Belonuchus grandiceps ( Kraatz, 1859 )

Li, Liang & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2010, Revision of the Chinese species of the genus Belonuchus Nordmann (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina), Journal of Natural History 44 (35 - 36), pp. 2149-2177 : 2163-2165

Belonuchus grandiceps ( Kraatz, 1859) , first record from China

( Figure 6D–K )

Kraatz 1859: 95 ( Philonthus , Type locality: Ceylan); Fauvel 1902: 41 ( Belonuchus ); Bernhauer 1902: 28 ( Philonthus , Ceylon); Fauvel 1903: 159 ( Belonuchus , Ceylon); Bernhauer and Schubert 1914: 370 ( Belonuchus , catalogue); Cameron 1932: 171 ( Belonuchus , Ceylon; India); Scheerpeltz 1933: 1378 ( Belonuchus , catalog); Cameron 1933: 391 ( Belonuchus , Sumatra); Herman 2001: 2526 ( Belonuchus , world catalogue).

Synonym

Trapeziderus bicolor Motschulsky 1860: 79 (type locality: montagnes de Noura-Elliaà Ceylan); Fauvel 1903: 159 ( Belonuchus , synonym of B. grandiceps ).

Examined material

Syntype: one female, Philonthus grandiceps Kr. , Ceylan, Type coll. Kraatz ( FMNH) ; three males, one female, China: Yunnan: Xishuangbanna: Menla , 940 m, 19 February 2004, Wu Jie and Lu Yongping collected (IZ-CAS) .

Description

Head and neck black. Pronotum, scutellum and elytra reddish-brown. Head and pronotum usually with strongly golden lustre. Antennae dark brown with antennomeres I–III to various extent reddish-brown and antennomere XI or antennomeres X–XI reddish-brown. Abdomen black with blue lustre, posterior margins of tergites III–V narrowly reddish-brown, tergite VII with posterior margin markedly reddish-brown. Mandibles dark. Maxillary and labial palpi and legs reddish-brown.

Body depressed, large variety in size, 8.98–13.1 mm long ( HPL: 2.86–4.32 mm). Head obtusely quadrangular, 1.31–1.88 mm long, 1.47–2.02 mm wide, slightly wider than long ( HW: HL = 1.00–1.17), slightly widened posteriad behind eyes, with broadly obtuse hind angles. Frons with slight longitudinal median impression and four punctures placed in square. Tempora 0.49–0.98 mm long, sparsely and coarsely punctate; eyes moderately large, slightly prominent, 0.41–0.65 mm long, 0.67– 1.00 times as long as tempora. Lateral portions of head with scattered, large setiferous punctures; vertex largely impunctate; entire head with distinct and profound microsculpture of long waves. Antennae short, antennomere I very long, thickened towards apex, antennomere III distinctly longer than antennomere II, antennomere IV almost as long as wide, antennomere V segment slightly transverse, antennomeres VI–X distinctly transverse, antennomere XI slightly longer than wide, obliquely truncate.

Pronotum slightly narrowed posteriad, lateral margin usually distinctly concave in posterior half; 1.39–1.80 mm long, 1.22–1.80 mm wide, slightly narrower than head ( PW: HW = 0.81–0.89); dorsal rows each with five to seven punctures, lateral portions each with six or seven large punctures; microsculpture fine, similar to that on head.

Elytra slightly widened posteriad, 1.88–2.69 mm long, 1.80–2.45 mm wide, 1.32–1.50 times as long as pronotum, sparsely and finely punctate, punctures separated by two to three times their diameter. Scutellum large, triangular, densely and finely punctate.

Abdomen slightly narrowed posteriad, widest 1.55–2.04 mm, finely and closely punctate, punctures separated by two to three times their diameter at base, gradually becoming sparser towards apex of each tergite; surface between punctures with exceedingly fine and dense microsculpture of transverse striae; first three visible abdominal tergites with two basal lines, elevated area between basal lines with one or two more or less irregular rows of fine punctures.

Male. Anterior tarsomeres I–IV dilated, with modified pale setae ventrally. Sternite VIII with inconspicuous, medio-apical emargination ( Figure 6K ). Genital segments with styli of tergite IX simple, moderately setose apically. Sternite IX with markedly asymmetrical proximal portion, moderately emarginate apically; each lobe with one long apical and one long subapical seta ( Figure 6E ). Tergite X simple, triangular, subrounded at apex, with numerous apical setae ( Figure 6F ).

Aedeagus with median lobe moderately long, distinctly exceeding paramere, slightly narrowed apically ( Figure 6G ); in lateral view, median lobe distinctly widened anteriad, with a small subapical tooth ( Figure 6H ); paramere moderately large, distinctly narrower than median lobe, subrounded at apex, face adjacent to median lobe with sensory peg setae, arranged along apico-lateral margins of paramere ( Figure 6I–J ).

Female. Anterior tarsomeres I–IV slightly dilated, with modified pale setae ventrally. Sternite VIII subarcuate at apex without medio-apical emargination. Genital segments with styli of tergite IX similar to that of male. Tergite X large, triangular, subrounded at apex, with numerous apical setae ( Figure 6F ).

Distribution

China (Yunnan), India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia?.

Remarks

Belonuchus grandiceps ( Kraatz, 1859) can be easily recognized from the congeners by its entirely reddish-brown pronotum and elytra. Kraatz (1859) described Philonthus grandiceps from Sri Lanka and then Fauvel (1902) transferred it to the genus Belonuchus . Our specimens agree well with Kraatz’s syntype (FMNH). Bernhauer (1928) reported this species from Sumatra and Java, Indonesia. We examined Bernhauer’s specimens from Sumatra and Java. These specimens are not B. grandiceps but a new species B. obvelatus sp. nov.

Figures

Figure 6. Belonuchus obvelatus sp. nov. (A) Aedeagus, ventral view; (B) median lobe of aedeagus, lateral view; (C) underside of paramere. Belonuchus grandiceps (Kraatz, 1859); (D) tergite X of female; (E) sternite IX of male; (F) tergite X of male; (G) aedeagus, ventral view; (H) median lobe of aedeagus, lateral view; (I, J) underside of paramere; (K) sternite VIII of male. Scale bars 0.5 mm.