Cephennodes (Cephennodes) malla, Jałoszyński, 2017

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2017, Ant-like stone beetles on the roof of the world. Cephenniini of Nepal and Bhutan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4349 (1), pp. 1-120 : 59

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) malla sp. n.

( Figs 150 , 171–174 , 224 )

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Taplejung District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL, Taplejung Distr., / upper Simbua Khola Valley, / near Tseram, 3250–3350 m / 10.–15.V.1988, / leg. J. Martens & W. Schawaller" [white, printed] ( SMNS).

Diagnosis. BL 1.35 mm; abdominal sternite III in ventral view with basal transverse carina gradually expanded posteriorly at middle and forming short and broad rounded lobe, and with posterior median projection similar in shape and width to median lobe of basal carina; apex of median lobe of aedeagus subtriangular and blunt; apical projection of aedeagus distant from apex of median lobe, with distal margin strongly concave and strongly oblique in relation to the long axis of aedeagus.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 150 ) moderately dark brown, elongate, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, moderately strongly convex, covered with light brown setae with grayish shade; BL 1.35 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.23 mm; vertex strongly and evenly convex, with a pair of tiny but distinct tubercles; frons confluent with vertex; supraantennal tubercles small, weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on vertex and frons very small but distinct, shallow but with sharply marked margins, slightly irregular in shape, unevenly and densely distributed, those in median portion of frons separated by spaces 0.5–2 × as wide as diameters of punctures; setae sparse, short, suberect. Antennae moderately long and slender, AnL 0.73 mm, pentamerous club indistinctly delimited; antennomere I about 1.7 × as long as broad; II narrower and much longer than I, 2.2 × as long as broad; III–VI subequal in length and width, each slightly narrower than II and 1.2–1.3 × as long as broad; VII slightly longer and broader than VI, 1.2 × as long as broad; VIII distinctly broader but only slightly longer than VII, about as long as broad; IX much larger than VIII, slightly longer than broad; X larger than IX, as broad as long; XI distinctly broader than X, shorter than IX–X together, slightly less than twice as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view subrectangular, broadest between middle and anterior third, PL 0.43 mm, PW 0.61 mm; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view nearly straight; lateral margins not serrate, strongly rounded in anterior third, nearly straight in posterior half and distinctly convergent toward slightly obtuse-angled hind corners; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae distinct but narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, each slightly closer to lateral than posterior pronotal margin. Punctures on disc very small and shallow, evenly and densely distributed, separated by spaces 1–1.5 × as wide as diameters of punctures; setae moderately long, dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest between middle and anterior third, EL 0.75 mm, EW 0.65 mm, EI 1.15. Humeral calli weakly elevated; subhumeral lines distinct, equal to 0.35 EL, each developed as a sharp stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large and connected to shallow oval impression extending posteriorly and slightly mesally; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures similar to those on pronotum but of various depths, so that surface of elytra appears slightly uneven; setae denser, longer and more erect than those on pronotum.

Hind wings reduced, only half as long as elytra.

Metaventrite with moderately large, sharply delimited postmesocoxal impressions, with median area covered with very fine, dense punctures.

Abdomen ( Figs 171–172 ) with only sternite III modified, in ventral view sternite III bears broad transverse carina along its posterior margin, carina deeply bisinuate and with broadly rounded, expanded posteriorly median lobe, posteriorly sternite III with broadly subtriangular and rounded median lobe similar to that on basal carina.

Legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 173–174 ) slender, AeL 0.20 mm, apex of median lobe subtriangular and blunt; apical projection distant from median lobe, its distal margin strongly concave and so strongly oblique in relation to the long axis of aedeagus that it becomes lateral margin; apex of apical projection subtriangular and narrowly rounded; parameres very slender, unequal in length, not exceeding apex of median lobe, each with one apical seta.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 224 ). Eastern Nepal.

Etymology. The name (noun in apposition) refers to the Malla Dynasty ruling in Nepal in the 13th–15th century.

Remarks. Identification of this species is possible solely on the basis of the uniquely modified abdominal sternites in males, no other species has two rounded lobes of similar shape on the sternite III. In the studied male specimen, each lateral impression of the sternite III, behind the lateral emargination of the basal carina, was covered with a mass of moderately hard, slightly translucent secretion, suggesting an existence of paired abdominal glands. See also remarks for C. gorkha described below.

Figures

FIGURES 148 – 155. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) letheanus sp. n. (148), C. (s. str.) myagdiensis sp. n. (149), C. (s. str.) malla sp. n. (150), C. (s. str.) gorkha sp. n. (151), C. (s. str.) tharepatianus sp. n. (152), C. (s. str.) minisulcatus sp. n. (153), C. (s. str.) mustangensis sp. n. (154), and C. (s. str.) lalitpuranus sp. n. (155).

FIGURES 163 – 178. Abdomen of male in right lateral (163, 167, 171, 175) and ventral (164, 168, 172, 176) views and aedeagus in ventral (165, 169, 173, 177) and lateral (166, 170, 174, 178) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) letheanus sp. n. (163 – 166), C. (s. str.) myagdiensis sp. n. (167 – 170), C. (s. str.) malla sp. n. (171 – 174), C. (s. str.) gorkha sp. n. (175 – 178).

FIGURES 223 – 224. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) letheanus sp. n. (223, circle), C. (s. str.) myagdiensis sp. n. (223, triangle), C. (s. str.) malla sp. n. (224, circle), C. (s. str.) gorkha sp. n. (224, circle).