Pselaphaulax meliusculus (Broun), 1893, 2022

Owens, Brittany E. & Carlton, Christopher E., 2022, Revision of the New Zealand species of the Genus Pselaphaulax Reitter (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae: Pselaphitae: Pselaphini), Zootaxa 5155 (2), pp. 221-244 : 227

Pselaphaulax meliusculus (Broun), 1893 , comb. nov.

Pselaphus meliusculus ( Broun 1893: 1044) ( Figs. 1 –2, 3a–b, 4a–b, 7a–c)

Type Material Examined. The following specimen from the NHM is here designated the lectotype of Pselaphus meliusculus : (male) TYPE (red/orange label)// 1868.// Dunedin// New Zealand Broun coll. Brit. Mus. 1922-482 (lectotype). Broun’s original description does not mention a single type specimen, and the manuscript number (1868.) matches the number included in Broun’s description ( Broun, 1893 a). Likewise , the locality of the specimen, Dunedin , is near the locality, Mount Maungatua , Otago, mentioned in Broun’s original description .

Diagnosis. Pselaphaulax meliusculus can be distinguished from other species in the genus by the curvature of the median lobe to the right and the projection of a dorsal process over the median lobe.

Redescription. MALE Lectotype. Integument: head, pronotum, elytra, abdomen, and appendages light brown, palpi lighter in color. Head: wide, width between eyes greater than ½ length of head from base of vertex to apex of rostrum. Eyes rounded, composed of 22 facets. Frontal margin of rostrum in dorsal view straight with tuft of sparse suberect setae. Gular mound modified, broadened anteriorly, as long as wide, glabrous; area of head posterior to gular mound flattened, slightly concave, nude. Maxillary palpomere IV as long as head, widened at base and distal 1/2 to 1/3, distal swollen area smooth, v-shaped sensory patches present, margined by carinae. Thorax: pronotum with basal sulcus faint, delimited by lateral antebasal foveae; median antebasal foveae margined by small longitudinal carinae, present in groove alongside basolateral pits. Mesoventrite with median shield bearing patch of spongeose setae in small concavity behind margin of procoxae. Metaventrite afoveate, lateral margins of depression with short erect setae; metacoxae separated by extension of ventrite I. Legs unmodified. Elytra with single basal fovea present, single sutural fovea; single discal stria and sutural striae present; apical fringe of setae present. Abdomen: Tergites of usual form for tribe. Ventrite II flattened in narrow band along length of ventrite, flattened area margined by fine, short setae in some specimens. Genitalia: aedeagus asymmetrical. Dorsal process extended over median lobe, projected ventrally. Median lobe distally curved to the right. Ventral process curved ventrad distally, about as long as median lobe. Parameres present, as long as median lobe.

Females. Integument, Head, Thorax, Abdomen: similar to male except eyes slightly smaller and ventrite II lacking median ovate depression and thickened area at apex.

Distribution. Pselaphaulax meliusculus is known from Central Otago (CO), Dunedin (DN), Fiordland (FD), and Southland (SL) regions on South Island.

Material examined. Central Otago region: (1 male) New Zealand CO Leaning Lodge Rock & Pillar Rng 25-Jan-02 ( JN) ; (1 male, 1 female) New Zealand CO Ailsa Craig Lammermoor Rng 7-Dec-08// Sifted moss and tussock litter// J T Nunn collection ( JN) ; (1 male, 1 female) New Zealand CO Carrick Ra Watts Rock 8 ii 2015 // Sifted moss and tussock litter J. Nunn ( JN). Dunedin region : (1 male) New Zealand DN Flagstaff Hill 8-Oct-03// in tussock litter ( JN) ; (1 male) NEW ZEALAND DN Flagstaff Hill Dunedin 23-IV-2011 // in tussock litter ( JN) ; (2 males, 1 female) NEW ZEALAND: DN: Mt. Cargill Scen. Res., Organ Pipes Track, nr. Mt. Cargill summit, 600m, 45 ∘ 48.505'S, 170 ∘ 33.999'E, 5.xii.2005, podocarp-broadleaf forest; FMHD#2005-076, berl., leaf litter (wet), A. Solodovnikov & D. Clarke; ANMT site 1165 95% ethanol FIELD MUSEUM NAT. HIST. ( FMNH, EtOH) ; (1 male) Dunedin 1408/15/1952 R.Hornabrook ( NZAC). Fiordland region : (1 male) New Zealand FD Borland Saddle 24-Jan-08 ( JN) ; New Zealand FD Thicket Burn L Hauroko 04-Jan-96// Nothofagus litter ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand FD Mount Burns 18-Feb-07// Tussock litter ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand FD First Bay L Hauroko 25 Sep 09// Washed soil sample, beech forest// J T Nunn collection ( JN) ; (1 male) NEW ZEALAND FD Hump Ridge 914m 8 Feb 1968 J. I. Townsend Litter 68/9// New Zealand Arthropod Collection , NZAC Private Bat 92170 AUCKALND New Zealand ( NZAC). Southland region: (3 males, 1 female) New Zealand SL Manuka Ridge Rd Blue mountains 9-Aug-03// in ground litter and litter from tussock zone// J T Nunn collection ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand SL MW relat stn Blue Mountains 19-Mar-06// J T Nunn collection ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand SL Round Hill Orepuki 6- Jul-02// In forest floor litter// J T Nunn collection ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand SL Spence Basin Takitimu Rng 16- Jan-00// c. 1,150 m // J T Nunn ( JN) ; (1 male) New Zealand SL Mores SR Riverton 6-Jul-02// In ground litter from kamahi forest// J T Nunn ( JN) ; (1 male, 1 female) New Zealand SL Kaka Point SR 5-Jun-99// In kamahi forest floor litter ( JN) ; (1 male) NEW ZEALAND SL Longwood Range 8 Feb 1976 G.W. Ramsay litter 76/36// Entomology Division D.S.I.R. New Zealand ( NZAC).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Pselaphaulax meliusculus (Broun). Figure 1. habitus photograph, dorsal. Figure 2. habitus photograph, lateral.