Anthobium sociale ( Cameron, 1941 )

Shavrin, Alexey V. & Smetana, Aleš, 2018, A revision of Eastern Palaearctic Anthobium Leach, 1819 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini). II. fusculum group, and two additional species of the nigrum group, Zootaxa 4508 (4), pp. 451-506 : 489-492

Anthobium sociale ( Cameron, 1941)

( Figs. 64 , 77 , 86–87 )

Lathrimaeum (Prionothorax) sociale Cameron, 1941: 59

Anthobium sociale: Herman, 2001: 239

Anthobium (Prionothorax) sociale: Smetana, 2004: 239 ; Schülke & Smetana, 2015: 307

Type material examined: Holotype (by monotypy) ♀: ‘SYN- | TYPE’ <round printed label with blue margin>, ‘Type’ <round printed label with red margin>, ‘Kashmir | Gulmarg | vi-vii-31 | Dr.Cameron’ <rectangular printed label>, ‘L. | sociale | TYPE [in red] cam.’ <rectangular label, handwritten in black Indian ink>, ‘M. Cameron | Bequest. | B.M. 1955-147.’ <rectangular printed label>, ‘ Anthobium | sociale ( Cameron, 1941) | Shavrin A.V. det. 2016’ (BMNH).

Additional material: INDIA: KASHMIR: 3 ♂, 3 ♀: ‘SYN- | TYPE’ <round printed label with blue margin>, ‘ Kashmir | Gulmarg | vi-vii-31 | Dr.Cameron’ <rectangular printed label>, ‘ M. Cameron | Bequest. | B.M. 1955-147.’ <rectangular printed label> ( BMNH) ; UTTARAKHAND: 2 ♂, 1 ♀: 5 km NW Ghangaria, Valley of Flowers , 30°43.366'N 79°85.309'E. 3417 m a.s.l. A.V. Shavrin ( CS) ; WEST BENGAL: Darjeeling District, Tonglu. 3100 m a.s.l. 16.10.1978. Besuchet & Löbl ( MHNG) ; NEPAL: 1 ♂, 1 ♀: Parbat District, Ghoropani Pass, SN slope. 2700 m a.s.l. 0 6.10.1983. A. Smetana & I. Löbl ( MHNG) ; 2 ♀: Manaslu Mts., SW Meme Pokhari, 28°21'41N 84°30'42E. 3200-3300 m a.s.l., Quellgebiet, mittl. Nebenfluss des Ngadi Khola. 11.05.2005. J. Schmidt leg. ( NME) ; 1 ♀: SW Dhaulagiri Himal env., Jaljala La , 28°30'N, 83°15'E. 3300-3500 m a.s.l. 12-13,21.05.2012. J. Schmidt leg. ( NME) .

Redescription. Measurements (n=14): HW: 0.55–0.62; HL: 0.32–0.42; AL(lectotype): 0.89; OL: 0.10–0.12; PL: 0.45–0.50; PW: 0.83–0.97; ESL: 1.03–1.16; EW: 1.12–1.17; AW: 1.00–1.05; MTbL(lectotype): 0.50, MTrL(lectotype): 0.27 (MTrL 1–4: 0.17; MTrL 5: 0.10); AedL: 0.37; TL: 2.35–3.20 (lectotype: 3.18).

Body elongate, subconvex. Body yellow-brown to reddish brown, head and abdomen darker in some specimens; antennomeres 4–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–3, lateral portions of pronotum, shoulders of elytra and legs yellow in some specimens. Middle part of vertex without, or with fine transverse microsculpture, middle part of head between eyes and posterior portions with coarse sculpture between punctures, more rugose on posterior portions of infraorbital ridges and less elevated in middle (some specimens with middle part of head without sculpture between punctures); middle part of neck and abdominal sternites with distinct isodiametric microsculpture. Head with irregular, large and deep punctation, distinctly larger and coarser on infraorbital ridges, with markedly elevated diagonal and transverse wrinkles between punctures; middle part of neck with indistinct to distinct, small and regular punctation; pronotum with irregular, moderately dense punctation, smaller on medioapical and mediobasal parts, slightly larger on lateral portions, sparser in middle, with small impunctate area between mediobasal impression in some specimens; visible part of scutellum with several small punctures, or without them; punctation of elytra as that on pronotum, moderately sparse, distinctly denser and coarser in parascutellar area, each elytron with six to eight vague and tangled longitudinal rows of punctures, with moderately wide impunctated areas between rows 3 and 4 in some specimens; abdominal tergites without visible punctation. Habitus as in Fig. 77 .

