Lithocharis lamellifera CAMERON , 1928

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 : 1152-1153

Lithocharis lamellifera CAMERON, 1928

( Figs 47-52 )

Lithocharis lamellifer [sic] CAMERON, 1928: 245.

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂, present designation: "12 / Chakrata Dist. Saiya, 3600' / Dr. Cameron. 2.V.22. / L. lamellifer Cam , Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955- 147. / Lectotypus ♂ Lithocharis lamellifera Cameron , desig. V. Assing 2015 / Lithocharis lamellifera Cameron , det. V. Assing 2015 " (BMNH) . Paralectotype ♀: same data as lectotype (BMNH).

Comment: The original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from " India: United Provinces, Saiya" ( CAMERON 1928). Two syntypes, a male and a female, were located in the Cameron collection at the BMNH. The male is designated as the lectotype.

Additional material examined: India: 1♂, Uttar Pradesh, Gangani, 1250 m, 13.-20.VI.1981, leg. Brancucci ( NHMB) ; 1♂, Assam, Umrongso env., 25°27'N, 92°43'E, 700 m, 3.-8.VI.2002, leg. Trýzna (cAss) .

Redescription: Body length 4.2-4.8 mm; length of forebody 2.1-2.3 mm. Coloration: head dark-brown to blackish-brown; pronotum and elytra dark-yellowish to pale-reddish; abdomen reddish to brown, with the margins of the segments reddish; legs yellow; antennae pale-reddish.

Head approximately as long as broad or weakly oblong; posterior angles broadly convex, weakly marked; punctation extremely dense and fine. Eyes large, nearly as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view. Antennae 1.4 mm long; preapical antennomeres approximately as long as broad.

Pronotum approximately as long as broad and as broad as head; posterior angles weakly marked; punctation similar to that of head; midline with narrow glossy band not reaching anterior and posterior margins of pronotum, posteriorly usually with fine furrow.

Elytra slightly longer than pronotum; punctation very dense and fine; surface matt. Protarsomeres I-IV weakly dilated. Metatarsomere I longer than II, but shorter than 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. 47 ) strongly transverse, posterior margin with broad and moderately deep median concavity, this concavity furnished with 30-40 rather long palisade setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 48 ) of highly distinctive shape, posterior excision with a conspicuous median projection; aedeagus ( Figs 49-52 ) approximately 0.75 mm long; dorso-lateral apophyses large, lamellate, and weakly sclerotized; internal sac with a pair of clusters of dark spines and additional sclerotized apical structures.

Comparative notes: Lithocharis lamellifera is readily distinguished from other species of the genus not only by the morphology of the aedeagus and by the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VII, but also by the conspicuous shape of the male sternite VIII.

Distribution and natural history: The known distribution is confined to three localities in North India. The examined material was collected at altitudes between 700 and 1250 m.

Figures

Figs 47-52: Lithocharis lamellifera CAMERON (47-48, 51-52: lectotype): (47) male sternite VII; (48) male sternite VIII; (49-50) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (51-52) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.