Stenichnus (Stenichnus) rothangensis (Franz) Franz, 2015

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015, Scydmoraphes rothangensis Franz, a misplaced Himalayan species of Cyrtoscydmini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4013 (3), pp. 443-448 : 445-447

Stenichnus (Stenichnus) rothangensis (Franz) comb. n.

( Figs 1–9 )

Scydmoraphes rothangensis Franz, 1981b: 45 , fig. 1.

Type material studied. Holotype: INDIA (Himachal Pradesh State): ♂, three labels ( Fig. 5 ): "Rohtangpaß S-Hang / 2500–3500 m / Himachal-Pradesh / Indien,lg.H.Franz" [white, printed], " Scydmoraphes / rohtangensis / m. / det.H.Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], " Holotypus " [red, handwritten] ( NHMW). Paratypes (8 exs.; see Remarks): 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀, 1 ex. of unknown sex; same data as holotype except yellow PARATYPUS labels (except one specimen; see Remarks) ( NHMW). Each specimen was labeled during the present study with white printed label " STENICHNUS (s. str.) / rothangensis / (Franz, 1981) / det. P. Jałoszyński, '15".

Revised diagnosis. Pronotum with pair of short longitudinal grooves at base near middle and with one lateral pit near each hind corner, area posterior to each lateral pit with small well-demarcated field of very dense small punctures; elytral suture in anterior half distinctly raised and flanked by groove; aedeagus with pair of rounded apical lobes, each forming dorsally curved hook.

Redescription. BL 1.78 mm; body of male ( Figs 1, 2 ) strongly elongate and strongly convex, moderately light brown, setae slightly lighter than cuticle.

Head small in relation to the rest of body, broadest at large and strongly protruding eyes, HL 0.24–0.25 mm, HW 0.33 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly convex; antennal tubercles weakly raised but distinct. Punctures on vertex and frons distinct and large but very shallow and unevenly distributed, separated by spaces 0.5−2× as wide as diameters of punctures; setae sparse and short, suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.78–0.83 mm, antennomeres I–II strongly elongate, III slightly elongate, IV–V about as long as broad, VI slightly transverse, VII–X distinctly transverse, XI 1.6× as long as broad, distinctly shorter than X and XI together.

Pronotum in dorsal view bell-shaped, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.45–0.46 mm, PW 0.48 mm; anterior margin and sides in anterior third rounded; lateral margins slightly concave in posterior third and strongly convergent toward obtuse and blunt posterior pronotal corners; base with one lateral pair of shallow pits and pair of short longitudinal grooves near middle composed of diffused and connected punctures, in holotype grooves are bent and connected anteromesally and demarcate posteromedian inversely U-shaped area, in paratypes grooves not connected. Punctures on pronotal disc superficial and inconspicuous except several distinct and unevenly distributed punctures between median grooves and lateral pits, and small, distinct and very dense punctures forming suboval or irregular in shape area behind each lateral pronotal pit; setae sparse, moderately long, suberect.

Elytra oval, strongly convex but slightly flattened dorsally, broadest distinctly in front of middle; EL 1.08 mm, EW 0.75 mm, EI 1.43; basal elytral fovea large and deep, located closer to lateral margin of mesoscutellum than to humerus; elytral suture in anterior half distinctly raised, elevated area demarcated from disc by distinct longitudinal groove becoming gradually shallower posteriorly. Punctures on elytra small and dense but superficial; setae moderately dense, slightly longer and more erect than those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long, slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 3–4 ) elongate, AeL 0.34 mm; median lobe in ventral view oval with notched apex so that apical region is divided into two lateral rounded lobes which are bent dorsally and in lateral view are visible as robust hooks; sclerotized endophallic structures located in subapical region, symmetrical, surface of large membranous internal sac covered with tiny denticles visible from sub-basal to median region; parameres short, apices not reaching apex of median lobe, each paramere with several subapical setae.

Female. Externally indistinguishable from male; BL 1.79–1.81 mm; HL 0.24 mm, HW 0.33 mm, AnL 0.75 mm; PL 0.48–0.50 mm, PW 0.50 mm; EL 1.08 mm, EW 0.75–0.78 mm, EI 1.39–1.43.

Distribution. Northern India.

Remarks. This species was collected on the Rohtang La Pass, and therefore the name rothangensis is an apparent mistake of Franz, who repeated this spelling three times in his paper ( Franz 1981b) and used the name rohtangensis only on all specimen labels. Franz (1981b) mentioned 11 specimens in the type series. In NHMW indeed 11 specimens are preserved, but one paratype is missing from its mounting card and one specimen, not labeled as paratype, belongs to Neuraphes . One of the 11 specimens, conspecific with the holotype, is not labeled with the standard yellow PARATYPUS label. However, it bears the same locality label as all other specimens in this series and it seems likely that this is a paratype.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. Stenichnus rothangensis (Franz) comb. n. Dorsal (1) and lateral (2) habitus of male; aedeagus in ventral (3) and lateral (4) views; original set of labels of the holotype (5).

FIGURES 6 – 9. Stenichnus rothangensis (Franz) comb. n. Head in ventral view (6); prothorax in ventral view (7), base of right elytron in dorsal view (8); pterothorax in ventral view (9). Abbreviations: ar, anterior ridge; bef, basal elytral fovea; bst, basisternal part of prosternum; gp, gular plate; gs, gular suture; hr, hypostomal ridge; hy, hypomeron; lp, labial palp; lss, lateral suture of submentum; mcp, mesocoxal projection; md, mandible; mn, mentum; mscc, mesocoxal cavity; mscs, mesocoxal socket; msvp, mesoventral intercoxal process; mtap, metaventral anterior process; mtvp, metaventral intercoxal process; mxp, maxillary palp; nss, notosternal suture; pcc, procoxal cavity; pcr, procoxal rest (= asetose impression); pcs, procoxal socket; pre, prepectus; psp, prosternal process; si, setose impression; smn, submentum; v 3, metaventrite.