Head 1.4–1.7 times as wide as long; middle portion slightly or distinctly convex, without or with indistinct transverse impression between peyes at posterior third, with short and deep grooves in front of ocelli, usually reaching middle length of eyes; postocular ridges smooth; anterior portion between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with wide and moderately deep notch. Ocelli large, situated at level of postocular ridges; distance between ocelli slightly longer than distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Length × width of antennomeres (lectotype): 1: 0.11 × 0.07; 2: 0.10 × 0.05; 3: 0.11 × 0.02; 4: 0.08 × 0.03; 5: 0.10 × 0.03; 6: 0.07 × 0.03; 7: 0.07 × 0.04; 8: 0.05 × 0.04; 9–10: 0.05 × 0.06; 11: 0.10 × 0.06.

Pronotum 1.8–1.9 times as wide as long, 1.5 times as wide as head, widest in middle, slightly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; apical margin distinctly narrower than posterior margin; anterior angles acute or obtuse; lateral edges of pronotum with irregular, small and smooth crenulation; pronotum with wide, slightly elevated middle portion, without or with indistinct to distinct, deep and wide longitudinal impression usually reaching middle area near distinct and markedly deep semioval mediobasal impressions.

Elytra about as long as wide, markedly more than twice as long as pronotum, moderately narrow, slightly widened apicad from middle, reaching apical margin of abdominal tergite IV or middle of tergite V; middle part of each elytron with indistinct longitudinal elevations between punctures, forming smooth and very indistinct three elevations on each elytron in some specimens.

Male. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII widely rounded. Aedeagus ( Fig. 86 ) narrow, median lobe with wide subtruncate apex; parameres significantly exceeding apex of median lobe, widened apically, with two short apical and preapical setae; internal sac narrow, long. Aedeagus laterally as in Fig. 87 .

Female. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight or rounded. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII rounded.

Comparative notes. Anthobium sociale may be distinguished from all remaining species of the fusculum group by elongate elytra more than twice as long as pronotum, and by the shape and internal structure of the aedeagus.

Distribution. The species is known from Kashmir, Uttarakhand and West Bengal states of India and central Nepal ( Fig. 64 ).

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevations from 3100 to 3417 m a.s.l. Specimens from the Valley of Flowers in Uttarkhand were collected by sifting leaves and mosses in Rhododendron shrubs near small stream ( Fig. 88 ). Specimens from Ghoropani Pass were taken by sifting moss, leaf litter and other debris along a creek, around bases of old trees and in old, wet Rhododendron forest with bushy undergrowth. Specimens from Meme Pokhari and Jaljala La were taken by sifting leaf litter in Rhododendron forest (J. Schmidt, pers. comm.), and were collected together with A. monticola (see above).

Remarks. Anthobium sociale is here recorded for the first time from Uttarakhand and West Bengal states of India and from Nepal.

Figures

FIGURE 64. Distribution of Anthobium cavicrus (black circles), A. cuccodoroi (black square) and A. sociale (black triangles) in the Himalayan Region.

FIGURE 88. Habitat of Anthobium sociale in the Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand, India.

FIGURES 74–78. Habitus of Anthobium fusculum group: 74—A. liliputense (paratype), 75—A. monticola (NEPAL: Lamjung), 76—A. rugosum (NEPAL: Dhaulagiri), 77—A. sociale (INDIA: Uttarakhand), 78—A. splendidulum (CHINA: Yunnan, Gaoligong Shan). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 84–87. Aedeagus of Anthobium rugosum (84–85: NEPAL: Dhaulagiri) and A. sociale (86–87: NEPAL: Ghoropani Pass): 84, 86—parameral view, 85, 87—lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.