Philonthus phacochoerus, Hromádka, 2009

Hromádka, Lubomír, 2009, Five new Philonthus species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina) from the Afrotropical region, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2), pp. 671-682 : 677-680

Philonthus phacochoerus sp. nov.

( Figs. 20–26 )

Type locality. Liberia, Mt. Nimba, Grassfield.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‛ LIBERIA, Mt. Nimba, Grassfield , 16.–25.ix.1979, I. Hanski, B. M. 1980-85, in human faeces, lowland forest 500m // Holotype, Philonthus phacochoerus sp. nov. Hromádka det., 2008 [red oblong printed label]’ ( FMNH) . PARATYPES: 10 spec., same label data as in holotype [all paratypes with red printed type labels] ( FMNH, LHPC).

Description. Body length 6.6–8.9 mm, length of fore body (to end of elytra) 3.4–4.3 mm.

Colouration. Head black, maxillary and labial palpi yellow-brown, terminal maxillary palpomere with paler apex, mandibles dark brown, antennal sockets, labrum, ventral side of antennomere 1 yellow-brown, dorsal side of antennomere 1 and remaining antennomeres black-brown, pronotum black-brown with sides and posterior margins slightly golden iridescent, scutellum brown-black, elytra yellow-brown, suture narrowly darker, posterior margin of all abdominal tergites broadly yellow-brown, paratergites, femora and tarsi yellow-brown, tibiae somewhat darker.

Head with square outline with obtusely rounded posterior angles, wider than long (ratio 36: 28). Eyes as long as temples, four punctures situated between eyes, distance between medial interocular punctures almost three times as long as distance between medial and lateral interocular puncture, posterior margin of eyes with two coarse punctures, temporal area almost impunctate, posterior angles with several coarse punctures and with one long black bristle, surface with very fine and dense microsculpture consisting of transverse and oblique waves.

Antennae long, reaching posterior sixth of pronotum when reclined, relative lengths of antennomeres: 1–11: 11-6-6-4.5-4-4-4-4-4-4-5.

Pronotum longer than wide (ratio 40: 38), very slightly narrowed anteriad, posterior angles conspicuously rounded, each dorsal row with four coarse equidistant punctures, each sublateral row with two fine punctures, puncture 2 situated behind level of puncture 3 of dorsal row. Anterior angles and sides with several bristles of unequal length, microsculpture similar to that on head.

Scutellum coarsely punctate, punctures as large as eye facets, separated by 1.5–2 puncture diameters in transverse direction, surface with fine, mostly transverse and undulating microsculpture.

Elytra wider than long (ratio 50: 45), widened posteriad, punctation fine and sparse, punctures of two sizes, smaller punctures somewhat smaller than eye facets, separated by 2–3 puncture diameters, larger punctures distinctly larger than eye facets, irregularly arranged, mostly separated by three puncture diameters. Sides with several long black bristles, surface without microsculpture; setation yellow.

Legs. Metatibia slightly shorter than metatarsus (ratio 28: 30). Relative lengths of metatarsomeres: 1–5: 9-4-4-4-7.

Abdomen wide, slightly narrowed posteriad from fifth visible tergite, first three visible tergites with two basal lines, elevated area between basal lines impunctate. Punctation of visible tergites very fine and dense, punctures smaller than eye facets, separated by distance equal to diameter of puncture or slightly smaller. Lateral margins with several long brown bristles, setation long, yellowish brown, surface without microsculpture.

Male. Protarsomeres 1–3 conspicuously dilated and sub-bilobed, covered with modified pale setae ventrally, protarsomere 4 distinctly narrower than preceding ones. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 23 ); sternite IX ( Fig. 24 ); aedeagus ( Figs. 20–22 ).

Female. Protarsomeres 1–3 only slightly dilated, not sub-bilobed, covered with only few modified pale setae ventrally, protarsomere 4 only slightly narrower than preceding ones. Tergite X ( Fig. 25 ); gonocoxite of female genital segment ( Fig. 26 ).

Differential diagnosis. Philonthus phacochaerus sp. nov. may be distinguished from the similar P. lasti Tottenham, 1955 ( Fig. 36 ) by a quadrate head, shorter eyes, uniformly red and sparsely punctate elytra and different shape of the aedeagus.

Etymology. The name of this species, a noun in apposition, is the Latin generic name of the African warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus (Pallas, 1767).

Bionomics. All specimens of P. phacochoerus sp. nov. were collected in human faeces in mid September.

Distribution. Northern Liberia.

Figures

Figs 20–31. 20–26 – Philonthus phacochoerus sp. nov. 20 – aedeagus, ventral view; 21 – aedeagus, lateral view; 22 – paramere; 23 – apical portion of male sternite VIII; 24 – male sternite IX; 25 – female tergite X; 26 – gonocoxite of female genital segment. 27–31 – Philonthus tragelaphus sp. nov. 27 – aedeagus, ventral view; 28 – aedeagus, lateral view; 29 – apex of paramere with sensory peg setae; 30 – apical portion of male sternite VIII; 31 – male sternite IX.

Figs. 32–36. 32–33 – Philonthus tragelaphus sp. nov. 32 – female tergite X; 33 – gonocoxite of female genital segment. 34 – P. smaragdinus Tottenham, 1949, aedeagus, ventral view (Democratic Republic of the Congo). 35 – P. morio Boheman, 1848, aedeagus, ventral view (Malawi); 36 – P. lasti Tottenham, 1955, aedeagus, ventral view (Botswana).