Lithocharis uvida KRAATZ , 1859

Assing, Volker, 2015, A revison of the Lithocharis species of the Palaearctic, Oriental and Australian regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Medonina), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (2), pp. 1133-1178 : 1150-1152

Lithocharis uvida KRAATZ, 1859

( Figs 42-46 )

Lithocharis uvida KRAATZ, 1859: 138 .

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂, present designation: " Ceylon / Syntypus / Coll. Kraatz / DEI Müncheberg Col - 04276 / Lectotypus ♂ Lithocharis uvida Kraatz desig. V. Assing 2014 / Lithocharis uvida Kraatz , det. V. Assing 2014" (SDEI) . Paralectotypes: 2♂♂, 4♀♀: " Ceylon / Syntypus / Coll. Kraatz / DEI Müncheberg Col - 04277-04282" (SDEI).

Comment: The original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "insula Ceylan " ( KRAATZ 1859). Seven syntypes, three males and four females, were located in the Kraatz collection at the SDEI. One of the males is designated as the lectotype.

Additional material examined Nepal: 1♂, 1 ex., Phewa-Tal, Pokhara , 35°59'N, 28°14'E, 760 m, in cattle dung, 8.-10.V.1954, leg. Hyatt ( BMNH, cAss). India: 1♂ [teneral], Assam, Manas, 200 m, 23.X.1978, leg. Besuchet & Löbl ( MHNG) ; 1♀, Assam, Bhalukpong , 27°02'N, 92°35'N, 150 m, 26.V.-3.VI.2006, leg. Pacholátko ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Dehra Dun , 5.VIII.1921, leg. Cameron ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Dehra Dun , 17.X.1921, leg. Cameron ( BMNH) ; 1♂, " Sarda, Bengal ", leg. Champion ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Kerala, Aleppey , "9,28' 76,17'", sea level, canal edge, 31.I.1983, leg. Darby ( cAss). Sri Lanka: 1 ex., Dikoya , 1150-1280 m, 25-27.II.1882, leg. Lewis ( BMNH) ; 1 ex., locality not specified, leg. Lewis ( BMNH) ; 1♂, Kandy , VI.1908, leg. Bryant ( BMNH). China: 2♀♀, Sichuan, Qingcheng Shan, NW Chengdu , 30°54'N, 103°32'E, 650- 700 m, 3.-4.VI.1997, leg. Schülke ( cSch) ; 2♀♀, Qingcheng Shan, 56 km NW Chengdu, 30°54'N, 103°33'E, 975 m, field margin, sifted from straw heaps, 13.VII.1999, leg. Schülke ( cSch, cAss). Taiwan: 1♂, Chiayi Hsien, Dalin [" Taihorin "], 22.VII.1911, leg. Sauter ( BMNH). Hong Kong: 1♀ ( BMNH). Japan: 1♀, Tokyo, Tachikawa , 6.V.1937, leg. Yano ( BMNH). Singapore: 2♂♂, 1♀, Mandai, rotting fruit, leg. Cameron ( BMNH, cAss) ; 2♀♀, locality not specified, leg. Saunders ( BMNH). Laos: 1♀, 240 km N Vientiane, 10 km N Luang Prabang, Mekong river, XI.1992, leg. Somsy ( cSch). Malaysia: 1♀, Penang, X.1913, leg. Bryant ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Penang, leg. Bowring ( BMNH). Indonesia: 1♂, 1♀, Celébes ( BMNH) ; 1♀, South Sulawesi, Tjanba , leg. Doherty ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Sulawesi, leg. Wallace ( BMNH) ; 1♀, Sumatra, Bukittinggi [" Fort de Kock "], 1926, leg. Jacobson ( BMNH).

Redescription: Body length 4.4-5.5 mm; length of forebody 2.4-2.8 mm. Head dark-brown to blackish; pronotum brown; elytra pale-reddish to dark-red; abdomen brown, with apex and the margins of the segments yellowish; legs yellowish; antennae yellowish-red to red.

Head ( Fig. 42 ) weakly transverse, 1.02-1.04 times as broad as long, indistinctly dilated behind eyes; punctation extremely dense and fine; interstices with pronounced microsculpture; surface matt. Eyes large, much longer than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antennae 1.5-1.7 mm long; preapical antennomeres approximately as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 42 ) approximately 1.1 times as wide as long and 1.1 times as broad as head; posterior angles moderately marked; punctation and microsculpture similar to those of head, disc matt; midline without impunctate band.

Elytra ( Fig. 42 ) approximately as long as pronotum or slightly longer; punctation very dense and fine; surface matt. Protarsomeres I-IV not distinctly modified. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation extremely fine and dense; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 43 ) moderately transverse, posterior margin with very long comb of> 40 relatively short palisade setae, laterally with few long dark setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 44 ) oblong, with short and dense pubescence everywhere, posterior excision broad and not very deep, shallowly V-shaped; aedeagus ( Figs 45-46 ) approximately 0.7 mm long and with apical portion of distinctive shape; dorso-lateral apophyses absent.

Comparative notes: Lithocharis uvida externally somewhat resembles a small Charichirus. It is distinguished from its congeners particularly by the conspicuously matt forebody and relatively large body size alone. In addition, it differs from them by the long comb of short pectinate setae at the posterior margin of the male sternite VII, the oblong and densely pubescent male sternite VIII with a relatively shallow posterior excision, and by the morphology of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: Confirmed records are known from Nepal, Sri Lanka, North and South India, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The record from China in CAMERON (1931) probably refers to Hong Kong. Some of the examined specimens were collected from straw heaps, rotting fruit, cattle dung, and a canal margin. The altitudes range from sea-level to approximately 1300 m.

Figures

Figs 42-46: Lithocharis uvida KRAATZ (43-46: lectotype): (42) forebody; (43) male sternite VII; (44) male sternite VIII; (45-46) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 42: 1.0 mm; 43- 46: 0.2 mm.