Neosclerus brevipennis ( CAMERON , 1943)

Assing, Volker, 2011, A revision of the genus Neosclerus C (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 6 (1), pp. 89-148 : 102-104

Neosclerus brevipennis ( CAMERON, 1943) ( Figs 27-33, 176-178)

Lobochilus brevipennis CAMERON, 1943: 33 .

Neosclerus brevipennis: SMETANASMETANA (2004: 622) .

Lobochilus brevipennis COIFFAIT, 1978: 129 ; primary homonym.

Lobochilus houlberti COIFFAIT, 1987: 497 ; replacement name; syn. n.

Type material:

N .. brevipennis (CAMERON) : Holotype : "Ghum dist., Mangpo, v.31, Dr. Cameron / L. brevipennis Cam. Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147. / Holotype Lobochilus brevipennis Cameron, 1943 , det. R.G. Booth 2010 / Holotypus Lobochilus brevipennis Cameron , rev. V. Assing 2010 / Neosclerus brevipennis (Cameron) , det. V. Assing 2010 " ( BMNH).

N .. houlberti (COIFFAIT) : Paratype : " Thimphu, 20 km S, 18.5. / Nat.-Hist. Museum Basel - Bhutan Expedition 1972 / Paratypus / Lobochilus brevipennis H. Coiffait 1976 " ( MNHNP) .

Additional material examined:

India: 1 , Assam, Patkai Mts. , leg. Doherty ( BMNH); 2  , Arunachal Pradesh, Along , 30.V.2006, leg. de Rougemont (cRou, cAss) .

Nepal: 1 , Ph a kump aa [?], 2300 m, IV.1984, leg. Morvan (cRou); 1 , Arun valley, near Num, 1000 m, V.1989, leg. Morvan (cRou); 1 , Khandbari District, Arun Valley at Num main bridge, 1150 m, 21.IV.1984, leg. Smetana & Löbl (cSme).

Comment:

Lobochilus brevipennis CAMERON was described from a single specimen, a female, from "Ghum district: Mangpu" ( CAMERON 1943). The original description of Lobochilus brevipennis COIFFAIT is based on a female holotype and five female paratypes from " 20 km sud de Thimphu, 2300 m " deposited in the natural history museum in Basel and in the Coiffait collection in the MNHNP. The name is a primary homonym of L. brevipennis CAMERON, 1943 and was subsequently replaced with the nomen novum L. houlberti by COIFFAIT (1987).

A comparison of the type material of both name yielded no evidence suggesting that they represent different species; in external characters, both specimens are extremely similar. Consequently, N .. houlberti (COIFFAIT) is placed in synonymy with N .. brevipennis .

The male from Assam listed as additional material above is apparently fully winged and has longer elytra than the type specimens, but is similar in other external characters .

Redescription:

Body length 3.3-3.4 mm. Habitus as ihn Fig. 27. Coloration: head blackish; pronotum blackishbrown; elytra reddish-brown to brown; abdomen dark-brown; legs and antennae yellowish.

Head across eyes 1.20-1.25 times as wide as long; postocular region very short, shorter than the width of antennomere II; punctation very coarse and very dense in anterior two thirds, sparse in posterior third of dorsal surface; interstices in anterior two thirds very narrow, mostly reduced to narrow ridges, without microsculpture and glossy ( Fig. 28); antenna approximately 0.9 mm long.

Pronotum indistinctly oblong and approximately 0.85-0.90 times as wide as head ( Fig. 28); punctation less coarse than that of head and moderately sparse; interstices on average approximately as wide as diameter of punctures, or nearly so; midline impunctate.

Elytra possibly dimorphic, approximately 0.85-0.95 times as long and 1.10-1.15 times as wide as pronotum; humeral angles marked ( Fig. 28); punctation fine, very dense and mostly welldefined. Hind wings present, but possibly of reduced length in specimens with shorter elytra.

Abdomen approximately as wide as elytra; punctation fine and moderately sparse, somewhat sparser on posterior than on anterior tergites; microsculpture shallow, but distinct; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VII with posterior margin broadly and shallowly concave, in the middle with slightly denser submarginal cluster of dark setae ( Figs 29, 176); sternite VIII slender, anteriorly with two short carinae, middle of posterior half extensively without pubescence, posterior excision distinctly V-shaped, its depth approximately 1/5 the length of sternite ( Figs 30, 177); aedeagus with slender, laterally compressed, and apically more or less acute ventral process and with pair of sclerotized structures in internal sac ( Figs 32-33, 178).

Comparative notes:

Neosclerus brevipennisbrevipennis is distinguished from other geographically close Neosclerus species by the following character combination: elytra reddish-brown to brown, often distinctly contrasting with the darker head and pronotum; head with very coarse and dense punctation in the anterior two thirds of the dorsal surface (similar to N .. fortepunctatus )); hind wings present, but elytra shorter than pronotum. It is additionally separated from N .. fortepunctatus by the less coarse and sparser punctation of the pronotum.

Distribution and bionomics:

The species is currently known only from the type locality in West Bengal, northern India, two localities in eastern Assam and in Arunachal Pradesh in the very northeast of India, from two localities near Thimphu in Bhutan, and three localities in Nepal. The specimens were collected at altitudes of 1000-2300 m in April and May. One specimen collected in May is teneral .