Dropephylla almorensis ( Champion, 1920 )

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2017, New species and records of Omaliini from East Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae), Zootaxa 4247 (1), pp. 94-100 : 96

Dropephylla almorensis ( Champion, 1920) ( Figs. 6−9 )

Omalium almorense Champion, 1920: 241

Phyllodrepa (Dropephylla) almorensis: Cameron, 1930: 137

Phyllodrepa almorensis: Coiffait, 1984: 118

Dropephylla almorensis: Thayer, 2015: 19 ; Schülke & Smetana, 2015: 344

Phyllodrepa kashmirica Cameron, 1941: 57

Material. 5 ♂, 1 ♀: ‘Kashmir | Gulmarg | vi-vii-31 | Dr. Cameron’, ‘M. Cameron. | Bequest. | B. M. 1955‾147.’

(BMNH); 4 ♀: ‘Kashmir | Khelanmarg | vi-vii.31, 10000`, ‘M. Cameron. | Bequest. | B. M. 1955̅147.’ (BMNH). Remarks. Omalium almorense was described by Champion (1920) from “W. Almora in Kumaon”. Cameron (1930)

transferred it to Phyllodrepa (Dropephylla) and redescribed it. Coiffait (1984) recorded Ph. (D.) almorensis from

Pakistan. Phyllodrepa (Dropephylla) kashmirica was described by Cameron (1941) from Kashmir (Gulmarg and

Khelanmarg). Thayer (2015) synonymized Dropephylla kashmirica ( Cameron, 1941) with D. almorensis ( Champion,

1920) based on the study of syntypes of Phyllodrepa kashmirica and the female holotype of Omalium almorense . Both

taxa were missed in the revision of the genus Dropephylla Mulsant & Rey, 1880 by Jászay & Hlaváč (2006). The studied specimens of D. almorensis from the unsorted collection of BMNH are fully conspecific with syntypes

of Phyllodrepa kashmirica . The figures of the aedeagus ( Figs. 6 ‾7) of D. almorensis are provided here for the first time.

Abdominal tergite VIII as in Fig. 8 . Abdominal sternite VIII as in Fig. 9 . Based on the coloration of the body,

microsculpture of the pronotum and the shape of the aedeagus, this species belongs to the caucasica species group

erected by Jászay & Hlaváč (2006), and based on the general shape of the aedeagus it is closely related to D. caucasica

(Kolenati, 1846), known from Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, and D. lindbergi

Jászay & Hlaváč, 2006, described from Afghanistan.

Figures

FIGURES 6 − 9. Dropephylla almorensis (Champion, 1920): 6 — aedeagus, parameral view, 7 — aedeagus, lateral view, 8 — male abdominal tergite VIII, 9 — male abdominal sternite VIII. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.