Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus, Janák, Jiří & Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2015

Janák, Jiří & Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2015, Revision of the genus Thyreocephalus and description of Afrus gen. nov. of Africa south of the Sahara (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Zootaxa 4038 (1), pp. 1-94 : 23

Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus sp. nov.

( Figs. 29 , 40–44 , 238, 239 )

Type locality. Democratic Republic of Congo, Tsingidi, 2° 24' 15.6'' S, 12° 58' 11.0'' E

Type material examined. Holotype ♂: REPUBLIC OF CONGO: “ DRC [sic!, typographic error, in reality not DRC = Democratic Republic of Congo but Republic of Congo]: Tsingidi, 2.24. 15.6 S [= 2° 24' 15.6'' S], 12.58. 11.0 E [= 12° 58' 11.0'' E], November 2013, leg. L. J. Niemand”, ”, “ Holotypus Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus sp. nov., Janák & Bordoni det. 2015” ( TMSA). Paratypes: 7 ♂, 3 ♀: same data as holotype, but “ Paratypus Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus sp. nov., Janák & Bordoni det. 2015” (5 ♂, 2 ♀ in TMSA, 1 ♂ in ABFI, 1 ♂, 1 ♀ in JJRC).

Description. Body length 15–19 mm long; length from anterior margin of head to posterior margin of elytra: 5.5–6.5 mm. Head and pronotum black; metasternum, elytra and abdomen orange light; abdominal tergites 5 and 6 infuscate in the middle. Head and pronotum and related punctation as in Fig. 40 ; head and pronotum shiny; labrum as in Fig. 41 . Posterior angles of head in lateral view very protruding. Elytra sub-quadrangular, large, longer and wider than pronotum, with rounded humeral angles. Surface with spaced punctation, arranged in three series, one near suture, one median and one lateral. Abdomen with very fine and dense, transversal micro-striation and fine, sparse punctation, with long yellowish setae; one blackish lateral seta on each segment.

Male. Head larger, lateral part of temples with distinct apicolateral protrusion, densely and moderately coarsely punctured. Tergite 10 and sternite 9 of the male genital segment as in Figs. 42, 43 . Aedeagus ( Fig. 44 ) 1.66 mm long, with long, ovoid median lobe.

Female. Head smaller, lateral part of temples without or at most with short apicolateral protrusion, with a few scattered fine punctures.

Differential diagnosis. Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus sp. nov. differs from the most similar T. africanus in the infuscate abdominal tergites 5 and 6, the shorter and wider median lobe of the aedeagus and shorter paramere.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Greek pseudo- and the Latin africanus , referring to its similarity to T. africanus .

Distribution. The species is distributed in Republic of Congo ( Fig. 29 ).

Bionomy. The species was collected in pitfall traps baited with Chimpanzee dung ( Figs. 238, 239 ).

Figures

FIGURE 29. Distribution of species in Thyreocephalus pilosus group (● = T. africanus (Bernhauer), Δ = T. brunneiventris (Tottenham), ▲ = T. pilosus (Roth), ☆ T. pseudoafricanus sp. nov., ○ = T. secretus (Bernhauer), ★ = T. tsingidianus sp. nov.).

FIGURES 40 – 44. Thyreocephalus pseudoafricanus sp. nov.; 40, head and pronotum; 41, labrum; 42, male tergite 10; 43, male sternite 9; 44, aedeagus.

FIGURES 238 – 240. 238, 239, Tsingidi, Republic of Congo (type locality of Thyreocephalus tsingidianus sp. nov. and T. pseudoafricanus sp. nov.); 238, forest; 239, pitfall traps; 240, Mariepskop, South Africa (type locality of T. meridionalis sp. nov.) — arrow indicates a place where the specimen was collected.