Odontoxenus Kistner, 1958

Kanao, Taisuke, Maruyama, Munetoshi & Sakchoowong, Watana, 2010, Two new species of Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) found in fungus gardens of Odontotermes termites (Isoptera, Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, ZooKeys 49 (49), pp. 77-86 : 81-85

Genus Odontoxenus Kistner

Kistner 1958: 104 (original description); Jacobson and Kistner 1975: 293 (key, diagnosis).

Comments. This genus in general appearance and body size is similar to Doryloxenus among the Asian genera of Pygostenini , but distinguished from it by the shape and position of eyes having part of their surface on the anterior margin of the head, the relatively long mesosternum, and the reduced 4-segmented tarsi ( Jacobson and Kistner 1975).

Odontoxenus thailandicus Kanao & Maruyama , sp. n. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EF7AED85-A974-4EE3-9144-D5B6B6BDE487

Figs 3 , 4 , 5D

Type series. Holotype: ♁, “ Thai: Nakhon Nayok, Khao Yai National Park, Mo Sing To (700 m alt.), 28 IX 2007, Maruyama M. and Katayama Y. leg. // Holotype Odon- toxenus thailandicus des. Kanao & Maruyama, 2010”. Palatypes: 2♀, same data as holotype; 2♁, 2♀, ditto, but 26 IX 2007.

Symbiotic host: Odontotermes proformosanus Ahmad, 1965

Etymology. Named after the type locality.

Diagnosis. Most similar to O. butteri ( Wasmann, 1916) and O. malaysianus Kistner, 2005 through the pronotum with a row of macrosetae at the lateral margin, but distinguished from them by the macrochaetotaxy of the tergites II–VIII: 0, 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8.

Description. Body ( Figs 3 A–3B) almost uniformly reddish brown; head and elytra slightly darker. Dorsal surfaces of head, pronotum and elytra ( Fig. 3A ) smooth, glossy and glabrous. Head to elytra ( Fig. 3B ) well convex, laterally curved in shape of half cir- cle. Pronotum ( Figs 3 A–3B, 4B) much narrower than elytra, with a row of 5 macrosetae on lateral margin. Elytra ( Figs 3 A–3B, 4A) with inflexed lateral margins, and about 10 macrosetae on lateral margins. Macrochaetotaxy of abdominal tergites II–VIII: 0, 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8; male abdominal tergite VIII ( Fig. 4C ) slightly truncate at apex and slightly wrinkled on dorsal surface, with 3 pairs of macrosetae near apex (1 laterally, 2 dorsally), and with 1 pair of flattened setae at apex; sternite VIII ( Fig. 4D ) with 2 pairs of macrosetae on dorsal surface and 3 pairs at apex; female tergite VIII ( Fig. 4F ) with basal projections and macrosetae shorter than in male. Tergite IX ( Fig. 4E ) with 7 pairs of macrosetae laterally; tergite X ( Fig. 4E ) with 3 macrosetae around middle and 2 pairs of macrosetae at apex. Median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 4G ) with apical lobe almost straight, much narrower than basal capsule; copulatory piece membranous; basal capsule swollen, half as long as apical lobe. Spermatheca ( Fig. 4H ) curved twice, S-shaped; apical part swollen, its inner wall hollowed at apex, densely wrinkled from apex to around apical 1/3; basal part 2.5 times as long as apical part, roundly curved around basal 1/3 and gently curved around apex.

Measurements. Body length:ca.1.7–2.0;pronotal length:0.44–0.51 (0.47±0.031); pronotal width: 0.64–0.73 (0.68±0.037); antennal length: 0.29–0.30 (0.30±0.012). N=5.

Biological notes

These new species were found in the fungus gardens of Odontotermes proformosanus ( Figs 5 A–5B). The scuttle flies Clitelloxenus perdosetae Disney, 1997, C. thailandae Disney, 1997 , Franssenia sp., Crasilla sp. and Dicranopteron sp. were also caught at the same time. The individual number of each species was very low, compared to D. malaysianus collected in a high number from a few Odonototermes Holmgren, 1912 nests in Malaysia ( Kistner 1982). Only a few specimens of D. katayamai ( Fig. 5C ) were found in one nest, which generally contained one to ten, fist-sized fungus gardens, and none or one specimen of O. thailandicus was found in one nest, though density of the host termites was very high at Mo Sing To, the type locality of the present new species. The behavior of D. katayamai was almost the same as it was reported for D. malaysiensis by Kistner (1982). The behavior of O. thailandicus ( Fig. 5D ) was similar to that of D. katayamai , but it moved much slower than D. katayamai and it often stopped.

Acknowledgment

We would like to express our thanks to Professor Osamu Tadauchi, Associate Professor Satoshi Kamitani, Associate Professor Layne Westover for reviewing the manuscript. We are also indebted to Mr. Narong Mahannop, the superintendent of Khao Yai National Park, for supporting and provisioning our fieldwork. Permission for sampling in this project was granted by the National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department, Thailand (No. 0907/14255). T. Kanao and M. Maruyama thank Dr. Yoko Takemastu for identification of the termite species. M. Maruyama thanks Alfred F. Newton and Margaret K. Thayer for allowing use of the Microptics system at the Field Museum of Natural History, and Y. Katayama and T. Komatsu for their assistance in the first author’s field work and for taking excellent pictures ( Figs 5 A–5D). This study was partially supported by a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad to M. Maruyama. This is a Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Ser. 6, No. 86).

Figures

Figure 3. Habitus of Odontoxenus thailandicus. A dorsal view and B lateral view.

Figure 4. Odontoxenus thailandicus. A elytron B pronotum C male abdominal tergite VIII D male abdominal sternite VIII E male abdominal tergite IV & V F female abdominal tergite VIII G median lobe of aedeagus, and H spermatheca.

Figure 5. A Odontotermes proformosana, queen, workers and soldiers B the fungus garden of O. proformosana C Discoxenus katayamai, on fungus garden D Odontoxenus thailandicus, on fungus garden. Photos © Y. Katayama (5A–5B), T. Komatsu (5C–5D), 2007.