Lithocharis sordidula HERMAN , 2003

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 : 1156-1157

Lithocharis sordidula HERMAN, 2003 ( Figs 60-66 )

Lithocharis sordida CAMERON, 1928: 245 ; preoccupied.

Lithocharis sordidula HERMAN, 2003: 6 ; replacement name.

Type material examined: Lectotype ♂, present designation: "Bentong, Pahang, F.M.S., Dr. Cameron / Dung / L. sordida Cam , Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147. / Type / Lectotypus ♂ Lithocharis sordida Cameron , desig. V. Assing 2015 / Lithocharis sordidula Herman , det. V. Assing 2015 " (BMNH).

Comment: The original description of L. sordida is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from "Malay Peninsula, Pahang " ( CAMERON 1928). One slightly damaged male syntype (left elytron missing; male sternite VIII incomplete) was located in the Cameron collection at the BMNH; it is designated as the lectotype. The preoccupied name Lithocharis sordida was recently replaced with the nomen novum L. sordidula by HERMAN (2003).

Additional material examined: Thailand: 1♂, Chumphon prov., Pha To env. 9°48'N, 98°47'E, 1.-21.III.1996, leg. Majer ( NHMB) ; 1♂, 1♀, same data, but 27.III.-14.IV.1996 ( NHMB, cAss) .

Redescription: Body length 3.4-3.8 mm; length of forebody 1.85-2.1 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 60 . Coloration: head blackish; pronotum and elytra pale reddishbrown; abdomen brown, with the apex and the posterior margins of the segments paler; legs yellowish; antennae brown with antennomeres I-II yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 61 ) as long as broad or weakly oblong; punctation dense and very fine; interstices with shallow microsculpture. Eyes large, distinctly longer than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antennae approximately 1.2 mm long; preapical antennomeres approximately as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 61 ) approximately as long as broad and as broad as head; posterior angles rounded, weakly marked; punctation similar to that of head; midline with distinct impunctate band; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 61 ) as long as pronotum or slightly longer; punctation very dense and fine; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings present. Protarsomeres I-IV moderately dilated, slightly more so in male than in female. Metatarsomere I nearly as long as the combined length of II and III.

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

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 62 ) moderately transverse, posterior margin nearly truncate and with comb of approximately 20 moderately long palisade setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 63 ) approximately as long as broad and with posterior excision of somewhat variable shape (sometimes more broadly V-shaped); aedeagus ( Figs 64-66 ) approximately 0.7 mm long; ventral process with pair of ventral teeth in the middle (best visible in lateral view); dorso-lateral apophyses very long, nearly reaching apex of ventral process; internal structures of distinctive shapes.

Comparative notes: This species is characterized particularly by the slender head and pronotum, by rather small body size, by the shapes and chaetotaxy of the male sternites VII and VIII, and by the morphology of the aedeagus (ventral process with pair of teeth, dorso-lateral apophyses very long, shapes of internal structures). For characters distinguishing it from the similarly small and syntopic L. inermis see the comparative notes in the section on that species.

Distribution and natural history: Confirmed records are known only from two localities, one in Pahang province in Peninsular Malaysia and one in Chumphon province in southern Thailand. The lectotype was collected from dung.

Figures

Figs 60-66: Lithocharis sordidula HERMAN (64-65: lectotype): (60) habitus; (61) forebody; (62) male sternite VII; (63) male sternite VIII; (64-65) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (66) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 60-61: 1.0 mm; 62-66: 0.2 mm. A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d India: 1♂, Assam, Bhalukpong, 27°02'N, 92°35'E, 150 m, 26.V.-3.VI.2006, leg. Pacholátko (cAss); 1♂, 2♀♀, Assam, Umrongso env., 25°27'N, 92°43'E, 700 m, 3.-8.VI.2002, leg. Trýzna (cSch, cAss); 1♀, Meghalaya, 1 km E Tura, 25°30'N, 90°14'E, 500-600 m, 2.-5.V.2002, leg. Trýzna & Benda (cSch). China: 1♂, Guangxi, Bama, cow dung, I.1988 (BMNH). Thailand: 2♂♂, 2♀♀, Chumphon prov., Pha To env., 9°48'N, 98°47'E, 27.III.-14.IV.1996, leg. Majer (NHMB, cAss); 1♂, Chumphon prov., Pha To env. 9°48'N, 98°47'E, 1.-21.III.1996, K. Majer leg. (NHMB); 1♂, Chumphon, Pha To env., 9°48'N, 98°47'E, III-IV.1996, at light, leg. Prudek (cSch); 1♂, 1♀, Ranong prov., Ranong: Hot Springs, 9°56'N, 98°40'E, 23.-25.II.1996, leg. Majer" (NHMB, cAss). Laos: 8 exs., 240 km N Vientiane, 10 km N Luang Prabang, Mekong river, XI.1992, leg. Somsy (cSch, cAss). Singapore: 1♂, "B.T.Ra." 4 m, I.1922, leg. Saunders (BMNH); 1 ex., "Scott land", 5.VIII.1922, leg. Saunders (BMNH).Indonesia: 6 exs., Sulawesi Tengah, near Morowali, Ranu River area, lowland rain forest, at light, I-IV.1980, leg. Brendell (BMNH, cAss).