Cephennium chirgisianum Jałoszyński & Stevanović, 2015

Jałoszyński, Paweł & Stevanović, Miroslav, 2015, A new Cephennium of Kyrgyzstan, with notes on subgenera and distribution (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3973 (2), pp. 381-390 : 382-386

Cephennium chirgisianum Jałoszyński & Stevanović sp. n.

( Figs 1–12 )

Type material. Holotype: KYRGYZ REPUBLIC (Jalal-Abad Province): ♂, two labels: " KIRGHIZIA: Ferganiskij / Alatau, Yarodar 1400- / 16.-19.v.1993 1500m / leg.SCHAWALLER" [white, printed], " CEPHENNIUM / chirgisianum / Jałoszyński & Stevanović / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] ( SMNS). Paratypes (6 exx.): 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( SMNS, MSNS, cPJ). Each paratype with additional yellow printed label " CEPHENNIUM / chirgisianum / Jałoszyński & Stevanović / PARATYPUS " (cPJ, MSNS, SMNS).

Diagnosis. BL about 1 mm; body weakly convex and strongly elongate, light brown; eyes small and depigmented; protibiae in males without notch; aedeagus in ventral view slightly constricted in subapical region and with subtrapezoidal apical part; sclerotized part of endophallus small, in ventral view subtriangular, with truncated apex and proximal lateral arms.

Description. BL 1.04–1.05 mm; body of male ( Figs 1, 2 ) strongly elongate and weakly convex, light brown, setae yellowish.

Head broadest at eyes, HL 0.11–0.13 mm, HW 0.20 mm; vertex and frons confluent, covered with fine and inconspicuous punctures and short, sparse and suberect setae; antennal tubercles weakly raised but distinct; eyes small and pigmented as lightly as surrounding cuticle, hardly noticeable even under magnification 160×. Antennae long and slender, with indistinctly delimited club composed of antennomeres IX–XI, AnL 0.50–0.53 mm, antennomeres I–II strongly elongate, III–V and VII each slightly elongate, VI and VIII–X about as long as broad, XI broader than X, slightly more than twice as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view approximately semioval, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.31–0.33 mm, PW 0.35– 0.36 mm; anterior margin and sides in anterior third rounded; lateral margins slightly convergent posteriorly and nearly straight in posterior half; hind pronotal corners slightly obtuse and blunt; posterior margin slightly bisinuate laterally and rounded at middle. Punctures on pronotal disc fine, shallow and sparse but distinct; setae short, sparse and suberect.

Elytra oval and evenly convex, broadest near anterior third; EL 0.60–0.63 mm, EW 0.39–0.40 mm, EI 1.53– 1.56; subhumeral carina and humeral wrinkle absent; apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytra shallow, fine and sparse, inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum.

Metaventrite with large and shallow median subtriangular impression with base on posterior metaventral margin, impression covered with unremarkable fine and sparse punctures. Metaventral intercoxal process with straight posteromedian margin and prominent subtriangular and pointed lateral projections.

Legs relatively long and slender, protibiae ( Figs 3 , 7 ) without notch; mesotibiae ( Figs 4 , 8 ) with internal flattening in posterior half.

Aedeagus ( Figs 5, 6 , 9–11 ) elongate, AeL 0.35 mm; median lobe in ventral view with subapical constriction demarcating subtrapezoidal apical region with subtriangular and blunt apex; sclerotized part of endophallus ( Fig. 11 ) small, located in subapical region, subtriangular with truncated apex and proximal arms extending laterally and toward base of median lobe; parameres slender, with very thin distal portions, each with single apical seta directed mesally.

Female. Differs from male only in metaventrite without subtriangular impression; BL 1.03 mm; HL 0.10–0.11 mm, HW 0.20 mm, AnL 0.50 mm; PL 0.31–0.33 mm, PW 0.35–0.38 mm; EL 0.60 mm, EW 0.39 mm, EI 1.55.

Distribution. Central-western Kyrgyzstan.

Etymology. After Latinized country name.

Natural history. Cephennium chirgisianum was collected from leaf litter of wild walnut ( Juglans regia L.) forest.

Remarks. The general body shape makes C. chirgisianum similar to representatives of the subgenus Neocephennium Apfelbeck, 1911 , while the structure of humeral area of the elytral base would call for placing this species in the subgenus Cephennarium Reitter, 1882 . This problem is discussed in further paragraphs.

Cephennium chirgisianum is most similar to C. (s. str.) vespertilio Kurbatov, 2006 in the body shape, proportions of antennomeres and genital structures. Major differences are: C. chirgisianum is distinctly more slender (EI of male 1.53–1.55; in C. vespertilio 1.43) and has the mesotibiae distinctly flattened mesally in distal half (not flattened in C. vespertilio ); the aedeagus of C. chirgisianum has stouter apical region distinctly broadening in ventral view (more slender and not broadening in C. vespertilio ); the sclerotized part of endophallus in C. chirgisianum forms a subtriangular structure with proximal lateral arms (entirely absent in C. vespertilio , which has membranous endophallic structures); and the parameres in C. chirgisianum are distally narrowing up to apices (narrowing from base to middle and then broadening in C. vespertilio ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Cephennium chirgisianum sp. n. Dorsal (1) and lateral (2) habitus of male.

FIGURES 3 – 6. Cephennium chirgisianum sp. n. Left protibia and tarsus in dorsal view (3); right mesotibia in dorsal view (4); aedeagus in ventral (5) and lateral (6) views.

FIGURES 7 – 11. Cephennium chirgisianum sp. n. Right protibia in dorsal view (7); right mesotibia in dorsal view (8); aedeagus in ventral (9) and lateral (10) views (line indicates the position of sclerotized endophallus); sclerotized endophallus in ventral view (11).

FIGURE 12. Provisional distribution map of Cephennium in Palaearctic region.