Oedichirus caupo, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, The genus Oedichirus in New Caledonia (Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 537-586 : 544-545

Oedichirus caupo nov.sp. (Figs 24)

Material studied: ♀ Holotype: NEW CALEDONIA, Monts Koghis, Auberge near Nouméa , 500m, 26.VII-13.VIII.1978, S&J Peck, rainforest ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus caupo des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ FMC].

Description: length: ca. 6 mm; length of fore-body: 2.2; length of head: 0.6; breadth of head: 0.72; length of antenna: 1.2; length of pronotum: 1; breadth of pronotum: 0.9; length of elytron: 0.7; breadth of elytra: 1.5. Head and pronotum piceous, elytra a little paler, very dark brown, abdomen black, posterior margin of segment VII and entire segment VIII rufescent; palpi and antennae pale testaceous, legs darker testaceous. Dorsal surfaces devoid of microsculpture except on anterior row of keels on each abdominal tergite where it is very strong. Pubescence fairly sparse on pronotum, denser on elytra and especially on abdomen, rather long, pale, decumbent. Habitus: Fig. 24h.

Head moderately transverse; eyes small, not very prominent; temples obtusely angulate at a little less than 1♀ 3 rd the distance from posterior margin of eye to neck; post-ocular border entire from eye to neck, not evident in dorsal view, situated on lateral margin in the form of a carina but without an attendant groove; puncturation coarse, formed of round umbilicate punctures, dense, with interstices narrower than diameter of punctures except on a small space at centre of vertex. Pronotum relatively short and broad, broadest shortly behind anterior angles, the sides rounded, strongly convergent to narrow base; lateral margin entirely bordered; puncturation a little coarser than that of head, the punctures simple, dense, interstices everywhere much narrower than diameter of punctures, leaving only a small shiny median callus about 1♀ 3 rd from base. Elytra very strongly transverse, of characteristic shape; puncturation about as coarse and dense as that of pronotum, but the punctures are shallower. Row of keels and grooves at base of each abdominal tergite long; puncturation of tergites coarse and dense, comparable to that of pronotum.

Female: sternite IX: Fig. 24vp.

This new species is similar in size, colour and puncturation to O. pilosus nov.sp. and O. mimopilosus nov.sp. but easily distinguished from them by its narrower head and less prominent eyes, and the longer, decumbent pubescence of the elytra and abdomen (short, very dense and erect in O. pilosus ) as well as in the conformation of the female ninth sternite.