Anhoraeomorphus nudipennis (Franz) Jałoszyński, 2024

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2024, The ‘ curse of Horaeomorphus’ (almost) lifted. Revision of misplaced species from Madagascar, Comoros and Mascarenes (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5505 (1), pp. 1-96 : 43-44

Anhoraeomorphus nudipennis (Franz) , comb. n.

( Figs 159–162 )

Horaeomorphus nudipennis Franz, 1986b: 148 .

Type material studied. Holotype ( Madagascar): ♀, three labels: “Madagaskar / Umg.Périnet / lg. H.Franz 1969” [white, printed], “ Horaeomorphus / nudipennis m. / det. H.Franz ” [yellowish, handwritten and printed], “Typus” [red, handwritten] ( NHMW).

Revised diagnosis. Body ( Fig. 159 ) moderately stout; head ( Figs 160–161 ) sub-pentagonal, with vertex posteriorly weakly rounded; pronotum ( Fig. 159 ) bell-shaped, broadest slightly in front of anterior third, with one pair of large subcircular antebasal pits; antennomeres 1–6 ( Fig. 162 ) each elongate, 7–10 each about as long as broad; all femora similarly slender and densely setose in lateroventral distal region; metatibiae in female with flattened and matt dorsal surface

Redescription. Body of female ( Fig. 159 ) moderately convex, yellowish brown; setae yellowish; BL 2.55 mm.

Head ( Fig. 160 ) in anterodorsal view sub-pentagonal, broadest at eyes, HL 0.43 mm, HW 0.45 mm; temple in lateral view ( Fig. 161 ) slightly shorter than eye; vertex and frons confluent, together weakly convex and weakly transverse; vertex posteriorly weakly rounded; each eye large and weakly convex, oval and posteriorly barely noticeably emarginate, weakly projecting from head silhouette. Punctures on vertex fine, inconspicuous; setae short, dense and suberect; frons and vertex densely covered with thick bristles directed posteriorly. Antenna ( Fig. 162 ) slender but short, indistinctly shorter than half BL, AnL 1.23 mm, antennomeres 1–6 each elongate, 7–10 each about as long as broad, 11 much shorter than 9 and 10 combined, slightly narrower than 10, about 1.7 times as long as broad.

Pronotum bell-shaped, broadest slightly in front of anterior third; PL 0.68 mm, PW 0.60 mm. Anterior margin strongly rounded, lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior half, sinuate in posterior half; posterior corners blunt; posterior margin nearly straight. Base with one pair of large subcircular pits, sublateral carinae conspicuously long and sharply marked. Disc with fine, inconspicuous punctures; setae dense, short and suberect, lateral surface of pronotum with dense thick bristles.

Elytra together oval, moderately convex, dorsally distinctly impressed along suture in anterior third, broadest slightly in front of middle; EL 1.45 mm, EW 1.05 mm, EI 1.38; humeral calli weakly elevated, basal elytral foveae barely discernible. Punctures small and shallow, inconspicuous; setae extremely short, so that elytra appear asetose.

Legs long and slender, all femora densely setose in lateroventral distal region; all tibiae slightly recurved, metatibiae with dorsal surface distinctly flattened and matt.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Central Madagascar (Alaotra-Mangoro Region).

Remarks. Périnet (= Analamazaotra Special Reserve, often referred to as Andasibe) was a part of the large Mantadia National Park, but currently is a separated component of Andasibe-Mantadia NP divided by deforestation.

The only known female of A. nudipennis has the elytra so finely setose that at magnification 80 times it appears virtually asetose. All femora have a dense group of setae in the lateroventral distal region (this feature is not as distinct as in illustration in Franz (1986b): fig. 130), and the metatibiae have distinctly flattened and matt dorsal surface, suggesting that in males they may be more conspicuously modified. The conspicuously short antennomere 11 in relation to 9 and 10 combined is another unique feature of this species.

Figures

FIGURES 159–162. Anhoraeomorphus nudipennis (Franz), holotype. Habitus in dorsal view (159); head in anterodorsal view (160); head and prothorax in lateral view (only bristles on head are shown) (161); antenna (162).