Philonthus falco, Hromádka, 2009

Hromádka, Lubomír, 2009, Revision of the Afrotropical species of the Philonthus caffer species group (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (1), pp. 161-190 : 174-176

Philonthus falco sp. nov.

( Figs. 30–34 )

Type locality. NW Madagascar, Morondava district, Kirindy Forest.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‛ NW Madagascar, Morondava distr. , Kirindy Forest, 4.-8. 1. 2002, J. Rolčík lgt.// HOLOTYPUS Philonthus falco sp. nov. Hromádka det. 2008 [red oblong printed label]’ ( NMPC). PARATYPES: BOTSWANA: 4 spec., ‘ Botswana : Muchenje Umg. bei Ngoma, 950m, 17°56′52´´ S /24°41′26´´ 0, 31.x.2006, leg. U. Heinig, Lichtfang’ ( LHPC) . MADAGASCAR: 4 spec., same label data as holotype ( JJRC) ; 5 spec., ‘ SW Madagascar, 5.- 8.i.2002, Morondava distr. , Kirindy Forest, D. Hauck lgt.’ ( LHPC, JJRC) ; 1 spec., ‘ Madagascar , 80 km N Morondava, Kirindy 100m, 5.- 7.1. 2001, S. Murzin & A. Shamaev lgt. ’ ( JJRC) ; 3 spec., ‘ 20km N Tulear, Ifaty 30 km, 10.-27.xii.2003, S. Murzin & A. Shamaev’ ( LHPC, JJRC) ; 1 spec., ‘ 5.-7.i.2001, N Morondava, Kirindy 100m, S. Murzin & A. Shamaev lgt.’ ( JJRC) . ZAMBIA: 1 spec., ‘ Zambia , Livingstonde, Victoria falls, 26.-31.xii.1993, M. Snížek, lgt.’ ( LHPC) ; 1 spec. ‘ South Luangwa NP, Mfuwe Crocodile Farm 450m, 13°06′03″S / 31°47′32″E, lux, leg, M. Uhlig’ ( ZMHB) . ZIMBABWE: 1 spec., ‘ 11.-12.xii.1993, 17°53′S / 25°49′E, Victoria Falls : Zambezi, NP – Camp, lux, leg. M.Uhlig. ’ ( LHPC) ; 2 spec., ‘ Save-Fluss , cca 100 km, S Mutare 770 m, 19°53′S / 32°22′E, 8.iii.2000, leg. U. Heinig, Lichtfang’ ( LHPC) [all paratypes with red oblong labels, printed] .

Description. Body length 7.3–7.8 mm, length of fore body (to end of elytra) 3.5–3.8 mm.

Colouration. Head, pronotum and abdomen black, elytral disc black, elytra around suture and posterior margin narrowly red-orange, maxillary and labial palpi brown-yellow, mandibles black-brown, antennomeres 1–2 and base of antennomere 3 brown-yellow, remaining antennomeres black, antennal sockets and clypeus along anterior margin narrowly brownyellow, legs yellow-brown.

Head rounded, as wide as long. Temples slightly longer than eyes (ratio 8: 7), evenly rounded. Posterior angles of head each with one long and several shorter bristles. Distance between medial interocular punctures about 4 times as large as distance between medial and lateral interocular puncture. Medial punctures somewhat shifted anteriad. Temporal area each with several smaller punctures. Surface without microsculpture

Antennae reaching posterior margin of pronotum when reclined, antennomeres 1–8 and 11, longer than wide, antennomeres 9–10 as long as wide. Relative length of antennomeres: 1 = 8; 2 = 5; 3 = 5.5; 4: 6 = 3; 7–10 = 2.5; 11 = 5.

Pronotum highly convex, longer than wide (ratio 30: 27), very slightly narrowed anteriad. Each dorsal row with 5 punctures, punctures 1–4 equidistant, distance between punctures 4–5 somewhat larger than distance between punctures 1–4. Each sublateral row with 2 punctures, puncture 1 situated between levels of punctures 2 and 3 of dorsal rows, puncture 2 at midwidth between puncture 4 of dorsal row and lateral margin. Anterior angles each with several short bristles. Surface without microsculpture.

Scutellum very coarsely and densely punctate, punctures somewhat larger than eye-facets, distance between punctures much smaller than their diameter, punctures coalescent here and there.

Elytra combined ( Fig. 34 ) somewhat longer than wide (ratio 38: 35), slightly widened posteriad. Punctation coarser and sparser, punctures larger than those on scutellum, separated by 1.5 puncture diameters in transverse direction. Surface without microsculpture; setation grey-yellow.

Legs. Metatibia somewhat longer than metatarsus (ratio 22: 20). Relative length of metatarsomeres: 1 = 7; 2 = 3; 3–4 = 2.5; 5 = 6.

Abdomen wide, slightly narrowed from tergite V towards apex. Elevated area between basal lines on first three visible tergites densely punctate. Punctation of visible tergites finer and denser than that on elytra, becoming distinctly sparser towards apex of each tergite. Surface between punctures without microsculpture; setation similar to that on elytra.

Male. Protarsomeres 1–3 dilated and sub-bilobed, densely covered with modified pale setae ventrally, protarsomere 4 narrow and small. Aedeagus ( Figs. 30–33 ).

Female. Protarsomeres 1–3 slightly dilated, scarcely sub-bilobed, each with some modified pale setae ventrally, protarsomere 4 scarcely dilated, narrower than preceding ones, lacking modified pale setae ventrally.

Differential diagnosis. Philonthus falco sp. nov. may be distinguished from the similar P. caffer by longer antennae, shorter pronotum, paler tibiae, different colouration of elytra and by the different shape of the aedeagus.

Bionomics. Unknown.

Etymology. The name of this species, a noun in apposition, is the Latin generic name of the African Eleonora’s falcon Falco eleonorae Gené, 1839.

Distribution. Madagascar, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Figures

Figs. 25–37. 25–29 – Philonthus combustus Fauvel, 1907; 30–34 – P. falco sp. nov.; 35–37 – P.gabonensis Levasseur, 1966. 25, 30, 35 – aedeagus, ventral view; 26, 31, 36 – aedeagus, lateral view; 27, 33 – apex of paramere with sensory peg setae, ventral view; 28 – female tergite X, ventral view; 29 – gonocoxite of female genital segment; 32, 37 – aedeagus without paramere, ventral view; 34 – elytra.