Reichardtiolus pavlovskii Kryzhanovskij, 1959

Lackner, Tomas, 2014, Revision of the genus Reichardtiolus Kryzhanovskij, 1959 (Coleoptera, Histeridae, Saprininae), ZooKeys 379, pp. 1-27 : 14-17

Reichardtiolus pavlovskii Kryzhanovskij, 1959 Figs 62-71

Exaesiopus pavlovskii Kryzhanovskij, 1959: 216, fig 1.

Reichardtiolus pavlovskii : Kryzhanovskij in Kryzhanovskij and Reichardt (1976): 239, 240; Mazur (1984): 103; Mazur (1997): 265; Mazur (2004): 96; Mazur (2011): 210.

Type locality.

Turkmenistan, Badkhyz Nature Reserve.

Type material examined.

Holotype, female, side mounted on a triangular mounting point: "Yu. V. [=Yugo-Vostochnyj, South-Eastern] Turkm. [=Turkmenistan], Badkhyz / 12 km W Kala-i-Mor / 31.iii.1957 G. Medvedev" [written]; "Barkhannye peski [= moving sands]" (written); " Exaesiopus / ( Reichardtiolus ) / pavlovskii m., typ. / O. Kryzhano- / vskij det [1]958" (printed-written); "Holotypus / Exaesiopus / pavlovskii Kryzh." (red label, written); "Zoological / Institute RAS / St. Petersburg" (yellow printed label); “09-068” (yellow pencil-written label), added by the author (ZIN).

Re-description.

Body size PEL: 4.25 mm; APW: 1.25 mm; PPW: 3.20 mm; EL: 3.50 mm; EW: 3.00 mm. Body (Figs 62-63) rectangular oval, strongly convex, pronotum somewhat narrower than elytra, cuticle dark brown to black, elytra somewhat lighter, without metallic luster, entire dorsal surface rugulose-lacunose; legs, mouthparts and antennae light to dark brown, antennal club black.

Antennal scape not particularly thickened, punctate dorsally, punctures with numerous long setae; club (Fig. 65) oval, slightly depressed dorso-ventrally; without visible articulation, entire surface with thick short yellow sensilla intermingled with sparse longer erect sensilla, ventrally with two large round sensory areas (Figs 65, 66); sensory structures of antennal club not examined. Mouthparts: mandibles stout, densely punctate, dorso-lateral area with sparse short setae, acutely pointed; labrum convex with two labral setae growing out from each labral pit; square-shaped, anterior angles produced, anterior margin with deep median excavation, surface around it with four longer setae; lateral margins with double row of shorter ramose setae; disc of mentum imbricate; other parts of the mouth not examined.

Clypeus sub-quadrate, coarsely punctate, slightly depressed medially and slightly carinate laterally; frontal stria carinate, interrupted anteriorly, continuous with weakly carinate supraorbital stria; frontal disc rugulose-lacunose; eyes flattened, but visible from above.

Pronotal sides (Fig. 62) on basal two-thirds moderately convergent anteriorly, strongly convergent anteriorly on apical third, apical angles blunt; pronotal foveae absent; marginal pronotal stria complete, carinate, slightly weakened behind head; disc of pronotum completely with deep coarse elongate punctures separated by less than half their diameter forming rugulose-lacunose wrinkles medially; pronotal hypomeron with short yellow setae; scutellum very small, visible.

Elytral humeri slightly prominent; elytra widest at humeri; elytral epipleura in large punctures; marginal epipleural stria complete, surface between it and elytral margin smooth; marginal elytral stria straight and carinate, continued as somewhat weakened complete apical elytral stria continuous with sutural elytral stria. Humeral elytral stria faintly impressed on basal third; inner subhumeral stria present as a median fragment; dorsal elytral striae vaguely impressed, almost obliterated under coarse rugulose-lacunose punctuation, only first and second dorsal striae distinguishable, not reaching elytral midpoint apically, third and fourth striae faint, shorter than first and second; sutural elytral stria faintly impressed, abbreviated at basal tenth, complete to apex, continuous with apical elytral stria; entire elytral disc (with exception of elytral humeri) rugulose-lacunose.

Propygidium largely covered by elytra; its punctuation similar to that of elytral disc; pygidium also densely and coarsely punctate; punctures with minuscule setae.

Anterior margin of median portion of prosternum (Fig. 68) projected medially, setose; prosternal foveae absent; marginal prosternal stria present laterally and as extremely short apical rudiment; prosternal apophysis constricted between procoxae, rugulose-lacunose, setose, prosternal process thence strongly compressed, knife-like, setose, surface imbricate, dorso-medially with numerous setiferous punctures; vestiges of carinal prosternal striae present on prosternal apophysis; lateral prosternal striae present as faint rudiments, almost invisible.

Anterior margin of mesoventrite with slight median projection; discal marginal mesoventral stria complete; disc of mesoventrite convex, rugulose-lacunose; meso-metaventral suture straight, thin; meso-metaventral sutural stria undulate; intercoxal disc of metaventrite (Fig. 69) depressed medially; with sparser and finer punctuation than that of mesoventrite, punctures separated by two-three times their diameter; lateral metaventral stria straight, shortened; lateral disc of metaventrite slightly excavate, with dense deep setiferous punctures; metepisternum (Fig. 69) with similar setiferous punctures; fused metepimeron with sparser punctuation; lateral metepisternal stria complete, deeply impressed.

