Cephennodes (Cephennodes) sodwanaensis, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2013

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2013, The first record of the tribe Cephenniini in South Africa, with new species of Cephennomicrus Reitter and Cephennodes Reitter (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3683 (4), pp. 411-426 : 418-419

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) sodwanaensis sp. n.

( Figs. 4 , 11–12 , 28 )

Type material. Holotype: REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA (KwaZulu Natal Prov.): 3, three labels: "S.Afr.: Zululand / Sodwana Bay / 27.33 S - 32.38 E " [white, printed]; " 23.11.1992; E-Y: 2844 / marsh forest litter / leg. Endrödy-Younga" [white, printed]; " CEPHENNODES (s. str.) / sodwanaensis m. / det. P. Jałoszyński, '13 / HOLOTYPUS' [red, printed] ( TMSA). Paratypes: 4 ƤƤ, same data as holotype ( TMSA, MNHW, cPJ).

Diagnosis. Frons and vertex in male without modifications; median lobe of aedeagus with narrow and moderately elongate subtriangular and symmetrical apical part and pointed apex; the longest apical projection (apical hook) in lateral view evenly curved dorsally.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 4 ) strongly convex, oval with feebly marked constriction between pronotum and elytra, brown with slightly lighter legs and palps, covered with yellowish vestiture. BL 1.21 mm.

Head broadest at moderately large but strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.16 mm, HW 0.30 mm; vertex and frons confluent, non-modified, in median part only slightly convex; supraantennal tubercles prominent; punctures on head dorsum very fine and inconspicuous; setae short and sparse, recumbent to suberect. Antennae moderately long, with slender proximal part and strongly broadened, distinct club composed of three terminal antennomeres, AnL 0.50, antennomere I 1.5x as long as broad; II only slightly narrower and shorter than I, 1.8x as long as broad; III distinctly narrower and much shorter than II, slightly broader than long; IV–VII subequal in length and width, each as broad as III but slightly longer, 1.2–1.3x as long as broad; VIII slightly shorter than VII but distinctly broader, distinctly transverse; IX much broader and slightly longer than VIII, strongly transverse; X much broader and distinctly longer than IX, strongly transverse; XI about as long as IX–X together, 1.6x as long as broad, broader than X and with blunt apex.

Pronotum semi-oval, broadest near middle; PL 0.38 mm, PW 0.50 mm. Anterior margin weakly arcuate; lateral margins weakly and nearly evenly convex from anterior fourth of PL to base, barely noticeably convergent towards nearly right and sharply-marked posterior pronotal corners; posterior margin deeply bisinuate; lateral margins thickened and sharply demarcated from disc; lateral ante-basal foveae shallow but distinct, each located much closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on median part of pronotal disc inconspicuous, fine and spare, punctures becoming denser but not larger toward lateral margins of pronotum, punctures on thickened area along lateral margins small but dense and slightly coarse. Setae on pronotal disc moderately long and dense, suberect.

Elytra as convex as pronotum, oval, broadest between middle and anterior third; EL 0.68 mm, EW 0.55 mm, EI 1.23; subhumeral lines well-developed and carinate, as long as 0.35x EL; basal elytral foveae nearly adjacent to lateral margins of mesoscutellum; elytral apices non-modified, separately rounded. Punctures on elytra small and shallow but dense and more distinct than those on pronotal disc, those on anterior half of each elytron separated by spaces subequal to puncture diameters. Hind wings well developed.

Legs moderately long and slender; all tibiae nearly straight.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 11–12 ) simonis type, AeL 0.18 mm; median lobe with narrow subtriangular and pointed apex, apical projections broad, with robust and long apical hook evenly curved dorsally, in ventral view left lateral margin of dorsal projection just beneath apex distinctly convex; parameres slender, in ventral view apex of left paramere slightly extending above apex of median lobe, apex of right paramere not reaching apex of median lobe.

