Andrikothelyna Pace, 2000

Nozaki, Tsubasa, 2023, Taxonomy of the genus Andrikothelyna Pace, 2000 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae Aleocharinae), with description of three new species from Taiwan and Japan, Zootaxa 5264 (1), pp. 64-76 : 65-66

Genus Andrikothelyna Pace, 2000

Andrikothelyna Pace, 2000: 124 , figs 54–58 (original description)

[type species: Andrikothelyna papuana Pace, 2000 ].

Speiraphallusa Pace, 2013: 35 , figs 1, 12–17 (original description)

[type species: Speiraphallusa orientis Pace, 2013 ]; SantiagoJiménez and Santiago-Navarro 2016: 49 (key to genera of Placusini ); Pires-Silva 2023: 469 (modified key to genera of Placusini ). Syn. nov.

Diagnosis. Andrikothelyna may be distinguished from other genera based on the following characteristics: strongly convex body; posterior angle of head round and neck almost absent; two-segmented labial palpi; short and unilobed ligula; two medial setae distant from each other; strongly transverse mentum; tarsal formula 4-4-5; extremely long segment I of meso- and metatarsi (fig. 15 in Pace 2013; elytra with a pair of a longitudinal row of weak or distinct granules along the suture.

Redescription. Body fusiform ( Figs 1–8 ); dorsal surface microreticulation indistinct but that on abdominal tergite II distinct; pronotum, elytra, and abdominal tergites covered with rough reticulation sometimes forming small granules around pores.

Head transverse; almost all microsetae directed anterolaterally; infraorbital carina well developed; posterior angle round; neck almost absent. Antennae moderately long; segments IV–XI with dense microsetae.

Mouthparts. Labrum ( Fig. 9 ). Anterior margin weakly concave, surface with about 17 setae; epipharynx with 2 pairs of small sensillae on anterior margin, and 3 pairs of micro setae on lateral margin; basal region with transverse row of sensory pores. Mandible ( Figs 11–12 ) short, right with large subapical teeth; prostheca not fringed with tooth or setulae, basal area forming tongue like lobe; spinules of molar dorsal area not in distinct row; ventral molar area without denticles. Maxilla ( Fig. 13 ), palpi without pseudosegment; apex of galea moderately brushy; lacinia widened apicad, spines on adoral margin distributed at only apical half. Labium ( Fig. 14 ), palpi with two segments, apical segment longer than basal one; apex of ligula unilobed and rounded. Prementum with two medial setae with pores distant from each other, with many pseudopores, one real pore, and one setalpore on each side; lateral margin of hypopharynx with setae entirely; apodeme with two medial projections. Mentum ( Fig. 15 ) strongly transverse, 3 times as wide as long, with about 10 setae.

Thorax. Pronotum strongly transverse, postero-lateral angle gently sinuate, microsetae directed posteriorly. Elytra transverse; surface along suture and lateral margin with longitudinal row of strong to weak granules. Mesoventral processes ( Fig. 16 ) without medial carina, apex round or truncated, extending middle of mesocoxal cavities; mesocoxal cavities mostly separated; apex of metaventral process round.

Abdomen elongate, slightly narrowed posteriad; posterior margin of tergite VIII with teeth.

Legs. Tarsal formula 4-4-5; segment I of meso- and metatarsi very long.

Male. Median lobe of aedeagus narrow; apical lobe of paramerite short.

Female. Spermatheca short and simple.

Remarks. Speiraphallusa completely matches Andrikothelyna in character states which are essential for genus classification such as mouth parts, tarsi, and granules on elytra. Thus, it is reasonable to consider Speiraphallusa as a junior synonym of Andrikothelyna .

Despite examining only males, Pace (2013) described the rows of granules of elytra, along the suture and the lateral margin of elytra, as a characteristic of the males of Speiraphallusa . However, no sex-specific differences were present in the elytra in all the new species studied in this paper. Distinct sexual dimorphism was observed on the tergite VII and sternite VIII of Andrikothelyna limbata sp. nov. and Andrikothelyna naomichii sp. nov.

In the original description of the genus Speiraphallusa , the head was described as “neck moderate” ( Pace 2013), following which, Santiago-Jiménez & Santiago-Navarro (2016) recognized the state “with neck” as one of the characteristics of the genus in key to the genera of the tribe Placusini (p. 49). However, the neck was absent in all the new species examined in this paper. Perhaps the presence of the “neck” was incorrectly recognized by Pace (2013) when he viewed the specimen in the dorsal view. Pires-Silva (2023) mentioned the diagnostic characteristic of Speiraphallusa in the key to genera of Placusini (p. 469) as “tergite VIII transverse, not modified”, but all species of this genus have teeth on posterior margin of the tergite VIII.

In Andrikothelyna orientis ( Pace 2013) comb. nov. only a flagellum of the median lobe of the aedeagus appears to be coiled (as shown in fig. 12 in Pace 2013), but in A. limbata sp. nov., which has a similar shape of the median lobe to that of A. orientis comb. nov. not only flagellum but also bulb is spiraled ( Figs 23–25 ). Therefore, it is likely that the figure shown in Pace (2013) is drawn based on a misunderstanding of the morphology and the bulb is coiled or spiraled in A. orientis comb. nov. The morphology of the flagellum and the bulb itself being spiral shaped in A. limbata sp. nov., possibly also in A. orientis comb. nov., is unique, and no similar morphology is known within the subfamily.

The genus is recorded newly in Taiwan and Japan in this study.

Distribution. Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea.

Bionomics. The following three new species were collected from dead vines or dead branches on living trunks. Talipariti tiliaceum and Machilus thunbergii are recorded as the plant species below.

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Habitus of Andrikothelyna spp. 1, 5―Holotype of Andrikothelyna rubiginosa sp. nov., female; 2, 6―Holotype of Andrikothelyna limbata sp. nov., male (Kyushu); 3, 7―Andrikothelyna limbata sp. nov. male (Ishigaki Is.); 4, 8―Holotype of Andrikothelyna naomichii sp. nov. male.

FIGURES 9–15. Mouth parts of Andrikothelyna rubiginosa sp. nov. 9―Labrum; 10―epipharynx; 11―left mandible; 12― right mandible; 13―maxilla; 14―labium; 15―mentum.

FIGURES 16–19. Andrikothelyna rubiginosa sp. nov. female. 16―Meso- and metaventrite; 17―abdominal tergite VIII; 18― abdominal sternite VIII; 19―spermatheca.

FIGURES 20–28. Andrikothelyna limbata sp. nov. 20―abdominal tergite VIII, male; 21―abdominal sternite VIII male; 22― abdominal sternite VIII female; 23–25―median lobe of male aedeagus: 23―lateral view; 24―ventral view; 25―lateral view; 26―paramere of male aedeagus; 27―female spermatheca (Kyushu); 28―female spermatheca (Ishigaki Is.).