Heterotetramelus (Heterotetramelus) baloghi (Franz) Jałoszyński, 2021

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2021, New Caledonian species misplaced in Horaeomorphus Schaufuss belong in Heterotetramelus Franz (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4951 (1), pp. 130-136 : 134

Heterotetramelus (Heterotetramelus) baloghi (Franz) , comb. n.

Horaeomorphus baloghi Franz, 1979: 66 .

( Fig. 2 )

Type material examined. Paratype ( NEW CALEDONIA): ♀, four labels: „NEW-CALEDONIE / Nouméa / Mt. Koghi ” [white, printed], “ 12-13.II.1977 / leg. Dr.J. BALOGH” [white, printed], “ ♀ ” [white, handwritten], „Horaeo- morphus / baloghi m. / PARATYPUS ” [yellow, handwritten and printed] ( NHMW) .

Emended diagnosis. Female body over 2 mm in length, bicolored and with strongly contrasting parts: elytra and legs brown with umbra hue, head and prothorax nearly black, scapes nearly as dark as head, remaining antennomeres becoming slightly lighter toward antennal apices; eyes large (diameter much longer than apical width of scape), bean-shaped and strongly convex; antennomeres 7–8 each elongate (8 indistinctly so), 9–10 each as long as broad; pronotum lacking antebasal pits, with barely perceivable, superficial transverse impression. Male characters unknown.

Redescription. Male unknown. Body of female ( Fig. 1 ) moderately slender and strongly convex, bicolored: elytra and legs brown with umbra hue, head and prothorax nearly black, scapes nearly as dark as head, remaining antennomeres becoming slightly lighter toward antennal apices, setae distinctly lighter than elytra, yellowish-brown; BL 2.50 mm.

Head sub-pentagonal, broadest at eyes, HL 0.45 mm, HW 0.50 mm. Vertex and frons confluent, together sub- trapezoidal and weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles weakly elevated; tempora in dorsal view 1.5 × as long as eyes; eyes large (eye diameter much longer than apical width of scape), in lateral view bean-shaped with distinct posterior emargination, strongly convex and finely faceted. Punctures on frons and vertex very small but distinct, sharply marked and dense, separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures; setae dense, moderately long, suberect or erect; tempora with distinct long and dense thick bristles. Antennae slender and weakly gradually thickened, AnL 1.38 mm, antennomeres 1–8 each elongate (8 weakly so), 9 and 10 each about as long as broad, 11 much shorter than 9–10 combined, 1.8 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view bell-shaped, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.73 mm, PW 0.58 mm; anterior margin and sides in anterior third rounded together; lateral margins in posterior half distinctly sinuate, strongly constricted near posterior third; posterior corners indistinctly obtuse-angled and blunt; posterior margin weakly arcuate. Base of pronotum with barely discernible, superficial transverse impression, lacking pits. Punctures, setae and lateral bristles similar to those on head.

Elytra together oval, strongly and evenly convex, broadest distinctly in front of middle; EL 1.33 mm, EW 1.05 mm, EI 1.26; basal elytral impressions short but distinct; humeral calli weakly elevated, elongate; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytra dense but very shallow and inconspicuous; setae distinctly thicker and denser than those on head and pronotum, suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender, pro- and mesotibiae indistinctly curved inwards.

Remarks. During this study it was not possible to examine the holotype of this species. However, the holotype is a female, and therefore the identification of H. baloghi may be still problematic, as species of Heterotetramelus may be similar one to another. Three specimens (one male and two females) collected on Mt. Koghi, the type local- ity of H. baloghi , were seen, which very much resemble the paratype of this species. The only differences are the eye of females conspicuously smaller and less convex than those in H. baloghi , slightly different proportions of antennomeres, and distinct (but still relatively shallow) antebasal pronotal pits. It is possible that pairs of extremely similar species occur sympatrically in New Caledonia, and care must be taken when identifying females.

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Dorsal habitus of type specimens. Heterotetramelus australis (Franz), holotype female (1); H. baloghi (Franz), paratype female (2); H. novaecaledoniae (Franz), holotype male (3).