Paederomimus nigrinus Sharp, 1885

Posse, Mariana Chani & Salamanca, Jose Manuel Ramírez, 2019, Two new synonyms in Neotropical Philonthina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 191-195 : 191-193

Paederomimus nigrinus Sharp, 1885

Paederomimus nigrinus Sharp, 1885: 442 ; Herman, 2001: 2726 (catalog); Chani Posse et al., 2018b: 55 (checklist); Newton, 2019 (online catalog).

Hesperus heynei Wendeler 1927: 7 ; Scheerpeltz, 1933: 1372 (catalog); Scheerpeltz, 1936: 489 (key); Scheerpeltz, 1971: 190 (key); Herman, 2001: 2682 (catalog); Chani Posse et al., 2018b: 43 (checklist); Newton, 2019 (online catalog); syn. nov.

Belonuchus laevipennis Bernhauer, 1942: 25 ; Herman, 2001: 2528 (catalog); Chani Posse et al., 2018b: 21 (checklist); Newton, 2019 (online catalog); syn. nov.

Type material. Holotype of Paederomimus nigrinus ( Fig. 1 ), ♀, specimen glued to white card with Sharp’s handwrit- ing:´ Paederomimus nigrinus . Type D. S/ Chontales. Belt.´and three additional labels,´TYPE´ [round white label with red margin],´Chontales / Nicaragua /T. Belt´ [white label],´B.C.A. Col. I. 2. Paederomimus nigrinus, Sharp. ´[white label], ( BMNH).

Holotype of Hesperus heynei ( Fig. 2 ), ♀, with labels: “ Costa Rica / Turrialba 800m /ex. Coll. A. Heyne ” [yellow label], “ ♀ ”, “ Hesperus /heynei n. sp. / Wendeler det.” [white label], “ Holotypus ” [red label], “ heynei Wdlr. ” [green label] ( ZMHB). Seven paratypes: ♀, with labels: “ Costa Rica /Turrialba 800m /ex. Coll. A. Heyne ” [yellow label], “ ♀ ”, “Hes- perus/heynei n. sp. / Wendeler det.” [white label], “ Paratypus ” [red label], two of them with additional label “Erworben von/Alexander Heyne/Berlin-Wilmered.” and another one without “ ♀ ” but with “Mit dem Typus verglichen” [red label], ( ZMHB).

Syntype of Belonuchus laevipennis ( Fig. 3 ), ♀, with labels:´Cotype´ [round white label with yellow margin],´ Costa Rica /Pino. Cartago / 1000m. Fassl´ [in Bernhauer´s handwriting, white label],´laevipennis/Brnh. Cotypus/ Belonuchus´ [in Bernhauer´s handwriting, red label],´ NHMUK 013584982 ´[white label], ( BMNH).

Additional material examined. Costa Rica: Guanacaste Prov. Heliconias Biol. Sta. 10°42.92.92´N, 85°0.2.38W, 600m, 20-23-XI-2001, ex. flight intercept trap, R. Brooks, CR1B 01 64, 1 ³ ( SEMC). Panama: Cerro Campana, 2900´, VIII.30.1970, J. M. Campbell, 1♀ ( CNC).

Diagnosis. Paederomimus nigrinus may be identified among other Neotropical Philonthina with similar habitus and color pattern by the following combination of characters: antennae with third segment longer than 1.5 times as long as second segment, two apical segments testaceous, distinctly paler than preceding segments; head with postgenal ridge developed ventrally but not joining ventral basal ridge medially and labial palpi with third segment distinctly shorter than second segment.

Comments. Sharp (1885: 442) described P. nigrinus from Chontales ( Nicaragua) as a “very aberrant species” with its generic affiliation “not quite certain, the species is not like any other known to me” and “not apparently a member of either of the groups” (referencing the three species groups into which Sharp divided Paederomimus ). Later Wendeler (1927: 7) described H. heynei based on eight female specimens from another locality (Turrialba, Costa Rica) about 300 km from Chontales (MCP observation), but he gave no explanation for his generic assignment. Afterwards, Bernhauer (1942: 25-26) described B. laevipennis from Cartago ( Costa Rica) as belonging to a group of species whose males show no spines in the femora (“mit unbedornten schenkeln”), but he gave no information about the number of specimens exam- ined. We were not able to examine the type material (three syntypes) of this species deposited in the FMNH (Chani Posse et al. 2018), but we could study a fourth syntype from the BMNH. Neither P. nigrinus nor B. laevipennis were mentioned in detail after their original descriptions. However, H. heynei was included twice in a key to species of Hesperus ( Scheerpeltz 1936, 1971). Although Scheerpeltz (1971: 150) did recognize that Hesperus was not a monophyletic group at that time, he also acknowledged difficulties in setting generic limits based on the material available (only male/s or female/s for many species). We found that the types of the three nominal species here indicated are identical in external characters. These names are considered to be synonyms. After the principle of priority (Article 23.3, ICZN 1999) Paederomimus nigrinus Sharp is the valid name of this species.

Remarks. A recent total evidence study (Chani-Posse et al. 2018a) demonstrated that the genera Belonuchus , Hesperus and Paederomimus are not monophyletic groups and accordingly, it proposed that their respective generic limits should be based on modern phylogenetic concepts. The species studied herein does not fit into the current (monophyletic) concepts of either Hesperus or Belonuchus (Chani-Posse et al. 2018a) . Paederomimus nigrinus has protarsomeres 1–4 that are not transversely widened, and lack modified (pale) adhesive setae, while true species of Hesperus have protarsomeres 1–4 that are widened distally with modified (adhesive) pale seta. The mesoventrite of P. nigrinus shows the sternopleural (anapleural) suture distinctly oblique, while the true species of Belonuchus have it transverse or nearly transverse (very slightly oblique). Such differences together with a pronotum whose anterior angles are distinctly produced beyond (and anteriad) of the anterior margin of prosternum place this species among those of Paederomimus as it is currently known ( Chani-Posse 2014). It should be emphasized, however, that a monophyletic concept of Paederomimus has not been accomplished yet, and a comprehensive revision of this genus is pending. In the meantime, and for cases as the one here examined (i.e., one species, three valid names in three different genera), we consider that reporting these findings is a more efficient approach toward a natural classification than one awaiting for major revisionary studies to be completed.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Paederomimus nigrinus Sharp, holotype [BMNH ©].

FIGURE 2. Hesperus heynei Wendeler, holotype [ZMHB ©].

FIGURES 3–4. 3, Belonuchus laevipennis Bernhauer, syntype [BMNH ©]; 4, aedoeagus of P. nigrinus in ventral view, scale bar= 0.5 mm.