; lateral antebasal pits very shallow but distinct, each located slightly closer to posterior than lateral pronotal margin. Punctures as fine and inconspicuous as those on frons and vertex; setae moderately dense, short, nearly recumbent to slightly erect.

Elytra about as convex as pronotum, oval, broadest in front of middle; EL 0.73 mm, EW 0.58 mm, EI 1.26; subhumeral lines very short and indistinct, posteriorly not extending beyond distinct humeral calli; humeral carinae distinct, sharply marked, slightly shorter than 0.2 EL. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum. Hind wings fully developed.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus (Figs 13–14) stout and symmetrical, AeL 0.35 mm; capsular part of median lobe in ventral view broadest near base, shallowly and broadly constricted in submedian region and deeply and narrowly constricted (nearly notched) in subapical region. Distal region of median lobe with one pair of large lateral projections (lap) broadly separated at middle (where apex of short median projection (mep) can be seen), lateral projections are broad at bases and narrowing distally up to truncated, subrectangular apices. In lateral view apical assemblage of projections is very large and bent dorsally. Parameres very slender, with broadened apices, each with three apical setae.

Distribution. North-western Venezuela ( Fig. 22 ).

Etymology. The specific epithet auriculatum refers to the ear-like apical projections of the aedeagus (after Latin auricula, ear).

Remarks. The holotype is slightly damaged; the club of left antenna and right elytron are missing. Although this species is externally indistinguishable from P. araguanum , aedeagi of these sympatric species are clearly different, not only in the shape and arrangement of the apical structures, but also in the shape of the median lobe.

Figures

FIGURE 22. Distribution of Pseudocephennium (except P. integricolle Reitter, recorded generally from Venezuela without precise locality).

FIGURES 1 – 2. Dorsal habitus of Pseudocephennium maximum (1) and P. araguanum (2).