Cephennodes (Cephennodes) bicavatus, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015, The Cephenniini of China. VI. New species and new records of Cephennodes Reitter from Hainan, Guangxi and Guangdong (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3990 (2), pp. 221-234 : 222-226

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) bicavatus sp. n.

( Figs 1 , 6 , 10–11)

Type material. Holotype: CHINA (Guangdong Prov.): ♂, two labels: "Guangdong Prov. / Ruyuan County / Nanling N. R. / alt. 1500–1800m / 17-VIII-2008 / QI N & YIN Z-W leg." [white, printed]; " CEPHENNODES (s. str.) / bicavatus m. / det. P. Jałoszyński, '15 / HOLOTYPUS' [red, printed] ( SNUC).

Diagnosis. Frons with pair of large lateral asetose and impunctate subtriangular cavities between eyes, narrowly separated at middle, anterior and posteromesal margins of cavities sharply marked and slightly darkened, anterior margin of each cavity with fringe of setae, oval area in front of this margin shallowly impressed; frons between cavities with small median tuft of setae; median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view with abruptly narrowed subtriangular apex.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) strongly convex, oval with feebly marked constriction between pronotum and elytra, light chestnut-brown with slightly lighter legs and palps, covered with yellowish vestiture; BL 1.83 mm.

Head ( Fig. 6 ) broadest at moderately large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.28 mm, HW 0.48 mm; vertex weakly, evenly convex; frons with pair of large and deep subtriangular cavities between eyes, cavities are asetose and impunctate, narrowly separated at middle, anteriorly and posteromesally demarcated by sharp edge which is distinctly darker than surrounding cuticle; additionally smaller oval area in front of each cavity is distinctly but shallowly impressed; supraantennal tubercles feebly marked. Vertex and frons (except cavities and impressions) densely covered with small and moderately sharply marked punctures separated by spaces as wide as diameters of punctures or smaller; setae moderately dense, short and suberect, except for small median tuft between frontal cavities and fringes of slightly longer setae along margins of cavities. Pair of rod-like modified setae inserted on posterior margin of each frontal cavity. Antennae moderately long, five terminal antennomeres distinctly and gradually broadening, AnL 0.93 mm, antennomere I only slightly longer than broad, II 1.8× as long as broad; III and IV each slightly transverse, V and VI each about as long as broad, VII slightly transverse, VIII and IX nearly as long as broad, X as long as broad, XI distinctly broader than X, about as long as IX–X together, slightly more than twice as long as broad, with pointed apex.

Pronotum semi-oval, strongly convex at middle and slightly flattened at sides, especially near hind corners, broadest near posterior third but behind widest place only slightly narrowing posteriorly; PL 0.60 mm, PW 0.83 mm. Anterior margin weakly arcuate; lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior half and weakly in posterior fourth, posterior pronotal corners nearly right-angled and with sharp tips; posterior margin deeply bisinuate; lateral marginal carinae not demarcated from disc, narrow; lateral ante-basal pits shallow but distinct, each located much closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on median part of pronotal disc small but distinct, deep and with sharp margins, separated by spaces equal to or slightly wider than diameters of punctures; punctures toward pronotal margins reducing in size and depth, those near posterior margin are also sparser, those near lateral margins denser, area adjacent to each anterior corner covered with fine punctures adjacent one to another, so that surface appears coarse. Setae on pronotal disc moderately long and dense, suberect.

Elytra slightly less convex than pronotum, oval, broadest slightly in front of anterior third; EL 0.95 mm, EW 0.85 mm, EI 1.12; subhumeral lines carinate, sharply marked, as long as 0.42× EL and distinctly divergent caudad; basal elytral fovea on each elytron located at middle between lateral margin of mesoscutellum and subhumeral line; elytral apices unmodified, rounded together. Punctures on elytra much less distinct than those on pronotal disc, superficial, small and sparse; setae slightly longer than those on pronotum, moderately dense, erect. Hind wings not studied.

Metaventrite without lateral impressions, convex.

Legs moderately long and slender; all tibiae nearly straight.

Aedeagus (Figs 10–11) simonis form, AeL 0.53 mm; median lobe in ventral view with abruptly narrowed subtriangular apical part, apical projections short, in lateral view with short and evenly curved apical hook; parameres slender, each with one apical and two subapical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. SE China: Guangdong Province.

Etymology. The specific epithet bicavatus refers to the frontal impressions.

Remarks. Cephennodes bicavatus has modifications of the frons resembling those found in the Cephennodes impressifrons species group, but the presence of a pair of long and thick bristles on the head clearly places it in the Cephennodes taurus group. It is the largest member of this group known so far, with the body length 1.83 mm, while no other species exceeds 1.8 mm. Cephennodes bicavatus differs from all other representatives of this group in the shape of the median lobe, especially its apical region with the subtriangular projection is unique within the taurus group. Moreover, no other hitherto known species of this group has such clearly defined, sharply demarcated frontal cavities. Major differences between species belonging to this complex are compiled in Table 1 .

10–19. Aedeagus in ventral (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) and lateral (11, 13, 15, 17, 19) views. Cephennodes bicavatus sp. n. (10–11); Cephennodes pseudobos sp. n. (12–13); Cephennodes huapingensis sp. n. (14–15); Cephennodes elevatus sp. n. (16– 17); Cephennodes gaozhaianus sp. n. (18–19).

C. taurus C. tauroides C. qiongdaoanus C. capra C. clypeicornis C. capricornis C. bicavatus Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Jałoszyński Body length [mm] 1.57–1.69 1.73–1.79 1.70–1.73 1.60–1.63 1.63 1.60–1.63 1.83

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. Dorsal habitus of holotype males. Cephennodes bicavatus sp. n. (1); Cephennodes pseudobos sp. n. (2); Cephennodes huapingensis sp. n. (3); Cephennodes elevatus sp. n. (4); Cephennodes gaozhaianus sp. n. (5).

FIGURES 6 – 9. Head of holotype males in anterodorsal view. Cephennodes bicavatus sp. n. (6); Cephennodes pseudobos sp. n. (7); Cephennodes huapingensis sp. n. (8); Cephennodes elevatus sp. n. (9).