Eupines, King, 1866

Shen, Jia-Wei & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2020, Revision of Eupines King of New Zealand (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae: Goniaceritae), Zootaxa 4777 (1), pp. 1-84 : 6-9

EUPINES King, 1866

Figs. 2–3

Eupines King (subgenus of Bryaxis Kugelann ), 1866: 309. Elevated to genus by Broun 1886: 759. Type species: Bryaxis clavatula King , subsequent designation by Jeannel 1952: 84. Raffray 1897: 258, 1900: 171, 1908: 206; Chandler 2001: 320; Nomura and Leschen 2006: 253.

Byraxis Reitter, 1880: 166 . Type species: Byraxis monstrosa Reitter , by monotypy. Reduction to subgenus by Raffray 1904: 202.

Patranus Raffray, 1890: 123 . Type species: Tychus politus Schaufuss (= Bryaxis globulifer Schaufuss ), by monotypy. Synonymized by Raffray 1900: 171.

Brabaxis Raffray, 1890: 125 . Type species: Bryaxis siamensis Schaufuss (= Bryaxis sphaerica Motschulsky ), subsequent designation by Newton and Chandler 1989: 45. Synonymized by Raffray 1897: 258.

Eupinoda Raffray, 1900: 168 . Type species: Eupinoda leana Raffray , subsequent designation by Lucas 1920: 284. Raffray 1908: 217. Synonymized by Chandler 2001: 320.

Diagnosis. Head with asetose vertexal foveae small or lacking; lacking frontal fovea; antennal clubs 1–4 segment- ed; antennal tubercles moderately developed to lacking; postantennal notches small or lacking; postantennal cavities present from vaguely visible to as long as antennal tubercles; ventrolateral margin beneath eyes often rounded; median gular ridge narrow and low, barely visible in lateral view. Pronotum with lateral antebasal foveae punctiform or lacking; lacking median antebasal fovea. Elytra lacking basal foveae and discal stria. Abdominal tergite 1 lacking mediobasal foveae and discal carinae; ventrite 2 lacking mediobasal foveae.

Redescription [based on New Zealand members of Eupines ]. Body length 1.23–2.10 mm, generally short and compact in dorsal view; body color reddish brown to dark brown and rarely black; head and pronotum smooth, elytra and abdomen micropunctate or smooth; lacking setae or with sparsely scattered short decumbent setae on pronotum, elytra and abdomen, average length longer than length of eyes. Head with asetose vertexal foveae ( Fig. 2A ) small or lacking, often punctiform; lacking frontal fovea; frontal rostrum often moderately developed; antennal tubercles moderately developed to lacking; postantennal notches distinctively margined to lacking; postantennal cavity ( Figs. 2 A–B) extend from dorsal side of head to lateral side of antennal insertions, size vary from vaguely visible to as long as antennal tubercles; eyes often well developed and prominent; antennae ( Figs. 2 F–G) 9-segmented, 10-segmented or 11-segmented in males and 11-segmented in females, antennal clubs 1–4 segmented, with scape and pedicel elongate; ocular-mandibular carinae ( Fig. 2B ) present; ventrolateral margin rounded beneath eyes or with short basal carinae; median gular ridge ( Fig. 2C ) narrow and low, barely visible in lateral view, curved posteriorly to asetose gular foveae ( Fig. 2C ); mouth ( Figs. 2 D–E) with labial palp truncate at apex, with pair of long apical setae, mentum widest at middle, lacinia well developed, galea fused with lacinia, maxillary palpi with segment 2 slender and clavate, segment 3 trapezoidal, segment 4 large and fusiform, sensory area with stout apical setae, mandible with pair of subapical setae, labrum trapezoidal.

Pronotum about as long as wide; lacking median antebasal fovea; lateral antebasal foveae punctiform or lacking; lacking antebasal sulcus and median longitudinal sulcus; setose lateral procoxal foveae ( Fig. 2J ) small and often widely separated.

Elytra ( Fig. 3N ) slightly wider than long, longer than abdomen in dorsal view, with posterior margin often rounded; each elytron lacking basal foveae and discal carinae; sutural stria distinct to lacking.

Mesoventrite ( Fig. 2K ) with asetose prepectal foveae vaguely visible; setose median mesoventral foveae bifurcate at apex, often forming triangular cavity; pair of setose lateral mesoventral foveae large and nearly meet internally; setose lateral mesocoxal foveae often small. Metaventrite with setose lateral metaventral foveae small.

