Agrodes Nordmann, 1837

Asiain, Julieta, Márquez, Juan & Morrone, Juan J., 2007, Phylogenetic systematics of the genera Plochionocerus Dejean and Agrodes Nordmann (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Xantholinini), Zootaxa 1584, pp. 1-53 : 41-46

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.178410
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6246799
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/965DBB53-FFE3-5A59-2399-FBCC74BC5732
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Agrodes Nordmann, 1837
status

Treatment

Agrodes Nordmann, 1837 View in CoL stat . rev.

Agrodes Nordmann, 1837: 161 View in CoL (type species: A. elegans Nordmann, 1837 View in CoL , by monotypy); Erichson, 1847: 88; Lacordaire, 1854: 66; Gemminger & Harold, 1868: 599 (synonym of Sterculia View in CoL ); Sharp, 1876: 192; Bernhauer & Schubert, 1914: 314 (subgenus of Sterculia View in CoL ); Blackwelder, 1952: 42 (subgenus of Plochionocerus View in CoL ); Newton, 1995: 51 (request to the ICZN to place Agrodes View in CoL on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology); ICZN, 1996: 215 (Official List of Generic Names in Zoology).

Diagnosis. Body bright metallic; head conspicuously oblong (length/width: 1.54–2.00); lateral margins of the head contiguous dorsally and ventrally, lacking lateroventral furrows; ventral surface of the head with very dense, not expanded, umbilicate punctures (> 30 on each half of the head) distributed homogeneously; anterior margin of labrum with two pairs of small, lateral teeth and a pair of central, longer teeth ( Fig. 37 View FIGURES 32 – 39 ); mandibles almost as long as half of the head length; apical labial palpomere elongate; upper line of the pronotal hypomeron completely developed ( A. conicicollis ) or absent ( A. elegans ), slightly directed downwards in anterior third, but clearly distinct from lower line; pronotal hypomeron with fine, scarce setae in all area or in posterior 2/3; posterior margin of the elytra lacking notch; and internal margin of the tibiae with brush of dense and light setae covering the basal half or basal 2/3 of the tibiae.

Redescription. Total length 17.5–23.8 mm. Body metallic blue, green or violet.

Head. Elongate (length/width: 1.54–2.00), narrow posteriorly, dorsally with dense, umbilicate punctures ( Fig. 3 View FIGURES 1 – 6 ), ventral surface with very dense, not expanded, umbilicate punctures (> 30 in each half of head) distributed homogeneously ( Fig. 67 View FIGURES 67 – 68 ); lateral margins of head without lateroventral furrows ( Fig. 10 View FIGURES 9 – 16 ); antennae with basal antennomere longer than antennomeres 2+3 combined, second antennomere shorter than third, remaining antennomeres shorter than second, apical antennomere shorter than antennomeres 9+10 combined ( Figs. 22, 23 View FIGURES 20 – 31 ); anterior margin of labrum with two pairs of small, lateral teeth and a pair of bigger, central teeth ( Fig. 37 View FIGURES 32 – 39 ); mandibles acute, almost as long as half of head length, with two teeth on left mandible and one on right, with channel on external basal half ( Figs. 38, 39 View FIGURES 32 – 39 ); first maxillary palpomere shorter than remaining articles, second longest, third almost as long as apical palpomere and slightly widened toward apex, apical palpomere elongate-conical ( Fig. 42 View FIGURES 40 – 47 ); first labial palpomere shorter than palpomeres 2+3, second almost as long as apical or slightly longer and slightly widened toward apex, apical palpomere elongate ( Fig. 42 View FIGURES 40 – 47 ). Neck narrow, with anterior corners obtuse ( Fig. 67 View FIGURES 67 – 68 ).

Thorax. Pronotum smooth; with fine, dispersed setiferous punctures, central longitudinal area without punctures ( Fig. 3 View FIGURES 1 – 6 ); lateral margins of posterior half slightly sinuate; posterior part of pronotum with slightly visible, depressed area in each half; upper line of pronotal hypomeron completely developed, except in anterior third ( A. conicicollis , Fig. 65 View FIGURES 63 – 66 ) or absent ( A. elegans , Fig. 66 View FIGURES 63 – 66 ), slightly directed downwards in anterior third, but clearly distinct from lower line; pronotal hypomeron with fine, scarce setae on whole area or in posterior 2/3 ( Figs. 65, 66 View FIGURES 63 – 66 ). Scutellum with scarce punctures. Elytra almost as long as pronotum; with dense, setiferous punctures; posterior margin without notch ( Figs. 3 View FIGURES 1 – 6 , 58 View FIGURES 54 – 62 ). Prosternum slightly oblong (length/width ratio 1.04–1.20; Fig. 67 View FIGURES 67 – 68 ), with fine, dispersed setae ( Fig. 67 View FIGURES 67 – 68 ). Mesoventrite short and wide, surface smooth and with scarce setiferous punctures on posterior margin. Metaventrite biggest, with its surface smooth and with few setiferous punctures.

Legs. Long and slender; femora with dispersed setae on the internal and external faces; internal face of tibiae with brush of dense white setae in the basal half or 2/3 ( Fig. 61 View FIGURES 54 – 62 ), with apical spines, of which the internal one is longest; first and second tarsomeres almost equal in length, longer than third and fourth, third longer than fourth, and fifth longest (almost as tarsomeres 2+3 combined).

Abdomen. Surface with smooth and setiferous punctures as dense or slightly less dense than those on elytra; fifth and sixth visible abdominal segments conspicuously narrow than previous segments; male genital sternite elongate, asymmetrical and acute toward apex, with setae in anterior part, wider than genital tergite. Aedeagus. Variable in shape ( Figs. 75, 76 View FIGURES 69 – 78 ).

Comparative comments. Agrodes was established by Nordmann (1837), who distinguished it from the species then placed in Plochionocerus . Some authors ( Erichson 1839, Laporte 1840, Gemminger & Harold 1868, Blackwelder 1944), however, synonymized it with Sterculia , whereas others ( Erichson 1847, Lacordaire 1854) considered it valid, treating Sterculia and Araeocnemus as synonyms of Agrodes or as its subgenera ( Bernhauer & Schubert, 1914). Sharp (1876, 1885) was the first author to distinguish Agrodes from Sterculia (now Plochionocerus ) and Renda (named by him as Plochionocerus ) and provided characters (such as the elongate head and development of the prosternum) that have been important for our decision to consider Agrodes a distinct genus.