Stilicoderus birmanus SCHEERPELTZ , 1965

Assing, Volker, 2015, On Stilicoderus and Stiliderus IV. Two new species from China and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (1), pp. 145-161 : 151

Stilicoderus birmanus SCHEERPELTZ, 1965 ( Map 2 )

M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: China: Y u n n a n: 1033, 6♀♀, 4 exs. [partly teneral], NE Kunming , 25°09'N, 102°54'E, 2280 m, secondary pine forest with scattered old alder, litter sifted, 11.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch, MNHUB) ; 13, 1♀, 1 ex., mountain W Xundian , 25°35'N, 103°09'E, 2200 m, mixed forest with alder and pine, litter sifted, 15.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch, MNHUB) ; 1033, 2♀♀, 5 exs. [partly teneral], mountain W Xundian , 25°35'N, 103°09'E, 2300 m, mixed forest with alder, pine, shrub undergrowth, litter, twigs, and roots of herbs sifted, 15.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch) ; 433, 3♀♀, 18 exs. [partly teneral], same data, but 16.III.2014 (cAss, cSch, MNHUB) ; 633, 2♀♀ [partly teneral], mountain SE Gejiu , 23°18'N, 103°12'E, 2400 m, graveyard with pine, pine litter and herb roots sifted, 20.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch, MNHUB) ; 13, 1♀, 1 ex., mountain SE Gejiu , 23°21'N, 103°11'E, 2320 m, margin of pasture, litter among shrubs sifted, 20.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch) ; 13, 2♀♀ [partly teneral], mountain W Gejiu , 23°24'N, 103°07'E, 1990 m, mixed forest, litter and various debris sifted, 25.VIII.2014, leg. Assing & Schülke (cAss, cSch) .

C o m m e n t: Stilicoderus birmanus was originally described based on a single male from the Kambaiti pass, Burma, near the border with the Chinese province Yunnan ( SCHEERPELTZ 1965). The species was subsequently doubtfully recorded from Yunnan based on a single female from Kunming by ROUGEMONT (1996). A comparison of the male sexual characters of the above material with the illustrations of those of the holotype in ROUGEMONT (1986a) revealed slight differences in the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus, but at the same time some variation even in the material from East Yunnan, suggesting that the observed differences may be interpreted as intraspecific variation and that the specimens from East Yunnan are conspecific with the typical male. It was not possible to examine the holotype, which is deposited in the natural history museum in Stockholm. The specimen was looked for, but not found, by the curator in charge (BERGSTEN pers. comm.).

The above material suggests that S. birmanus may be rather common in Yunnan. The currently known distribution is illustrated in Map 2 . Several specimens are teneral.

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of Stilicoderus birmanus (open circle: type locality; filled circles: examined records).