Clidicus interfector Jałoszyński, Cheng & Yin, 2019

Jałoszyński, Paweł, Cheng, Zhi-Fei, Brajczewska, Nastazja & Yin, Zi-Wei, 2019, Hidden diversity of giant scydmaenines: five new species and new records of Clidicus in the Philippines (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4658 (3), pp. 571-584 : 574-576

Clidicus interfector Jałoszyński, Cheng & Yin sp. n.

( Figs 8–13 )

Material studied. HOLOTYPE: ♂: PHILIPPINES, with two labels: “ PHILIPPINES Mindanao / prov. Davao der Sul / 06°54’N 125°16’E / Kapatagan (Rizal) / IX 2018 / leg. Ismael Lumawig (local coll.)” [white, printed], “ Clidicus / interfector Jałoszyński et al. / HOLOTYPUS ” [red, printed] ( USMB). PAPATYPES (3 ♂♂): PHILIPPINES: 1 ♂, “ PHILIPPINES / Mindanao / prov. Bukidnon / Intavas / III 2016 / leg. Ismael Lumawig ” ( SNUC); 1 ♂, “PHIL- IPPINES / Mindanao / prov. Davao der Sur / Kapatagan / III 2017 / leg. Ismael Lumawig (local coll.)” ( SNUC); 1 ♂, “ PHILIPPINES / Mindanao / prov. Lanao del Sur / Wao / X 2017 / leg. Ismael Lumawig (local coll.)” ( SNUC).

Diagnosis. Pronotum with unevenly distributed, small but relatively deep and sharply marked, dense punctures (most spaces between them subequal to puncture diameters), cuticle between punctures glossy, distinct median longitudinal line impunctate, pronotal disc lacking posterior median longitudinal groove; aedeagus with strongly asymmetrical parameres, the right one (in ventral view) with its apex strongly curved mesad.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 8 ) elongate and slender, head flattened, prothorax and elytra strongly convex; legs and antennae long and slender, BL 6.92–7.02 mm (mean 6.99 mm); cuticle glossy (less so on elytra), pigmenta- tion uniformly reddish brown, setae indistinctly lighter than cuticle.

Head ( Fig. 9 ) broadest slightly behind middle of tempora, HL 1.13–1.18 mm (mean 1.16 mm), HW 1.55–1.60 mm (mean 1.58 mm); tempora in dorsal view 3.5 times as long as eyes, in anterior third straight and slightly diver- gent posterad, posteriorly evenly, strongly rounded; vertex with a deep subtrapezoidal posteromedian impression and well-visible pits marking the sites where dorsal tentorial arms are fused with the head wall, sides of vertex convex; frons between antennal insertions nearly flat and with several fine transverse wrinkles, frons and anterior portion of vertex with fine, diffuse median longitudinal groove, which is more pronounced posteriorly; supraanten- nal tubercles small but distinctly elevated; compound eyes small, nearly round, in dorsal view not projecting later- ally from the head silhouette and finely faceted. Punctures on sides of vertex and frons dense, distinct but shallow and with diffuse margins, mesal margin of each eye and posterolateral margin of each supraantennal tubercle with an irregular group of dense punctures; supraantennal tubercles and posteromedian vertexal impression virtually impunctate. Setae long, moderately dense, suberect to erect. Antennae ( Fig. 10 ) slender, all antennomeres elongate, scape slightly longer than head; AnL 4.24–4.29 mm (mean 4.27 mm).

Labrum with distinct but shallow subtriangular anteromedian emargination, anterior margin at each side weakly rounded.

Pronotum with subpentagonal disc and short posterior ‘collar’, broadest near anterior third; PL 1.70–1.74 mm (mean 1.71 mm), PW 1.55–1.60 mm (mean 1.58 mm); ‘collar’ demarcated by a narrow transverse groove with approximately 10 irregular and diffuse pits, some partly fused together; additionally two larger pits are present on each side of pronotum in its constricted portion. Punctures on disc distinctly larger and deeper than those on head, unevenly distributed, spaces between most punctures subequal to their diameters, distinct median longitudinal line impunctate, cuticle between punctures glossy; sides of pronotum (above each procoxal cavity) nearly impunctate. Setae moderately long, sparse, suberect.

Elytra shield-shaped, broadest slightly in front of middle, EL 4.10–4.14 mm (mean 4.13 mm), EW 2.26–2.36 mm (mean 2.32 mm), EI 1.74–1.83; each elytron with five dorsal and one lateral rows of large and deep pits, cuticle between pits finely shagreened, less glossy than on head and pronotum, between rows with very fine and sparse setiferous punctures. Setae distinctly longer and slightly thicker than those on head and pronotum, erect. Apex of each elytron obliquely truncated, with indistinct, obtuse-angled and blunt lateral corner and distinct adsutural corner which is strongly projecting posterad, sharp-angled and pointed.

Hind wings absent.

Legs long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 11–12 ) strongly elongate but moderately slender, AeL 1.75–1.93 mm (mean 1.82 mm); para- meres of strongly unequal length and shape, in ventral view shorter paramere with subtriangular, rounded apex directed distolaterad, longer paramere with short subtriangular and rounded apical portion strongly curved mesad, flagellum differentiated from ductus ejaculatorius by a rapid broadening of walls near middle of median lobe. ‘Sperm pump’ ( Fig. 13 ) 0.93–0.99 mm (mean 0.97 mm) in length, with two large ‘funnels’, both short and of similar diameters.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. South-central Mindanao.

Etymology. The Latin noun in apposition interfector means “a murderer, destroyer”.

Remarks. The strongly asymmetrical apices of parameres of C. interfector have unique shapes and allow for unambiguous species identification. Clidicus kalis described below has a similar, but in most specimens less distinctly impunctate median line on pronotum, and clearly different shapes of parameres, both in ventral and lateral views. The length of parameres were found to vary markedly among populations in different localities.

Figures

FIGURES 7–13. Clidicus interfector Jałoszyński et al. sp. n. Habitus of male (8); head of male in dorsal view (9), right antenna of male in dorsal view (10); aedeagus in ventral (11) and lateral (12) views; ‘sperm pump’ (13).