Oedichirus bicuspidatus, Assing, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, Three new species of Paederinae from Northeast India (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1561-1570 : 1564-1567

Oedichirus bicuspidatus nov.sp. ( Figs 6-10 , Map 1 )

Type material: Holotype: " India: Assam #7c, North Cachar Hills dist., Mt. Borail , "Pharmai" hunting camp , 1250 m, 18.x.2005, 25°06'02''N, 93°03'39''E / sifting litter in mixed broadleaved forest, leg. G. Cuccodoro & A. Marletta #7c / Holotypus Oedichirus bicuspidatus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2013" ( MHNG).

Etymology: The name (Latin, adjective: with two apices) alludes to the shape of the male sternite VIII.

Description: Body length 8.5 mm; length of forebody 3.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 6 . Coloration: head and pronotum reddish; elytra blackish; abdomen bicoloured, with segments III-VI reddish and segments VII-X black; legs and antennae darkyellowish.

Head ( Fig. 7 ) transverse, approximately 1.25 times as broad as long, broadest across eyes; posterior angles sharply marked by a small setiferous projection; median dorsal surface with three coarse punctures in triangular arrangement; frons with seven coarse punctures arranged in two anteriorly converging rows each composed of three punctures and a median puncture; at posterior margin with a short transverse row composed of three coarse punctures. Eyes strongly convex, almost reaching posterior margin of head. Antenna 2.5 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 7 ) 1.2 times as long as broad and approximately as broad as head, widest in anterior half and distinctly tapering posteriorly; punctation as in O. depravatus .

Elytra ( Fig. 7 ) short, 0.55 times as long as pronotum, widest in posterior half; humeral angles completely obsolete; on either side of suture with a row of four conspicuously coarse punctures, disc with additional, less coarse punctures. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra; anterior impression of tergite III with two median keels and additional, more irregular sculpture; impressions of tergites IV-VI with numerous longitudinal keels separated by small impressions; remainder of tergal surfaces with coarse punctures arranged in two (tergite III) or three (tergites IV-VII) transverse rows; punctures on tergite VII distinctly less coarse than those on tergites III-VI; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: sternite VIII ( Fig. 8 ) transverse, posterior margin with pair of conspicuous tooth-like processes, between these processes with fringe of dense yellowish setae; aedeagus ( Figs 9-10 ) 1.1 mm long and slightly asymmetric.

Comparative notes: Oedichirus bicuspidatus is readily distinguished from all the species keyed by CAMERON (1931) by its coloration pattern alone. It differs from the geographically close O. depravatus by the black elytra, the more slender pronotum, the punctation of the head, the shorter elytra (in relation to pronotum), the different shape of the male sternite VIII, and by the smaller and differently shaped aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in Assam province, Northeast India ( Map 1 ). The specimen was sifted from leaf litter in a mixed broadleaved forest at an altitude of 1250 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Oedichirus depravatus nov.sp. (triangles), O. bicuspidatus nov.sp. (circle), and Paederus borailicus nov.sp. (circle).

Figs 6-10: Oedichirus bicuspidatus nov.sp.: (6) habitus; (7) forebody; (8) male sternite VIII; (9) aedeagus in lateral view; (10) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 6-7: 1.0 mm; 8-10: 0.5 mm.