Termitozophilus laetus Silvestri, 1901

Zilberman, Bruno, 2019, Synopsis of the genus Termitozophilus Silvestri (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Corotocini), Zootaxa 4614 (1), pp. 95-116 : 97-100

Termitozophilus laetus Silvestri, 1901

Termitozophilus laetus Silvestri, 1901: 8 (original description)

Female—Length ~3.5 mm (abdomen extended)

Male—Length ~ 3 mm (abdomen extended)

Body moderately physogastric, partially sclerotized; sclerotized areas mostly light brown; considerable membranous area exposed in dorsal view; small posterior band of pronotum black and lateral margins of sclerites dark-brown. All sclerotized parts covered with medium sized bristles (figs. 1–4, 5A–B).

Head. Elongate, widest behind eyes, narrowed posteriorly; length of eyes about 1/3 of total head length; one setae behind each eye and a pair in medial-posterior region of vertex (figs. 6, 7, 55). Antennae: scape slightly longer than remainder antenommeres except the last; antennomeres II-X elongate, gradually decreasing in length; antennomere XI about three times longer than wide and more than twice length of IX (figs. 8, 58). Mouthparts. Labrum more than twice larger than long; five main long bristles on each side, distributed in two diagonal rows each with two bristles (D2 - D1/ M2 - M1) and one (P1) alone placed above middle of labrum length; epipharynx covered with sensilla and numerous short setae, with two of them rather longer than the others (figs. 12, 61).

Mandibles. With apical region narrow and tooth round and broad at median region (fig. 13). Maxillae: galea subquadrate, more than twice wider than lacinia, covered with bristles of varied lengths at margins; lacinia narrow, as long as galea; surface scarcely covered with moderately long bristles; maxillary palpi densely setose and with four palpomeres strongly sclerotized: palpomere I short and II–IV elongate (fig. 11). Labium with ligula narrow at base and with a median emargination at apex, resulting in two lobes (fig. 10); mentum and submentum distinct, both trapezoidal, with three bristles distributed each side as follows: apical (ap), pre-apical (pa) and proximal (px) (figs. 9, 63).

Thorax. Elytra subquadrate, slightly longer than wide and slightly wider at posterior region, covering meso- and metanoto; surface covered with long bristles (fig. 16). Hind wings present; absent in some specimens.

Abdomen: tergites short, with secondary esclerotization, not reaching inner paratergites; outer paratergites close to margin of sclerites by former secondary sclerotization; inner and outer paratergites fusioned (figs. 1–4, 5A–B); first segment represented by a strong sclerotized tergite attached to metanotum, with medial region strongly projected backwards (fig. 15); tergite VIII slightly subquadrate, with two rows each with six main long bristles in medial and apical regions, and four moderate size bristles in the extreme apical region; sternite IX in male as one piece of irregular shape, moderately sclerotized, with two bristles on apical region; in female, sternite IX is presented by a pair of hemiesternites laterally attatched to tergite IX; tergite IX with five long bristles.

Material examined. Brazil. Pará: Belém (Fazenda Pirelli), 30/III/1 970, J. M. Campbell and B. A. Campbell col. ( MZSP 21131 ), host: Cornitermes incisus Emerson, 1952 (field number, 70-18-b-f), 1 specimen . Mato Grosso: Chapada dos Guimarães, 9/I/1951, R. [Renato] L. [Lion] Araujo col. ( MZSP 21116 ), host: Cornitermes cumulans ( MZSP 3394 ), 17 specimens .

São Paulo: São Paulo (Congonhas), 16/X/1950, R. [Renato] L. [Lion] Araujo col. ( MZSP 21105 ), host: Cornitermes cumulans ( MZSP 3342 ), 427 specimens (1 male and 1 female dissected in slides). idem, 26/VI/1951. ( MZSP 21120 ), host: idem ( MZSP 3342 ), 9 specimens ;

Localities cited in literature. Brazil. Pará: Belém (Fazenda Pirelli) ( Viggiani, 1973). Mato Grosso: Cuiabá (Coxipó) ( Borgmeier 1950, Seevers 1957). Minas Gerais: Passa Quatro ( Seevers, 1957). Distrito Federal: Brasília and Parque Nacional ( Campbell, 1973). São Paulo: São Paulo (Fazenda Campininha) ( Seevers 1957; Campbell, 1973). Paraguay. Tacurú-pucù (type locality). Argentina. Misiones: Posadas ( Bruch 1930).

Remarks. The material examined from Congonhas and Sacomã is probably the same studied by Seevers (1957), who did not give specific locality for the state of São Paulo. The new record, “Chapada dos Guimarães” is a municipality of Mato Grosso state. In the genus redescription, Jacobson et al. (1986) stated that the wings were present with typical staphilinid venation. It was observed, however, that the wings in T. laetus could be either present in one or both sides, or absent totally.

What is interesting, however, is finding some specimens of T. laetus with only one wing present. It is possible that the adults have wings, but somehow, they drop them off since wings are useless inside the nest. It is here hypothesize, that the wings have been not completely lost because there are dispersal specimens in the population. The not dispersal specimens lose their wings because they no needed anymore. It is interesting to note, that stenogastric individuals of Termitozophilus laetus all have wings, and perhaps it is reasonable to infer that they are the dispersal individuals.