Mimosticus sharpi Brunke et Solodovnikov

Brunke, Adam & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2014, Male secondary sexual characters resolve taxonomic uncertainty: five new species and a review of the formerly monotypic rove beetle genus Mimosticus Sharp (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Zootaxa 3893 (1) : -

Mimosticus sharpi Brunke et Solodovnikov sp. n.

( Fig. 1 D, 2D, 3D, 4D, 5B, 6D, 7D, 8E, 9D, E, 10B (map))

Type material. Holotype [point-mounted, terminalia and aedeagus dissected and attached to the specimen in a plastic genitalia vial with glycerin]: male, “ ECUADOR Pichincha, Nanegalito, 12 km S, Bellavista Nature Reserve, ca. 2200 m, 0°0'54'' S; 78°40'56'' W, Z. Falin 30 OCT; ECU 1F99 0 59 ex: pyrethrum fogging fungus log/ [ SEMC barcode label]/ Holotype Mimosticus sharpi sp. n. Brunke et Solodovnikov des. 2014 [red label]” ( SEMC).

Paratypes: Ecuador: Pichincha: 1 female, Mindo, 10.6 km W, Mindo road 0°4'23'' S; 78°45'14'' W, 1375 m, 28.III.1999, R. Brooks, on fungusy log ( ZMUC); 1 female, Maquipucuna Biological Station, principal trail, 1275 m, 0°7'22'' S; 78°39'0'', 29.X.1999, beating recent treefall leaves, Z. Fallin ( SEMC); 1 female, Nanegalito, 7 km S on Nono road, 1540 m, 0°0'23'' S; 78°40'36'' W, 27–31.X.1999, flight intercept trap, Z. Fallin ( SEMC);; 2 females, Bellavista Nature Reserve, 2200–2300 m, 0°00'55.77'' S; 78°40'79.73'' W, 24–28.VII.2007, Malaise trap, C. Gillet ( BMNH); Napo: 3 males, 4 females, Sierra Azul, 2300 m, 0°40'0'' S; 77°55'0'' W, 17.II.–8.III.1996, Malaise trap P. Hibbs ( SEMC, ZMUC); 2 males, 2 females, Sierra Azul, 2300 m, 0°40'0'' S; 77°55'0'' W, 12.II.–26.III.1996, flight intercept trap, P. Hibbs ( SEMC). Peru: 1 female, “ Peru Central” ( ZISP); Cusco: 21 males, 34 females, Pillahuata, Manu rd. km 128, 17–28.IX.1982, in vine and leaf litter, L.E. Watrous & G. Mazurek ( FMNH, ZMUC).

Description. Measurements: HL 1.1–1.2; HW 1.2–1.3; PL 1.6–1.7; PW 2.1–2.3; EL 2.3–2.4; EW 2.4–2.7. Total body length 11–12 mm.

Black, with distinct golden iridescence on head and pronotum; elytra metallic bluish purple or brassy-purple; abdomen strongly iridescent. Some parts of legs can be paler: dark-brown. Several apical antennomeres often paler, brownish, two apical antennomeres very distinctly pale in some specimens, yellowish.

Head in dorsal view with nuchal ridge distinct laterally. Eyes moderately large, in dorsal view approximately 2 times as long as tempora. Antennae as in Fig. 2 D, with relatively long antennomeres: antennomere 4 about 2.4–2.6 times as long as wide.

Pronotum slightly wider than long.

Elytra slightly wider and longer than pronotum.

Male: tergite VIII broadly rounded at apex; sternite VIII with characteristically “angulate” apical margin, without apical notch ( Fig. 4 D); sternite IX with narrow basal stalk, distinctly shorter than apical portion ( Fig. 6 D); tergite X with clusters of medium-sized macrosetae and with only a faint trace of an apical emargination ( Fig. 7 D). Aedeagus with well-developed, broad and emarginate copulatory sclerite in internal sac ( Fig. 9 E) but otherwise very similar to that of M. aeneipennis : paramere dilated apically ( Fig. 8 F), without sensory peg setae-like structures; internal sac with strongly sclerotized, densely packed, spine-like structures that are grouped in fields that differ in their size and degree of sclerotization.

Comparison. Mimosticus sharpi can be easily distinguished from M. viridipennis and M. tenuiformis by the nuchal ridge that is visible in dorsal view. From M. aeneipennis it can be distinguished externally by the larger eyes, bluish-purple elytra and more slender antennomeres 7–10. Among males of the sharpi species complex, M. sharpi can be distinguished by the broadly rounded apical margin of tergite VIII and the characteristically angulate apex of sternite VIII, the stalk-like basal portion of sternite IX that is distinctly shorter than the apical half, broader tergite X that is only faintly notched apically, and the well-developed, broad and emarginate copulatory sclerite of the internal sac of the aedeagus.

Distribution and bionomics. Mimosticus sharpi is known from several localities in Ecuador and from one locality in Cusco, Peru. Specimens were collected on fungusy logs, in leaf litter, in flight intercept or Malaise traps in montane forests at elevations ranging between 1300 and 2300 m.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to David Sharp (1840–1922), a great coleopterist of the past, who described the genus Mimosticus , correctly hinted towards its affinity with the Australian fauna, and who made an enormous contribution to the knowledge of the Neotropical Staphylinidae .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus of Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C) and M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D). Scale bars = 2 mm.

FIGURE 2. Antennomeres 4 – 11: Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C) and M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D). Ventral forebody of M. tenuiformis (E). Mesotrochanter and mesofemur of M. tenuiformis (F). Hindwing of M. aeneipennis, vein MP 4 fused to CuA (G). Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 4. Male sternite VIII of Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C), M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D), M. pseudosharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (E) and M. latens Brunke and Solodovnikov (F). Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Male sternite IX of Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C), M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D), M. pseudosharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (E) and M. latens Brunke and Solodovnikov (F). Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 7. Male tergite X of Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C), M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D), M. pseudosharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (E) and M. latens Brunke and Solodovnikov (F). Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 8. Aedeagus of Mimosticus viridipennis Sharp (A – D), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (E) and M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (F). Parameral view (A – B, E – F), lateral view (C – D). Internal sac not everted (A, C, E, F), internal sac everted (B, D). Scale bars = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 9. Abparameral view of median lobe of the aedeagus, showing internal sac in situ: Mimosticus viridipennis, Sharp (A), M. tenuiformis Brunke and Solodovnikov (B), M. aeneipennis Brunke and Solodovnikov (C), M. sharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (D). Copulatory sclerite of internal sac of M. sharpi (E), M. pseudosharpi Brunke and Solodovnikov (F) and M. latens Brunke and Solodovnikov (G). Scale bars = 0.2 mm. a—ventral apex of paramere showing peg setae-like structures, b—copulatory sclerite, arrow—apical margin of copulatory sclerite.