Abdomen ( Figs. 3A, 3G ) convex, with tergite 1 about 1.5 × to 2 × longer than tergite 2; tergite 1 ( Fig. 3B ) with basolateral foveae vaguely visible; lacking mediobasal fovea, discal carinae and mediobasal impression; tergites 2–4 ( Figs. 3 C–E) lacking basolateral foveae; paratergites visible on tergites 1–3 and carinate on tergite 4. Abdominal ventrite 2 with basolateral foveae ( Fig. 3I ) vaguely visible, lacking mediobasal fovea, ventrites 3–5 ( Figs. 3 J–L) lacking basolateral foveae.

Legs with protarsomeres 2 and 3 subequal in length, mesotarsomere 2 slightly longer than mesotarsomere 3, metatarsomere 2 about as long as metatarsomere 3.

Males with antennae, protrochanters, protibiae, mesotibiae, ventrite 2 or ventrite 6 modified. Aedeagus with well-developed and often symmetrical parameres; median lobe often with two sclerites; basal bulb relatively small; lacking dorsal diaphragm.

Relationships: Within the New Zealand fauna, members of Eupines are most similar to those of Simkinion Park and Pearce based on combination of the following characers: pronotum lacking a median antebasal fovea, tergite 1 lacking the mediobasal impression and ventrites 4–5 lacking the basolateral foveae. Members of Eupines can be readily separated from those of Simkinion by the absence of basal elytral foveae and the low median gular ridge, which is prominent in the latters. Members of Eupines are also similar to that of Eupinolus Oke in lacking the basal elytral foveae and the short abdomen. They may be separated by the presence of a small median antebasal fovea and the punctate pronotal base in members of Eupinolus , which are lacking in members of Eupines . In Australia, Chandler (2001) stated that Eupines is closely related to Storeyella Chandler and Wataranka Chandler but can be easily differentiated from both by the smooth basal pronotal area and the lack of a median antebasal pronotal fovea.

Comments. The lack of the basal elytral foveae, the median antebasal pronotal fovea and the basolateral foveae on tergites and ventrites, suggests that Eupines may be more derived than all other goniacerite genera in New Zealand. The subgenus Byraxis is characterized by males possessing 10 antennomeres, and males of the nominate Eupines possess 11 antennomeres: females of both subgenera have 11-segmented antennae. Nomura & Leschen (2006), in their faunistic review of New Zeland Pselaphinae, listed nine species under the nominate subgenus in New Zealand. In the following treatment of this subgenus by Shen & Leschen (2019), three species were found based solely on female types, and one was transferred to the subgenus Byraxis . During work of the nominate subgenus in this paper, five species are revealed not members of Eupines , and one new species is described. Up to date, the subgenus Eupines comprises only one species in New Zealand, with all remaining species placed into the diverse subgenus Byraxis . In Australia it is the reverse, with the subgenus Eupines being more diverse, possibly due to incorrect subgeneric placements or insufficient study ( Chandler 2001).

Three species are excluded from this revision ( E. (E.) grata (Sharp) , E. clemens Broun and E. (E.) sternalis (Broun)) . These are being described in a separate manuscript as a new genus due to the presence of the shallow antebasal pronotal sulcus, short discal elytral striae, and different genitalic characters.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Morphology of Eupines King (based on E. (B.) crassicornides). A) Head, in dorsal view. B) Same, in lateral view. C) Same, in ventral view. D) Mouth parts. E) Mandibles and labrum. F) Female antenna. G) Male antenna. H) Pronotum. I) Same, in lateral view. J) Prothorax. K) Meso- and metaventrite. Abbreviations: pc—postantennal cavities, gf—gular foveae, gr—gular ridge, omc—ocular-mandibular carinae, l—lacinia, lb—labrum, lp—labial palp, m—mentum, lmcf—lateral mesocoxal foveae, lmtf—lateral metaventral foveae, lpcf—lateral procoxal foveae, lmvf—lateral mesoventral foveae, mmsf—median mesoventral foveae, ppf—prepectal foveae, vf—vertexal foveae. Scale bars: 0.2 mm, except D, E, H, I, J = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Morphology of Eupines King. A) Tergites 1–5. B) Tergite 1. C) Tergite 2. D) Tergite 3. E) Tergite 4. F) Tergite 5. G) Ventrites 2–6. H) Ventrites 4–6. I) Ventrite 2. J) Ventrite 3. K) Ventrite 4. L) Ventrite 5. M) Ventrite 6. N) Elytra, in dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm, except A, N = 0.2 mm.