Oedichirus lawrencei, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, New Papuan Oedichirus (Staphylinidae, Paederinae, Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 435-446 : 437-438

Oedichirus lawrencei nov.sp. (Figs 3)

♂ Holotype: Arborial [sic] litter ♀ SOLOMON ISLANDS San Cristoval, ca. 7 mls S. Waimani 30.vii.2. viii.1965 Isiah & P.N. Lawrence ♀ Roy. Soc. Exped. Brit. Mus. 1966 ♀ Associated Adult♀larvae Coll. Tubes S ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus lawrencei des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ NHML] .

D e s c r i p t i o n s: length: 9.2 mm; length of fore-body: 3.8; length of head: 0.9; breadth of head: 1.15; length of antenna: 2.3; length of pronotum: 1.42; breadth of pronotum: 1.82; length of elytron: 1.62; breadth of elytra: 1.62. Body black, palpi, antennae and legs uniformly testaceous. Dorsal surfaces of fore-body and abdominal tergites III-VI glossy, devoid of microsculpture except for the usual dense microsculpture on rows of keels and grooves on anterior margins of tergites; tergites VII- VIII with faint but distinct micro-reticulation and micro-punctures. Pubescence pale, long, sparse. Habitus: Fig. 3h.

Head strongly transverse, eyes large and prominent; post-ocular carina well marked, forming a small dentiform angle immediately behind posterior margin of eye; puncturation of disc very sparse, consisting only of six small frontal punctures, two pairs of inter-ocular punctures, the first situated at the level of anterior margins of eyes, some small ocular punctures, a pair of large closely-set punctures near base, and small punctures in the post-ocular grooves. Pronotum moderately elongate; lateral margins not bordered by a bead or carina, but by a series of 6-7 punctures; disc with a pair of discal series of six punctures each, preceded by four smaller punctures disposed in a square, three lateral punctures on each side, and a number of punctures along anterior and lateral margins. Macropterous, elytra ample, the sides evenly rounded from anterior to posterior angles, widest a little behind middle; puncturation of disc sparse and fairly fine, consisting of three longitudinal series: a juxta-sutural series of six punctures, a discal series of four punctures, and a lateral series of 6-7 punctures, with a few other punctures on lateral margins. Abdominal tergites with basal rows of rather long keels and three discrete transverse rows of numerous small punctures; two median punctures of last row on tergites much larger than lateral punctures.

Male: sternite VIII: Fig. 3s8; aedoeagus: Fig. 3arl, the median lobe with a ventral midlongitudinal keel; right paramere slender, sinuate, lying parallel to keel.

This is the first Oedichirus recorded from the Solomon Islands, and the only species so far recorded from the Papuan subregion apart from O. novaguinea WENDELER and O. novahibernicus nov.sp. (from New Ireland) with large elytra and serially aligned abdominal puncturation. It may be noted that the nearest other subregion to the Solomon Islands is New Caledonia, where all the many (mostly undescribed) species are micropterous with randomly disposed abdominal punctures.