Leascydmus armstrongi, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2014

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2014, ' The curse of Horaeomorphus ': taxonomy of misplaced Australian Cyrtoscydmini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3828 (1), pp. 1-76 : 24-25

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3828.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B2FEAE60-7E51-45FA-A38F-930A084A5AAA
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6141060
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F68791-FFC0-1810-8FFE-3D20074FF944
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Leascydmus armstrongi
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Leascydmus armstrongi View in CoL sp. n.

( Figs. 37–45 View FIGURES 37 – 41 View FIGURES 42 – 45 , 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 , 51–52 View FIGURES 49 – 52 , 55–56 View FIGURES 53 – 56 , 194 View FIGURES 193 – 198 b)

Type material studied. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: ♂: two labels: "Megalong / N. S. Wales / J. Armstrong" [white, printed and handwritten], " LEASCYDMUS / armstrongi m. / det. P. Jałoszyński, 2014 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] ( ANIC). Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀, same data as for holotype, all with yellow " paratypus " labels ( ANIC, cPJ).

Diagnosis. Male and female: body uniformly brown, only tarsi lighter. Male: aedeagus in lateral view with apex slightly curved ventrally.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) strongly convex, elongate and slender, with long appendages, BL 2.35–2.48 mm (mean 2.43 mm); cuticle glossy, body brown, tarsi lighter, yellowish-brown, vestiture yellowish.

Head ( Figs. 37–38 View FIGURES 37 – 41 , 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) broadest at eyes, HL 0.43 mm, HW 0.48–0.50 mm (mean 0.49 mm); tempora longer than eyes, strongly curved posteromesally; vertex and frons confluent and evenly convex. Eyes small and weakly projecting laterally from the head silhouette, finely faceted. Punctures on head dorsum fine and sparse, separated by spaces 1.5– 2 x as wide as diameters of punctures; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae ( Fig. 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) slender, AnL 1.83–1.85 mm (mean 1.84 mm); all antennomeres elongate, antennomere XI as long as IX–X together.

Pronotum ( Figs. 42 View FIGURES 42 – 45 , 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) in dorsal view approximately subquadrate with rounded sides, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.58–0.60 mm (mean 0.58 mm), PW 0.55 mm; anterior margin nearly straight; anterior corners obtuse and blunt; lateral margins rounded; posterior corners strongly obtuse and indistinctly marked; posterior margin nearly straight; pronotal base with shallow and indistinct transverse impression. Punctures on pronotal disc similar to those on frons and vertex; setae sparse, short and suberect, near posterior corners distinctly denser and thicker.

Elytra ( Figs. 44 View FIGURES 42 – 45 , 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) oval, more convex than pronotum, broadest slightly anterior to middle, EL 1.35–1.45 mm (mean 1.42 mm), EW 0.83–0.98 mm (mean 0.91 mm), EI 1.49–1.64; basal impressions absent; humeral denticles tiny but distinct; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytral disc fine but slightly more distinct than those on pronotum, separated by spaces 2– 3 x as wide as diameters of punctures; setae short, sparse and erect. Hind wings well developed, about twice as long as elytra.

Legs ( Fig. 48 View FIGURES 46 – 48 ) long and slender, without modifications; all tibiae broadest in proximal half.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 51–52 View FIGURES 49 – 52 , 55–56 View FIGURES 53 – 56 ) elongate, darkly sclerotized, AeL 0.73 mm, in ventral view apex of ventral wall subtrapezoidal and apex of dorsal wall rapidly narrowing; internal armature composed of a complicated set of elongate sclerites; parameres slender, with moderately long apical and subapical setae.

Female. Similar to male; BL 2.20–2.40 mm (mean 2.30 mm); HL 0.40–0.43 mm (mean 0.42 mm), HW 0.48–0.50 mm (mean 0.49 mm), AnL 1.63–1.78 mm (mean 1.68 mm); PL 0.53–0.55 mm (mean 0.53 mm), PW 0.53–0.55 mm (mean 0.54 mm); EL 1.25–1.43 mm (mean 1.35 mm), EW 0.93–1.03 mm (mean 0.98 mm), EI 1.22–1.49.

Distribution ( Fig. 194 View FIGURES 193 – 198 b). South-eastern Australia (Blue Mountains in New South Wales).

Etymology. Leascydmus armstrongi is dedicated to J. W. T. Armstrong, who described many Australian beetle taxa and collected the type series of this species.

Remarks. This species is highly similar to L. simplicicornis in the body shape, proportions of body parts, and even in the aedeagus. The striking difference in pigmentation, smaller body and the antennae distinctly longer in relation to body allow for unambiguous discrimination from L. simplicicornis .