Espeson subtilis BERNHAUER , 1910: 352

Irmler, U., 2012, The Neotropical species of the genera Pseudespeson L, 1994 and Espeson S, 1882 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Osoriinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 62 (2), pp. 331-360 : 347-348

Espeson subtilis BERNHAUER, 1910: 352 ( Figs 8 a-c, 18)

Type material examined:

Mexico: Veracruz, Cordoba, without further data, leg. Fenyes (holotype in FMNH); Cordoba, without further data, 2 males, 2 females (paratypes, NHMW, BMNH, NMPC) .

Additional material examined:

Brazil: Paranà, Rio Negro , 3 females without further data, leg. Reichensperger ( NHMW) ; Minas Gerais, Passa Quatro , 1 female without further data ( NHMW) .

Diagnosis:

The species resembles E. mexicanus in punctation of the fore-body and the impressions of the pronotum. But E. mexicanus is larger than E. subtilis and the impression in the anterior half of the pronotum is longitudinal, whereas it is circular in E. subtilis .

Description:

Length: 1.8 mm. Colour: red, head darker red, legs and antennae dark yellow.

Head: 0.20 mm long, 0.30 mm wide; eyes scarcely prominent; temples continuously narrowed to the neck; only half as long as eyes; setiferous punctation coarse and deep; distance between punctures only half as wide as diameter of punctures; a wide smooth midline impunctate; surface without microsculpture and polished.

Antennae as long as head and pronotum combined; with 2 nd antennomere quadrate, 3 rd conical and not longer than 2 nd, the following antennomeres more or less quadrate and increasing in width; penultimate antennomeres only slightly wider than long.

Pronotum: 0.27 mm long, 0.30 mm wide; widest in the middle, narrowed in a smooth curve to front angle, emargination in front of the posterior angle forming an obtuse angle; setiferous punctation still deeper and larger than on head; distance between punctures half as wide as diameter of punctures; a wide midline without punctures; within midline a short longitudinal impression in anterior half and a circular impression in posterior half; surface without microsculpture and polished.

Elytra: 0.37 mm long, 0.40 mm wide; widest in the posterior half, with setiferous punctation differing in size; coarser punctation sparser than on pronotum, distance between punctures on average as wide as or wider than diameter of punctures, between coarser punctation a sparse finer punctation; surface without microsculpture and polished.

Abdomen with punctation as coarse and dense as on pronotum, on each abdominal tergite a wide impunctate midline; posterior edge of tergite VIII in male smoothly rounded; without emargination.

Aedaegus with thick basal part of central lobe and apical part placed in rectangular angle to basal part. The paramera not found in the single male specimen.

Figures

Figs 6-8: Espeson adisi (6), E. titschacki (7); E. subtilis (8); a: fore body, b: antenna, c: aedeagus, d: apex of paramera, e: abdominal tergite VIII of male (scale bar: a:, b: 0.5 mm, c–e: 0.1 mm).