Female. Externally indistinguishable from male; BL 1.15–1.21 mm (mean 1.19 mm); H: 0.14–0.16 mm (mean 0.15 mm), HW 0.28–0.30 mm (mean 0.29 mm), AnL 0.50 mm; PL 0.36–0.38 mm (mean 0.37 mm), PW 0.50–0.51 mm (mean 0.51 mm); EL 0.65–0.68 mm (mean 0.67 mm), EW 0.54–0.56 mm (mean 0.55 mm), EI 1,21–1.23.

Distribution. Eastern RSA, KwaZulu-Natal Prov. ( Fig. 28 ).

Etymology. Locotypical, after Sodwana Bay, where the type series has been collected.

Remarks. Cephennodes sodwanaensis is highly similar to all its Afrotropical congeners, and additionally its aedeagus resembles that of C. papuanus Jałoszyński. The new species can be easily distinguished from C. papuanus , C. zanzibaricus , C. nsukkaensis , C. atewaensis and C. bundibugyoensis on the basis of a non-modified vertex and frons (all these species have modifications on the head dorsum). From C. ruandae it differs in the body shape; in C. ruandae the pronotum is strikingly broader than elytra, while in C. sodwanaensis elytra and pronotum have comparable width. Distinguishing C. sodwanaensis from the remaining Afrotropical congeners requires examination of the aedeagus. The aedeagus of C. sodwanaensis shows the following major differences compared to its congeners:

- in C. basilewskyi , C. leleupi C. indifferens and C. marginatus the apex of median lobe is broad, either subtriangular but blunt or rounded, while that in C. sodwanaensis is narrow, slender and pointed; - in C. leonensis the apical part of median lobe is strongly projecting and forming nearly parallel-sided, long and slender rod (elongate but subtriangular in C. sodwanaensis );

- in C. glabella the apex of median lobe is very short (much longer in C. sodwanaensis ), and apices of both parameres are extending far above the apex of median lobe (only apex of one paramere slightly extending above apex of median lobe in C. sodwanaensis ).

Differences between species of Cephennodes newly described here are shown in Figs. 5–12 .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Dorsal habitus of holotype males. Cephennodes lucipetus sp. n. (1); Cephennodes zulunatalensis sp. n. (2); Cephennodes mtubatubanus sp. n. (3); Cephennodes sodwanaensis sp. n. (4).

FIGURES 5 – 12. Aedeagi of holotype males in ventral (5, 7, 9, 11) and lateral (6, 8, 10, 12) views. Cephennodes lucipetus sp. n. (5 – 6); Cephennodes zulunatalensis sp. n. (7 – 8); Cephennodes mtubatubanus sp. n. (9 – 10); Cephennodes sodwanaensis sp. n. (11 – 12). Abbreviations: ah, apical hook; aml, apex of median lobe; ap, apical projections. Arrows indicate structures important for species identification: a, general shape of median lobe and especially the shape of its left lateral margin in ventral view; b, shape of the apical region of median lobe in ventral view; c, position of parameral apices in relation to the apex of median lobe; d, general shape of apical projections in ventral view; e, shape of apical hook in dorsal and lateral views.

FIGURES 28 – 29. Distribution of continental Afrotropical Cephenniini (South Africa magnified in right panel). 28 ― genus Cephennodes (a ― C. leonensis Castellini; b ― C. atewaensis Jałoszyński; c ― C. nsukkaensis Jałoszyński; d ― C. bundibugyoensis Jałoszyński; e ― C. glabella Castellini; f ― C. ruandae (Cauchois); g ― C. indifferens Besuchet; h ― C. basilewskyi Besuchet; i ― C. leleupi Besuchet; j ― C. zanzibaricus (Schaufuss); k ― C. marginatus Besuchet; l ― C. zulunatalensis Jałoszyński; m ― C. sodwanaensis Jałoszyński; n ― C. lucipetus Jałoszyński; o ― C. mtubatubanus Jałoszyński); 29 ― genus Cephennomicrus (p ― Cm. zoiai Castellini; r ― Cm. perpusillus (Reitter); s ― Cm. ubomboensis Jałoszyński; t ― Cm. endroedyi Jałoszyński; u ― Cm. transkeianus Jałoszyński.