Craspedomerus sinetuber ( Coiffait, 1977a )

Li, Liang & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2010, Taxonomy of the genus Craspedomerus Bernhauer, 1911 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina) from China, Zootaxa 2506, pp. 1-25 : 18-19

8. Craspedomerus sinetuber ( Coiffait, 1977a) , first record from China

( Figs. 10 A–E, 12A)

Coiffait, 1977a: 223 ( Philonthus , type locality: Dechhi Paka, Bhutan); 1979: 319 ( Craspedomerus ); Herman, 2001: 2583 ( Craspedomerus , world catalog); Smetana, 2004: 632 ( Craspedomerus , catalog for Palaearctic region).

Material examined. CHINA: Tibet: ɗ, Ψ, Cuona (27°59´N, 91°54´E), 2000 m, 7.VIII.1974, Huang Fusheng collected (IZ-CAS).

Description. Head and pronotum black with slightly bronze-greenish reflex. Antennae black-brown. Elytra metallic blue. Scutellum black. Abdomen entirely black with slightly iridescent reflex. Mandibles, maxillary and labial palpi dark brown. Femora and tibiae dark, tarsi reddish-brown.

Body 11.9–14.0 mm long (HPL = 4.90–5.06 mm). Head of rounded quadrangular shape, 1.88–1.96 mm long, 2.20–2.29 mm wide, slightly wider than long (HW:HL = 1.17). Tempora 0.41–0.57 mm long, almost evenly rounded, densely and coarsely punctate, setiferous; eyes large, slightly protruded, 0.65–0.74 mm long, 1.30–1.60 times as long as tempora. Dorsal surface of head with moderately numerous, large setiferous punctures, becoming sparser toward vertex, vertex largely impunctate; entire head with distinct and profound microsculpture of transverse waves.

Pronotum subquadrate, slightly narrowed anteriad, 2.45–2.61 mm long, 2.12–2.45 mm wide, slightly wider than head (PW:HW = 0.96–1.07), sparsely and finely punctate, punctures separated by 5–8 times their diameter, narrowly impunctate along midline, microsculpture fine, similar to that on head.

Elytra 2.86–3.02 mm long, 2.94–3.27 mm wide, 1.17 times as long as pronotum, densely and finely punctate, punctures separated by 2–3 times their diameter. Scutellum large, triangular, densely and finely punctate.

Abdomen a little narrowed posteriad, widest 2.86–3.02 mm, tergites sparsely and finely punctate, at base punctures separated by 4–5 times their diameter, gradually becoming sparser toward apex of each tergite; surface between punctures with dense and fine microsculpture of transverse striae; elevated area between basal lines of tergites III–V almost impunctate.

Male. Sternite VIII with moderately wide, obtusely triangular medio-apical emargination ( Fig. 10 D). Sternite IX with distinctly asymmetrical basal portion, apex deeply emarginate, each lobe bearing two long apical setae ( Fig. 10 C). Tergite X simple, triangular, subrounded at apex, with variable number of apical setae ( Fig. 10 E).

Aedeagus as ( Figs. 10 A–B); underside of each branch of paramere with very small, flat sensory peg setae closely arranged at subapical portion ( Fig. 12 A).

Female. Sternite VIII without medio-apical emargination. Gonocoxites moderately developed, second gonocoxites each with minute stylus bearing two long apical setae. Tergite X similar to that of male. Remarks. Coiffait (1977a) described this species, as Philonthus sinetuber , from Bhutan. Later, he transferred this species to Craspedomerus ( Coiffait 1979) . Craspedomerus sinetuber can be easily distinguished from all other congeners by very large eyes (much longer than tempora), black-brown antennae and entirely black abdomen. This species is reported from China for the first time.

Distribution. China (Tibet), Bhutan.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Craspedomerus sinetuber (Coiffait). A, aedeagus, ventral view; B, aedeagus, lateral view; C, sternite IX of male; D, sternite VIII of male; E, tergite X of male. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURE 12. Scanning electron micrographs of the underside of one of the branches of the paramere of Craspedomerus. A, C. sinetuber (Coiffait); B, C. glenoides (Schubert); C, C. beckeri Bernhauer; D, C. violaceipennis Cameron; E, C. zhangi Li & Zhou sp. n.; F, C. giganteus Li & Zhou sp. n.; G, C. ganeshensis Coiffait; H, C. gongshanus Li & Zhou sp. n.; I, C. cyanipennis Scheerpeltz. Sensory peg setae are indicated with arrows.