Cephennodes (Cephennodes) sermathangensis, 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 : 32-33

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) sermathangensis sp. n.

( Figs 40 , 59–60, 80–81, 91)

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Sindhupalchowk District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL: Bagmati / s/Shermathang / 2900m, 26.4.81 / Löbl - Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. BL ~ 1.5 mm; elytra elongate, EI 1.13; body uniformly brown; antennae unmodified; protibiae in male weakly thickened and nearly straight, lacking sub-basal mesal broadening, with long patch of dense spatulate setae; apical projection of median lobe in ventral view strongly twisted, in lateral view curved ventrally and then bent distally; each paramere with only one strongly thickened seta at apex.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 40 ) uniformly brown; relatively slender, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, moderately convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.48 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.20 mm, HW 0.33 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles distinct but weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on frons and vertex small, superficial and diffuse, inconspicuous; setae very short, sparse, suberect. Antennae moderately long and relatively strongly thickened, AnL 0.75 mm; antennomeres moderately compactly assembled, pentamerous club indistinctly delimited and distinctly longer than half AnL, surface of five terminal antennomeres less glossy than that of proximal antennomeres; antennomere I about 1.4 × as long as broad; II distinctly narrower and slightly shorter than I, 1.4 × as long as broad; III slightly narrower than II and much shorter, about 1.2 ×as long as broad, IV as broad as III but indistinctly shorter, as long as broad, V and VI subequal in shape, indistinctly broader and longer than IV, each about 1.2 as long as broad, VII slightly longer and broader than VI, about 1.3 as long as broad, VIII slightly broader but shorter than VII, slightly transverse, IX and X each gradually larger than preceding antennomere, each distinctly transverse, XI indistinctly broader than X, about as long as IX–X together, about twice as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view nearly semicircular, broadest at base, PL 0.43 mm, PW 0.63 mm; pronotum strongly convex at middle and strongly flattened near each hind corner but the flattened area very small; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view slightly convex; lateral margins not microserrate, weakly rounded in anterior third and straight in posterior half; posterior corners nearly right-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, diffuse, the deepest site of each pit nearly equally distant from posterior and lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc fine, inconspicuous, surface glossy; setae short and moderately dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest near anterior third, EL 0.85 mm, EW 0.75 mm, EI 1.13. Humeral calli weakly elevated, elongate; subhumeral lines short, equal to 0.25 EL and moderately distinct, developed as moderately sharp stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large and located in very short, deep, round basal impression; narrow adsutural area slightly impressed, so that suture appears elevated, especially in anterior half of elytra; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures more distinct than those on pronotum and dense, but superficial, diffuse and inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum.

Hind wings not studied.

Metaventrite with indistinct postmesocoxal impressions, median area covered with fine punctures.

Protibiae (Figs 59–60) only slightly thickened dorso-ventrally and nearly straight, not broadened mesally in sub-basal region, with large mesal patch of dense spatulate setae.

Abdomen and hind legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 80–81 ) in ventral view with distinctly asymmetrical median lobe broadest near base, AeL 0.45 mm, median lobe in ventral view with weakly emarginate and asymmetrical distal margin, diaphragm with deeply and narrowly emarginate edge; apical projection in ventral view long and strongly twisted slightly distally to middle, with subtriangular and pointed apex, in lateral view apical projection curved ventrally and then bent distally at an obtuse angle; each paramere with only one strongly thickened seta at apex.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 91 ). Central Nepal.

Etymology. Locotypical, after Sermathang village near Helambu in Nepal.

Remarks. Among members of the C. excavatus species group, C. sermathangensis can be assigned to the Himalayan subgroup on the basis of the male protibial modification; it differs from all similar Himalayan congeners in its uniformly brown body, unmodified antennae and unique aedeagal structures.

Figures

FIGURES 40 – 44. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (40), C. (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (41), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (42), and C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (44), and elytral apex in dorsolateral view (43) of C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n.

FIGURES 80 – 87. Aedeagus in ventral (80, 82, 84, 86) and lateral (81, 83, 85, 87) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (80 – 81), C. (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (82 – 83), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (84 – 85), and C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (86 – 87). Abbreviations: ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 90 – 91. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) suturalis sp. n. (90, circle), C. (s. str.) karnaliensis sp. n. (90, triangle), C. (s. str.) churtanus sp. n. (91, circle), C. (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (91, triangle).