Oedichirus alatus NIETNER

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, New oriental Oedichirus (Staphylinidae, Paederinae, Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 461-536 : 465-467

Oedichirus alatus NIETNER (Figs 1)

Oedichirus alatus NIETNER, 1857: 247

Oedichirus dimidiatus EPPELSHEIM, 1890: 280 NEW SYNONYMY

Oedichirus alatus CAMERON, 1932: 27

Oedichirus dimidiatus CAMERON, 1932: 27

Oedichirus dimidiatus BISWAS & BISWAS, 2000: 117

M a t e r i a l s t u d i e d: ♂ Type [pinned]: Ceylon Nietner / Oedichirus alatus Nietn. var. Ceylon Nietn. [DEI].

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l: 1♀: [BM Syntype label] / [BM type label]: Type HT / Arni Gad Mussorie Dr. Cameron 28.V.21 / Oedichirus elegans / Oedichirus alatus Nietner det. 2015 G. de Rougemont [NHML]; 1♂: Nilgiri Hills / 695 / Oedichirus dimidiatus Epp. / M. Cameron Bequest B.M. 1955-147 / Oedichirus alatus Niet. syn. nov. det. 2015 G. de Rougemont [NHML]; 1♂: S. India, Tamil Nadu, Nilgiri hills. 15 km SE of Kotagiri near Kunchappanai, alt. 900m / 13- 20.v.1994, 76º56’E 11º22’N, Z. Kejval lgt. / Oedichirus alatus Niet. Det. 2016 G. de Rougemont [CJN]; 1♂: S-INDIA, Kerala state, Kallar env., 30 km NE of Trivandrum, valley of riv. Kallar 77º05’E 8º45’N, 7-13.v.1999, Z. Kejval & M. Trysna leg. / Oedichirus cf. alatus Nietner / Oedichirus alatus Niet. det. 2016 G. de Rougemont [CRO]; 1♀: INDIA, Karnataka, Hassan 27.9.1991. leg. R. Schuh / Oedichirus alatus Niet. det. 2015 , G. de Rougemont [NHMW]; 1♂: INDIA, ORISSA, Deogarh, 24.x.2006, G. de Rougemont / Oedichirus dimidiatus Epp. det. 2006 G. de Rougemont / Oedichirus alatus Nietner det. 2015 G. de Rougemont 1♂: INDIA, ORISSA, Gajapati, Taptapani, 16.x.2006, G. de Rougemont / Oedichirus alatus Nietner det. 2015 G. de Rougemont; [both in CRO]; 1♀: PAKISTAN, Swat, Col de Karakar, 1300 m; 19.V.1983, Besuchet – Löbl / Oedichirus alatus Niet. det. 2015 G. de Rougemont [MHNG]; 1♂: MYANMAR, Sagaing Division, Alaundaw Katthapa [sic?] NP, 21º19.113’N 94º28.518’E, 3- 13.5.2003, ca. 350 m, light, leg. Boukal & Schillhammer (101) / Oedichirus alatus Nietner det. 2017 G. de Rougemont [NHMW].

D e s c r i p t i o n (of a male from Nilgiri Hills): length: 8.5 mm; length of fore-body: 3.8; length of head: 0.85; breadth of head: 1.12; length of antenna: 2; length of pronotum: 1.25; breadth of pronotum: 1; length of elytron: 1.4; breadth of elytra: 1.35 Head and prothorax red, elytra black with posterior 2/5 ths – 1/3 rd red, abdominal segments III-V red, the following black; palpi and antennae testaceous, maxillary palpomeres 2-4 and antennomeres III-VII partially a little infuscate; legs testaceous, apices of pro-femora and knees of middle and hind legs sharply infuscate, the dark portion of metafemorae occupying the distal third. Body devoid of microsculpture. Pubescence long, very long on abdomen, pale, erect. Habitus: Fig. 1h.

Head strongly transverse; post-ocular border slight, consisting of a groove bordered by a feeble carina, anteriorly scarcely forming a tooth; surface glossy, very sparsely punctate, all punctures very small. Pronotum strongly elongate, the sides convergent in straight lines to base; lateral border wanting or present only as a slight elevation anteriorly; surface glossy; arcuate discal series of five small punctures behind an anterior cluster of six punctures; lateral series of two punctures, with other small punctures on lateral margins and near base. Elytra only slightly elongate, with prominent humeral angles, widest at posterior 2/3 rd; puncturation fairly sparse, with juxta-sutural series of 6-7 punctures and scattered punctures on disc and lateral margins, the punctures about equal to or larger than those of discal series of pronotum. Puncturation of abdominal tergites IV-VI arranged in four discrete transverse rows, the first row contiguous with the grooves between short basal keels of anterior margin, the last, situated on posterior margins of tergites consisting of punctures as large as those of third row.

Male (ex. from Orissa): abdominal sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII: Fig. 1s8; aedoeagus: Fig. 1arl.

Female: sternite IX: Fig. 1vp.

In one specimen (from Kallar, Kerala) the head is pitchy black with the base narrowly reddish; the aedoeagus of this specimen is larger than that of the males from Orissa, but of the same conformation, and in all other respects the specimen is identical to other exx. of O. alatus ; I regard it as an aberrant form or individual.

In his key and descriptions (1932), CAMERON gives the colour of the head of O. alatus as black, an error that explains why the species was never recorded under the name alatus after NIETNER’ s original description. The specimen from Kallar mentioned above does indeed have a black head, but when CAMERON gave his redescription the red-headed type was the only known specimen. Normal examples of O. alatus are immediately recognisable by the colour pattern (see keys to the O. Alatus group and to the Oedichirus of Thailand and of South India, below).

O. alatus was described from Ceylon and recorded (as O. dimidiatus) from Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) and the Nilgiri Hills (Tamil Nadu) by CAMERON, and from Meghalaya by BISWAS & BISWAS. The two records in ‘Fauna of British India’ are based on the specimens in the NHML listed above. ‘ Oedichirus elegans Cam.’ was never described, but CAMERON did not remove his determination label or affix a new one when he redetermined the specimen as O. dimidiatus. O. alatus is new to Orissa, Karnataka, Burma and Pakistan. Available data indicate that the species is confined to Ceylon, the Indian subcontinent and Burma.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Map 2 . Keys: 1, 4.

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of the O. Alatus group. Red circles: O. alatus; blue circles: O. chapmani; green circle: O. sihanouki; blue square: O. vexans and sp. A5; red square: O. falcifer; green lozenge: O. patcholatkoi; red lozenge: O. guomindangi; green square: O. astoni; blue stars: O. javanicus; red star: sp. A1; blue triangle: sp. A3; red triangles: sp. A4.