Panscopaeus yakushimanus ( ITO , 1992)

Assing, Volker, 2011, A revision of Panscopaeus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 61 (2), pp. 389-411 : 397-399

Panscopaeus yakushimanus ( ITO, 1992) (Figs 22-29, Map 1 )

Achenomorphus yakushimanus ITO, 1992: 61 ff.

Panscopaeus yakushimanus: HERMAN (2003) .

Comment:

The original description is based on a male holotype and five paratypes from "Miyanoura, Yakushima Is., Kagoshima Pref. " ( ITO 1992). A request of a loan of type material addressed to the author of the species remained unanswered. However, the above material is in good agreement with details specified in the original description and with the illustrations provided by ITO (1992).

Additional material examined:

China: Zhejiang: 9 exs., Moganshan , 26.IV.1993, leg. Rougemont (cRou) ; 9 exs., Tienmushan , 29.IV.1993, leg. Rougemont (cRou, cAss) ; 4 exs., same data, but 2.IX.1994 (cRou) ; 1 ex., Hangzhou , 22.IV.1993, leg. Rougemont (cAss) ; 4 exs., Tianmu Shan , pass 25 km NNW Linan, 30°26'N, 119°36'E, 620-820 m, creek valley with bamboo and mixed forest, litter sifted, 16.VI.2007, leg. Schülke (cSch, cAss) ; 10 exs., Hangzhou Pref., Tianmu Shan , S pass 41 km WNW Linan, 30°22'N; 119°19'E, 350 m, plant refuse near creek, 17.VI.2007, leg. Schülke (cSch) ; 6 exs., Hangzhou Pref., Tianmu Shan , 40 km WNW Linan, 30°21'N; 119°19'E, 300 m, reservoir, plant refuse, 17.VI.2007, leg. Schülke & Pütz (cSch, cPüt) ; 2 exs., Tianmu Shan , pass 81 km W Linan, 30°18'N, 118°53'E, 625 m, plant refuse and litter sifted, 19.VI.2007, leg. Schülke & Pütz (cPüt, cAss) . Sichuan: 16 exs., Qingcheng Shan, NW Chengdu , 30°54'N; 103°32'E, 650- 700 m, 3.-4.VI.1997, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cRou, cSch, cAss) ; 2 exs., same data, but 18.V.1997, leg. Wrase (cSch) ; 10 exs., Quingcheng Shan, 65 km NW Chengdu, 8 km W Taiping , 30°53'N, 103°33'E, 800-1000 m, 18.V./ 3.-4.VI.1997, leg. Pütz (cPüt, cAss) ; 2 exs., Qingcheng Shan , 56 km NW Chengdu, 30°54'N, 103°33'E, 975 m, 18.VI.1999, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cSch) . Fujian: 1 ♂, Xinqiao , 27.05°N, 117.1°E, 10.V.2005, leg. Turna ( NHMW) .

Taiwan: 8 exs., Hsinchu County, Hsinkuang env., Road No. 60, km 44, Jienshih township , 1600 m, litter sifted, 25.III.2008, leg. Vít ( MHNG, cAss) ; 2 exs., Hsinchu County, Wufeng, Road 122, km 19, 1200 m, mountain forest litter, 26.III.2008, leg. Vít (cAss) ; 2 exs., Hsinchu County, S-Hengshan, Hengshan township , road 35, 600 m, roadside, forest litter sifted, 27.III.2008, leg. Vít ( MHNG) ; 2 exs., Chiayi County, Alishan , road 129, 4.5 km S Lungmei, 2000 m, Cryptomeria stump, 12.IV.2009, leg. Vít (cAss).

Redescription:

Body length 4.0- 4.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 22. Coloration: head brown to dark-brown; pronotum reddish to dark-brown, usually only slightly paler than head; elytra reddish to reddish-brown; abdomen reddish-brown to dark-brown, with the posterior margins (and often also the lateral and anterior margins) reddish; legs and antennae reddish.

Head approximately 1.15 times as wide as long (Fig. 23); posterior margin distinctly concave; postocular region usually weakly convex in dorsal view; posterior angles marked; neck slender, approximately 0.15 times the width of head in dorsal view; punctation of dorsal surface very fine and dense, barely noticeable in the pronounced microreticulation; dorsal surface almost matt. Eyes large and bulging, approximately as long as postocular region in dorsal view, occasionally slightly longer or slightly shorter. Antennae as in Fig. 24.

Pronotum approximately as wide as long and 0.90-0.95 times as wide as head, widest at anterior angles, anteriorly obliquely tapering towards neck (Fig. 23); punctation and microreticulation similar to those of head; midline sometimes weakly and narrowly elevated and/or somewhat more shiny in the middle.

Elytra approximately as long as, or slightly shorter than pronotum, and approximately 1.15 times as broad as pronotum (Fig. 23); punctation fine and dense; microsculpture shallow, much less pronounced than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I almost 1.5 times as long as II.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; punctation very fine and dense; interstices with shallow microsculpture visible only at higher magnification; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII with moderately deep excision posteriorly (Fig. 25); aedeagus usually 0.54-0.56 mm long, with apically distinctly bifid ventral process (Figs 26-27, 29).

Comparative notes:

This species is distinguished from the similar P. lithocharoides by the paler coloration ( P. lithocharoides : head and abdomen usually blackish-brown to blackish; pronotum and elytra brown to dark-brown), on average shorter elytra, the much deeper posterior excision of the male sternite VIII ( P. lithocharoides : posterior margin of sternite VII only weakly concave), as well as by the broader, shorter (ventral view), and apically less strongly curved (lateral view) ventral process of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history:

Previously, P. yakushimanus was known only from Yakushima, Ryuku Islands, southern Japan. The known distribution now also includes western China and Taiwan ( Map 1 ), where the specimens were sifted from leaf litter, plant refuse, and dead wood at a wide range of altitudes (300-2000 m). The aedeagus of one of the males from Hsinchu county, Taiwan, is teratologically malformed and much smaller (0.35 mm long) than usual (Fig. 28), a phenomenon which has repeatedly been observed also in other paederine genera such as Medon STEPHENS, 1833 and Sunius STEPHENS, 1829 (( ASSING 2006). The aedeagus of another male from Hsinchu county is slightly smaller (0.50 mm).

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Panscopaeus species in Taiwan: filled circles: P. yakushimanus; open circle: P. formosanus.