Sunius bouddha ( COIFFAIT 1978)

Assing, V., 2011, The Sunius species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (1), pp. 151-193 : 162

Sunius bouddha ( COIFFAIT 1978) ( Figs 30-31 )

Hypomedon bouddha COIFFAIT, 1978: 121 f.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Holotype [abdominal segment VIII missing]: " 20 km S. Thimphu, 2300 m, 18.5. / Nat.-Hist. Museum Basel - Bhutan Expedition 1972 / Holotype / Hypomedon bouddha H. Coiffait det. 1977 / Sunius bouddha (Coiffait) , det. V. Assing 2010 " ( NHMB).

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on a single male from " 20 km S. Thimphu, 2300 m " ( COIFFAIT 1978). The holotype was located in the collections of the NHMB.

R e d e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.4 mm. Coloration: body blackish-brown, with the humeral angles and the posterior margins of the elytra diffusely reddish-brown; legs yellowish; antennae reddish-yellow.

Head ( Fig. 30 ) very weakly transverse; punctation coarse, very dense in anterior and very sparse in posterior portion of head; interstices without microsculpture, in anterior portion of dorsal surface much narrower than diameter of punctures. Eyes large and convex, much longer than postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum ( Fig. 30 ) approximately 1.1 times as long as wide and slightly narrower than head; punctation dense, slightly less coarse than that of head; midline narrowly impunctate; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra very short, little more than 0.6 times as long as pronotum, distinctly dilated posteriorly; humeral angles practically obsolete ( Fig. 30 ); punctation dense, shallow, and illdefined; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen distinctly broader than elytra; punctation fine and rather dense; interstices with shallow transverse microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: aedeagus as in Fig. 31 , 0.55 mm long, with pair of long and apically hooked sclerotized internal structures.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the external characters (conspicuously large eyes, coarse punctation of the head and pronotum, extremely short elytra) and the morphology of the aedeagus (presence of a pair of long sclerotized structures in the internal sac; short, stout, and apically acute ventral process), S. bouddha belongs to the S. manasluensis group, which previously included three species, S. manasluensis , S. cameroni ASSING in press, and S. galiberti COIFFAIT. The similarly derived shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus suggests a particularly close relationship to S. manasluensis and S. cameroni . From these species, S. bouddha is reliably distinguished only by the shape of the apex of the ventral process and by the shape of the sclerotized internal structures of the aedeagus. For illustrations of S. manasluensis , S. galiberti , and S. cameroni see ASSING (2010, in press).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The species has become known only from the type locality in Bhutan, where it was discovered at an altitude of 2300 m in May.

Figures

Figs 28-31: Sunius laevior (CAMERON), holotype (28-29) and S. bouddha (COIFFAIT), holotype (30-31): (28, 30) forebody; (29) median dorsal portion of head; (31) aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 28, 30: 0.5 mm; 31: 0.2 mm; 29: 0.1 mm.