Hesperus warisensis (Last, 1987) Last, 1987

Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2012, Revised concept of the genus Euryporus Erichson (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae) and phylogenetic significance of Staphylinini from New Guinea, ZooKeys 213, pp. 51-62 : 55

Hesperus warisensis (Last, 1987) comb. n. Figures 3-7

Type material examined.

Papua New Guinea: Holotype, female, "Holotype [red circular label]/ New Guinea Neth. Waris, S. of Hollandia, 450-500 m, VIII-16-23-1959/ T.C. Maa collector Bishop/ Euryporus warisensis sp. n. H.R. Last det., Holotype [H.R. Last's label]/ Hesperus warisensis (Last) A. Solodovnikov det. 2012" (BPBM).

Although Euryporus warisensis is strikingly different from the Palearctic Euryporus (cf. Figs 1 and 3), Last (1987) did not provide any justification for his generic placement. Based on the structure of head sutures (rudimentary infraorbital ridges, Fig. 5; present dorsal basal ridge on the neck), prothorax (laterally visible hypomera; superior marginal line turning downwards before anterior angles of pronotum, Fig. 6); anterior angles of pronotum not strongly protruding over anterior margin of prothorax), legs (lacking empodial setae) and other characters, Euryporus warisensis is clearly not congeneric with Euryporus and in fact belongs to the subtribe Philonthina .

Because of its rather elongate mandibles and maxillary palps (Fig. 5), as well as habitus resemblance, Euryporus warisensis could be associated with some species of Hesperus from New Guinea like Hesperus raynori Last, 1987 and others. As pointed out in Schillhammer (2002) about Hesperus [ “… this genus is a dumping ground for species matching a particular set of characters which can hardly suffice to justify a monogeneric treatment"], and demonstrated in the phylogenetic analysis ( Li and Zhou 2011), this genusis not a monophyletic group and needs a revision. In such circumstances placement of Euryporus warisensis in Hesperus is a practical solution pending further study. As far as I am aware (and personal communication of H. Schillhammer), the enlarged apical labial palpomeres of Euryporus warisensis easily distinguish this species from any other known species of Hesperus .

It is noteworthy that on the left side of the pronotum (Fig. 7) the holotype of Hesperus warisensis displays a “fake” superior line extended towards anterior angles of pronotum, while the right side has no such structure (Fig. 6). Presumably, the left side of the pronotum in the holotype displays a slight teratology.