Anaulacaspis beesoni ( CAMERON, 1939 )

Assing, Volker, 2016, Revision of the Anaulacaspis species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (2), pp. 201-255 : 252-253

Anaulacaspis beesoni ( CAMERON, 1939)

( Figs 221–228 , Map 7 )

Falagria (Melagria) beesoni CAMERON, 1939: 260 .

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂, present designation: “Arni Gad. Mussoorie. / Dr. Cameron. 12.VI.21. / F. Beesoni Cam. Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147. / Syntype / Lectotypus ♂ Falagria beesoni Cameron , desig. V. Assing 2016 / Anaulacaspis beesoni (Cameron) , det. V. Assing 2016” ( BMNH) . Paralectotypes: 4 ♀♀: same data as lectotype ( BMNH) .

Comment: The original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from “ Mussooree district : Arni Gad; Keyarkuli ” ( CAMERON 1939).

Additional material examined: India: 1 ♂, Uttar Pradesh, Kumaon Hills, Nainital , 1900–2200 m, 25.–30.VI.1989, leg. Schuh (cAss) .

Redescription: Body length 1.9–2.1 mm; length of forebody 0.9–1.0 mm. Coloration: body black; legs yellowish-brown to blackish-brown with paler tarsi; antennae brown to blackish, usually with the basal antennomeres paler.

Head transverse, approximately 1.15 times as broad as long, with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism; punctation extremely fine and moderately dense. Eyes longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna short, approximately 0.65 mm long, and distinctly incrassate apically; antennomeres IV–X distinctly transverse and of gradually increasing width, X approximately twice as broad as long.

Pronotum strongly transverse, approximately 1.2 times as broad as long and slightly broader than head, broadest at anterior angles, and strongly tapering posteriad; posterior angles nearly obsolete; without appreciable sexual dimorphism; punctation moderately dense, slightly more distinct than that of head.

Elytra approximately as long as pronotum; punctation dense and fine. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; anterior impressions of tergites III–V deep and without punctation; punctation of remainder tergites III–VI moderately fine and moderately dense; tergite VII with sparser and finer punctation; interstices without appreciable microsculpture and glossy; tergite VIII ( Fig. 221 ) postero-laterally with a cluster of conspicuously modified, apically dilated setae on either side, anterior margin with very shallow median excision, posterior margin convex and with dense and rather long unmodified marginal setae.

♂: head with shallow and more or less extensive median impression; sternite VIII ( Fig. 222 ) strongly transverse, postero-laterally with a cluster of conspicuously modified, apically dilated setae on either side ( Fig. 223 ), posterior margin broadly and convexly produced in the middle, and with thin marginal setae; median lobe of aedeagus 0.23–0.25 mm long and shaped as in Figs 224–227 .

♀: head not depressed in postero-median portion; sternite VIII ( Fig. 228 ) of similar shape and chaetotaxy as that of male.

Comparative notes: This species is characterized particularly by the strongly transverse pronotum, the presence of clusters of conspicuously modified setae on tergite and sternite VIII, the shallow median excision of the anterior margin of tergite VIII, and the morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

Distribution: The known distribution is confined to Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, North India ( Map 7 ).

Figures

Map 7: Distributions of Anaulacaspis beesoni (black circles), A. pectinata (white star), A. schuelkei (black triangle), A. beijingensis (white circles), and A. taiwanica (black star) in the East Palaearctic region, based on revised records.

Figs 211–232: Anaulacaspsis formosa (211), A. elegans (212–220), A. beesoni (221–228; 224–225: lectotype), and A. inexpectata (229–232; 231–232: holotype): habitus (211; photo by Marc Tronquet); male tergite VIII (212, 221); male sternite VIII (213, 222); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (214–217, 224–227, 229–232); female tergite VIII (218); posterior margin of female tergite VIII (219); female sternite VIII (220, 228); postero-lateral portion of sternite VIII (223). Scale bars: 211: 1.0 mm; 212–218, 220–222, 224–232: 0.1 mm; 219, 223: 0.05 mm.