Afroeudesis (Afroeudesis) basilewskyi Franz

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015, Confused identity: subgenera of Pseudoeudesis Binaghi belong in two tribes (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 493-507 : 499-501

Afroeudesis (Afroeudesis) basilewskyi Franz

( Figs 1 , 7–10 , 15–16 , 23 )

Pseudoeudesis (Afroeudesis) basilewskyi Franz, 1963: 16 , fig. 11.

Material studied. Paratypes (3 specimens) ( TANZANIA): ♀: five original labels ( Fig. 23 ): " COLL. MUS. CONGO / Tanganyika Terr.: Uluguru / Mts., sommet du Kidunda / 1800-1950 m. 3-V-1957 " [white, printed], "Mission Zoolog. I.R.S.A.C. / en Afrique orientale / (P. Basilewsky et / N. Leleup)" [white, printed], "Forêt de / montagne" [bluish, printed], " Pseudoeudesis / ( Afroeudesis ) / Basilewskyi m. / det.H.Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], " Paratypus " [yellow, handwritten]; 2 ♂♂, three top labels the same, " Afroeudesis / Basilewskyi m. / PARATYPUS " [yellow, handwritten and printed] (all paratypes in NHMW).

Diagnosis. This is the only known species of Afroeudesis and can be identified on the basis of the subgeneric characters and structures of the aedeagus.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) elongate and moderately slender, strongly convex, with moderately long appendages, BL 0.73 mm; pigmentation light brown with slightly darker elytra; vestiture of setae slightly lighter than cuticle.

Head ( Fig. 1 ) in dorsal view subtriangular, broadest at eyes, HL 0.13 mm, HW 0.15 mm; tempora about as long as half length of eye; vertex and frons convex at sides, their median region forms large subtriangular and elongated plate broadest between antennal insertions and narrowing posteriorly, laterally demarcated by ridges, and bearing median longitudinal impression; supraantennal tubercles feebly marked; eyes large, nearly circular, coarsely faceted, strongly projecting laterally. Vertex and frons with inconspicuous fine scaly microsculpture on median field, nearly impunctate, with only several short, suberect setae barely noticeable under stereoscopic microscope. Antennae ( Fig. 1 ) slender but moderately long, with distinct club composed of antennomeres IX–XI, AnL 0.28 mm; antennomeres I and II enlarged, elongate, III–VIII each about as long as broad or indistinctly transverse, IX and X slightly broader than long, XI much shorter than IX and X together, about as long as broad, with blunt apex.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) in dorsal view bell-shaped, broadest at base, PL 0.20 mm, PW 0.18 mm; anterior and posterior margins arcuate; sides strongly rounded in anterior half and distinctly constricted near posterior fourth; base with distinct transverse groove connecting one pair of small lateral pits. Pronotal disc with fine and inconspicuous punctures; setae short, sparse and suberect.

Elytra oval, broadest behind middle; EL 0.40 mm, EW 0.28 mm, EI 1.45; basal impressions absent, subhumeral lines short and rounded. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotal disc. Hind wings well developed.

Legs ( Fig. 1 ) moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 15–16 ) thin-walled, elongate, with broadly subtrapezoidal apical portion of median lobe, AeL 0.11 mm; endophallus with long median tubular component extending from base to apex and flanked by two shorter elongate, asymmetrical sclerites; parameres long and slender, each with one apical seta.

Female. Similar to male but with rudimentary eyes ( Figs 7–8 ), each composed of two ommatidia. and wingless. BL 0.70 mm; HL 0.13 mm, HW 0.15 mm, AnL 0.23 mm; PL 0.20 mm, PW 0.18 mm; EL 0.38 mm, EW 0.28 mm, EI 1.36.

Distribution. Eastern Tanzania.

Remarks. In the original paper, Franz stated that the description was based on 12 specimens collected by P. Basilewsky and N. Leleup in Tanganyika (i.e., Tanzania) in the Uluguru Mountains; 11 of them found near Kidunda, 1800–1950 m, 0 3.05.1957, and one in the Ululu-Ndogo Valley, 0 8.05.1957. One of the specimens from Kidunda was fixed as the holotype (indicated as " Type "), but the depository of the type specimens was not specified. Only three specimens, all labeled as paratypes, were found in the Franz Collection at NHMW; two of them are dry-mounted males, and one female was originally disarticulated and embedded in euparal (size and material of the plastic plate unevenly cut out of a larger piece, dark yellow euparal as mounting medium and careless preparation suggest that it was made by Franz himself). All these specimens bear a similar set of labels ( Fig. 23 ), and the top label reads "Coll. Mus. Congo ", i.e., the Musée du Congo, currently the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, suggesting that the holotype and remaining paratypes might have been deposited there. Unfortunately, no specimens of this species were found in Tervuren (Didier Van den Spiegel, email dated 11.06.2015). The gender of holotype was not specified by Franz, but the entire description seems to have been based on a female specimen, as the eyes of this species are described as small, and the very large eyes of males, a striking character compared to rudimentary eyes of the remaining species of Pseudoeudesis described in the same paper, were not even mentioned. However, an aedeagus was illustrated ( Franz 1963, fig. 11), and males were mentioned as having fully developed wings, in contrast to wingless females. The original description agrees well with characters of the three specimens examined during the present study, but the species cannot be unambiguously identified because of the typical of Franz, inaccurate illustration of the aedeagus.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Habitus of Afroeudesis and Oreoeudesis. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz, paratype male (1); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz, holotype male (2) and paratype female (3); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz, holotype male (4) and paratype male (5); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz, holotype male (6).

FIGURES 7 – 10. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz, paratype female. Head in dorsal (7) and ventral (8) view; prothorax in ventral view (9); pterothorax in ventral view (10). Abbreviations: amvp, anterior metaventral process; bst, basistipes; bst, basisternal part of prosternum; cd, cardo; cl, clypeus; fo, foramen occipitale; fr, frons; gal, galea; gp, gular plate; gs, gular suture; hr, hypostomal ridge; hy, hypomeron; lac, lacinia; lb, labrum; lc, lateral carina; lmfa, lateral metafurcal arm; mcp, mesocoxal projection; md, mandible; mn, mentum; mscc, mesocoxal cavity; mscs, mesocoxal socket; msff, mesofurcal fovea; mst, mediostipes; msvp, mesoventral intercoxal process; mtvp, metaventral intercoxal process; mxp, maxillary palp; nr, ' neck' region; nss, notosternal suture; occ, occipital constriction; pcc, procoxal cavity; pcs, procoxal socket; pff, profurcal fovea; ppf, palpifer; pre, prepectus; psp, prosternal intercoxal process; ptp, posterior tentorial pit; smn, submentum; tm, temple; v 3, metaventrite; vlf, ventrolateral fovea; vt, vertex.

FIGURES 15 – 22. Aedeagus in ventral (15, 17, 19, 21) and lateral (16, 18, 20, 22) views. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz (15 – 16); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz (17 – 18); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz (19 – 20); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz (21 – 22).

FIGURES 23 – 26. Original set of labels. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz, paratype (23); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz, holotype (24); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz, holotype (25); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz, lectotype (26).