Anthobium alticola ( Coiffait, 1977 ) Shavrin & Smetana, 2018

Shavrin, Alexey V. & Smetana, Aleš, 2018, A revision of Eastern Palaearctic Anthobium Leach, 1819 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini). II. fusculum group, and two additional species of the nigrum group, Zootaxa 4508 (4), pp. 451-506 : 495-498

Anthobium alticola ( Coiffait, 1977) comb.nov.

( Figs. 94 , 96–97 , 100 )

Deliphrum alticola Coiffait, 1977: 265

Deliphrum alticola: Herman, 2001: 281 ; Smetana, 2004: 242; Schülke & Smetana, 2015: 312

Type material examined: Holotype by monotypy of Deliphrum alticola Coiffait, 1977 ♀: ‘Umg. Mahidoela-Pass |

5000m,b.Maharigaon’ <rectangular label, printed>, ‘Gebiet von Jumla | Westnepal, lg.H. Franz’ <rectangular label, printed>, ‘TYPE’ <red rectangular label, printed>, ‘ Deliphrum | alticola Cam | H.Coiffait det. 1976’ <rectangular label, printed, except handwritten “76”> (NHMW; Franz collection).

Additional material: 1 ♂: ‘NEPAL-HIMALAYA | SE-Annapurna mts. | leg. O. Jäger 1997’, ‘ Telbrung Danda | 3700m, 9.VI’ ( SNSD) .

Redescription. Measurements (n=2): HW: 0.67–0.68; HL: 0.40; AL(holotype): 1.11; OL: 0.17–0.19; PL: 0.60; PW: 1.20; ESL: 1.52–1.55; EW: 1.42–1.48; AW: 1.15–1.45; MTbL(holotype): 0.75, MTrL(holotype): 0.40 (MTrL 1–4: 0.25; MTrL 5: 0.15); AedL: 0.70; TL: 3.50.

Body moderately elongate, convex. Body and antennomeres 4–11 brown (holotype paler, with yellow-brown elytra); lateral, basal and apical parts of pronotum yellow-brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–3 and legs yellow. Body very shiny, forebody with bronze sheen; anterior portion of head between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with fine transverse meshes, posterior parts of head between ocelli and posterior margins of eyes with traces of fine transverse sculpture; abdomen with distinct isodiametric microsculpture. Head with irregular small punctation, slightly denser on infraorbital ridges; middle part of neck with irregular small punctation; pronotum with punctation markedly denser, larger and deeper than that of head, sparser on basal third and lateral portions; scutellum without or with several small punctures; punctation of elytra markedly larger and deeper than that on pronotum, dense, distinctly smaller on parascutellar area, each elytron with six, vague and tangled longitudinal rows of punctures. Habitus as in Fig. 94 .

Head 1.6 times as wide as long; middle portion of head somewhat flattened, without transverse impression in middle; occipital furrow between ocelli wide and deep; grooves in front of ocelli long and deep, reaching apical third of length of eye; postocular ridges distinct, smooth; anterior portion between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with wide and moderately deep semicircular notch. Ocelli large and very convex, situated at level of postocular ridges, distance between ocelli about as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Length × width of antennomeres (holotype): 1: 0.15 × 0.05; 2: 0.10 × 0.05; 3: 0.12 × 0.04; 4: 0.07 × 0.04; 5: 0.10 × 0.05; 6: 0.10 × 0.06; 7–10: 0.08 × 0.07; 11: 0.15 × 0.07.

Pronotum twice as wide as long, 1.7 times as wide as head, widest in middle, evenly narrowed both posteriad and anteriad; anterior angles widely rounded, not protruded anteriad; posterior angles obtuse or rounded; lateral edges of pronotum with irregular smooth crenulation; disc of pronotum with wide and markedly convex middle elevation, with pair of indistinct transverse impression on mediobasal third; lateral portions wide and slightly explanate, each with depp oval pit in middle.

Elytra slightly longer than wide, slightly widened apicad, reaching apical margin of abdominal tergite V, about two and half times as long as pronotum, with widely rounded apical margins truncated at suture; lateral portions moderately narrow, slightly explanate; latero-apical margins with small flattened crenulation.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra, with a pair of small rounded tomentose wing-folding spots in middle of tergite V.

Male. Apical margins of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII slightly sinuate. Aedeagus ( Fig. 96 ) with median lobe wide basally, gradually narrowed toward truncate apex; parameres markedly exceeding apex of median lobe, with two pairs of short apical and preapical setae. Aedeagus laterally as in Fig. 97 .

Female. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII rounded.

Comparative notes. Based on the shape of the convex body, the flattened head and the sparse punctation of the forebody, A. alticola is most similar to the Himalayan A. ivani Shavrin & Smetana, 2017 , from which it differs by shorter body, paler coloration, longer elytra and by the shape and internal structure of the aedeagus.

Distribution. The species is at present known from two locations in central and eastern Nepal ( Fig. 100 ).

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevations from 3700 and 5000 m a.s.l. The detailed ecological data are unknown.

Remarks. The study of the holotype and the additional male from central Nepal revealed that Deliphrum alticola belongs to the nigrum group of the genus Anthobium ( Shavrin & Smetana 2017) .

Figures

FIGURE 100. Distribution of Anthobium alticola (black circles) and A. flaveolum (black square) in the Himalayan Region.

FIGURES 94–95. Habitus of Anthobium nigrum group: 94—A. alticola (NEPAL: Annapurna Mts.) and 95—A. flaveolum (paratype). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 96–99. Aedeagus of Anthobium alticola (96–97: NEPAL: Annapurna Mts.) and A. flaveolum (98–99: holotype): 96, 98—parameral view, 97, 99—lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.