Psammoecus simoni Grouvelle, 1892

Yoshida, Takahiro & Hirowatari, Toshiya, 2014, A revision of Japanese species of the genus Psammoecus Latreille (Coleoptera, Silvanidae), ZooKeys 403, pp. 15-45 : 33-34

Psammoecus simoni Grouvelle, 1892 Figs 2C, 10and 14 J–L

Psammoecus simonis [sic.] Grouvelle, 1892: 287. Type locality: Philippine; Type deposition: Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. (misspelling)

Psammoecus simoni : Grouvelle 1908: 476, 488. - Hetschko 1930: 81. (catalogue) - Pal 1985: 31, fig. 11. - Hirano 2009: 63, 65, 82, fig. 5. - Hirano 2010: 11, 14. - Karner 2012: 25, fig. 11.

Diagnosis.

This species is distinguished from other Japanese Psammoecus species by the black elytra with yellow maculae and the posterior teeth on lateral margins of pronotum longer than those of anterior margins.

Description.

Body length. 2.24-2.56 mm (n=8).

9th abdominal sternite (Fig. 14J). Strut comparatively short, cut at anterior 2/5, diverging gradually, branches comparatively long and wide. Lateral sclerites elongate, slightly curved inwards, apical sclerites pointed.

Aedeagus (Fig. 14K, L). Parameres fused with phallobase, wide, short, posterior and lateral portions punctuated sparsely, densely punctuated triangular areas in anterior portions, a few long setae and short setae on posterior half, several short folds around beginning of divergence of parameres, a few lines on upper densely punctuated areas. Phallobase stout, broad in lateral aspect, anterior margin straight, a few subparallel lines on posterior dorsal portion. Penis comparatively broad, flattened around apex, apical margin rounded, punctuated sparsely on apex.

Specimens examined.

JAPAN: [Okinawa Pref.] 1 male, 4 females & 2 exs., Inamine, Nago City, Okinawa Island, 26 –IX– 2012, T. Yoshida leg. (ELKU); 1 ex., Mt. Yarabu-dake, Ishigaki Island, 16 –VI– 2002, T. Watanabe leg. (ELKU).

Distribution.

JAPAN: Okinawa, Hateruma and Ishigaki Islands; Madagascar; India; Sri Lanka; Malaysia; Indonesia; Philippines.

Biological notes.

This species is found in dead leaves to which fungi are attached and occurs sympatrically with other Silvanid species such as Psammoecus trimaculatus , Psammoecus scitus sp. n., Cryptamorpha desjardinsi ( Guérin-Méneville, 1844) and Monanus concinnulus (Walker, 1858) (Fig. 15B).

Remarks.

Pal (1980) and Karner (2012) redescribed this species. Grouvelle (1892) described it as ‘simonis’. However, Grouvelle (1908) referred to it with the specific name ‘simoni’. Pal (1980), Hirano (2010) and Karner (2012) used the latter spelling, which we adopt in the present study.