Intercoxal disc of first abdominal ventrite completely striate laterally; completely covered with punctuation; punctures similar to those of disc of metaventrite.

Protibia (Figs 64, 67) dilated, outer margin with three large widely-spaced distal teeth topped by large triangular denticle, diminishing in size in proximal direction, followed by two smaller proximal denticles; setae of outer row thin, sparse and short; setae of median row similar to those of outer row; protarsal groove shallow; anterior protibial stria carinate, almost complete; protibial spur small, straight, growing out near tarsal insertion; outer part of posterior surface of protibia (Fig. 67) almost smooth, only with scattered microscopic denticles, demarcation line between outer and median of posterior surface non-existent; posterior protibial stria absent, near inner protibial margin a dense row of strongly sclerotized long setae present; inner margin with sparser row of thinner setae.

Mesotibia slightly thickened, outer margin with row of approximately ten long denticles increased in size apically; setae of outer row dense and long, strongly sclerotized, longer than denticles on outer margin; setae of median row absent; posterior mesotibial stria absent; anterior surface of mesotibia with additional two-three dense rows of short denticles; anterior mesotibial stria complete, terminating in several minute denticles; mesotibial spur short; apical margin of mesotibia with a row of about five short denticles; first and second tarsomere ventrally with four long, strongly sclerotized setae; third and fourth tarsomeres with only two such setae; fifth tarsomere devoid of setae ventrally; claws of apical tarsomere slightly bent, longer than tarsomere itself; metatibia (Fig. 70) much more thickened and dilated than mesotibia, outer margin and posterior surface similar to that of mesotibia; anterior surface of metatibia completely covered with six-seven rows of short, stout denticles (Fig. 71).

Male unknown.

Differential diagnosis.

Externally somewhat similar to its congeners, it is, however, the most readily distinguishable species of the five. Body (Figs 62-63) larger than in all other congeners (up to 4.25 mm in Reichardtiolus pavlovskii , whereas other Reichardtiolus species attain maximal body length of 3.75 mm), cuticle dark brown to black, entire dorsal surface rugulose-lacunose, whereas the dorsal surface of the other species is mostly chestnut brown and punctate, never rugulose-lacunose. Dorsal elytral striae (Fig. 62) of Reichardtiolus pavlovskii are vaguely impressed, almost obliterated under coarse rugulose-lacunose punctuation, only first and second dorsal striae distinguishable, while with the rest of congeners they are usually distinct. This species differs likewise from the rest of its congeners by the structure of the prosternal keel (compare Figs 10-11, 36, 50 and 68), which is projected medially, strongly compressed, almost knife-like, lacking foveae, and with only vestigial striae. Reichardtiolus pavlovskii also differs from the other species by the lateral disc of the metaventrite and fused metepisternum (Fig. 69) that are covered with almost confluent setiferous punctures, whereas the punctures are not confluent in Reichardtiolus duriculus , Reichardtiolus perses , Reichardtiolus aldhaferi or Reichardtiolus sphingis . The protibia (Figs 64 and 67) is similar to the other three species, but adorned with three short teeth topped by acute large triangular denticle (instead of two) followed by one shorter denticle entombed in protibial margin and one more microscopic denticle. The mesotibia on its anterior surface has an additional two-three dense rows of short denticles instead of the single row present in Reichardtiolus duriculus , Reichardtiolus sphingis , Reichardtiolus perses and Reichardtiolus aldhaferi ; the metatibia (Figs 70-71) is much more thickened and dilated than those of the other four species; the anterior surface of metatibia has six-seven rows of short stout denticles as opposed to only two rows in Reichardtiolus duriculus , Reichardtiolus sphingis , Reichardtiolus perses and Reichardtiolus aldhaferi . Unfortunately, the only examined specimen is a female so the male genitalia could not be compared to those of other species.

Biology.

Found in the sand under Tamarix (Kryzhanovskij & Reichardt, 1976).

Distribution.

So far known only from two places in Turkmenistan: about 40 km north of Mary, eastern Turkmenistan and Badkhyz Nature Reserve, southeastern Turkmenistan (Fig. 72).

Remarks.

Kryzhanovskij (1959), in his original description, omitted the character of the prosternal striae, and in the Fauna USSR ( Kryzhanovskij and Reichardt 1976) he provided a brief re-description of this species but omitted the prosternum altogether, pointing only to the greater size and surface of the dorsal side of body as distinguishing characters for separating Reichardtiolus duriculus from Reichardtiolus pavlovskii . Reichardtiolus pavlovskii is, according to Kryzhanovskij in Kryzhanovskij and Reichardt (1976) known only from two females and I have only examined one of them, the holotype. The repository of the second specimen of this rare species is unknown. Although Reichardtiolus pavlovskii is morphologically rather different from the other species of the genus, I am hesitant to erect a new genus for it, especially since no male is available and the male terminalia could not be examined.