Brachida gabonensis, Roberto Pace, 2012

Roberto Pace, 2012, Aleocharinae from Gabon (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), Tropical Zoology 25 (4), pp. 157-172 : 160

Brachida gabonensis n. sp.

( Figures 1 – 4 )

Holotype ♂, Gabon, Penisola di Pointe Denis, Pointe Wingonbiè, 17.XII.1995, leg. L. Bartolozzi and S. Taiti, num. mag. 1784, n. coll. 14825, MSNF.

Paratype: 1 ♀, same data, n. coll. 14826, MSNF.

Description

Length: 1.8 mm. Body shiny, very convex, head reddish-brown, elytra reddish-brown with basal half yellowish-red, abdomen reddish-brown with pygidium reddish, antennae brown with the three basal antennomeres yellow, legs yellow. Eyes longer than the post-ocular region in dorsal view. Second antennomere as long as the first, third shorter than the second, fourth transverse, fifth to ninth very transverse. Reticulation of the head weak and absent at the sides, that of the pronotum very weak, that of the elytra distinct as is that of the abdomen which is slightly transverse. Puncturation of the head almost invisible, that of the pronotum fine and weak. Granulation of the elytra dense and obsolete. Elytra of the male with short, slight fold near the inner posterior angle. Aedeagus: Figure 2 ; spermatheca: Figure 3 ; male sixth free tergite: Figure 4 .

Comparative notes

In the form of the aedeagus and the presence of a slight fold near the inner posterior angle of the elytra of the male, the new species is similar to B. opportuna Pace, 1986 from Tanzania. It differs in the brown colour of the antennae (reddish in B. opportuna ) and above all in the shape of the aedeagus, which is strongly bi-sinuate on the ventral side in B. opportuna , but only slightly sinuate in the new species.

Figures

Figures 1 – 11. Habitus, aedeagus in lateral and ventral views, spermatheca and male sixth free tergite. 1 – 4: Brachida gabonensis n. sp.; 5 – 6: Cameronium gabonense n. sp.; 7 – 8: Coenonica wingonbiensis n. sp.; 9 – 11: Eustenidia gabonensis n. sp. Scale bars: 1: 1.8 mm; 5: 1.37 mm; 7: 2.57 mm; 9: 1.46 mm. Other scale bars: 0.1 mm.