Ochthephilus vulgaris ( Watanabe & Shibata, 1961 )

Makranczy, György, 2014, Revision of the genus Ochthephilus Mulsant & Rey, 1856 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Oxytelinae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 121 (4), pp. 457-694 : 605-608

Ochthephilus vulgaris ( Watanabe & Shibata, 1961) Figs 437-439, 555, 568

Ancyrophorus vulgaris Watanabe & Shibata, 1961: 7 .

Ochthephilus vulgaris (Watanabe & Shibata) . – Herman, 1970: 385. – Lee & Ahn, 2007: 116. – Watanabe, 2007: 58.

Ochthephilus masatakai Watanabe, 2007: 55 , syn. nov.

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED: Ancyrophorus vulgaris – PARATYPES (3): “Daibosatsu.Pass [*+35.75/+138.85*]; Yamanashi pref.; May-20th 1960; Coll, Y.Watanabe \ {Paratype}; Ancyrophorus vulgaris ; Yasuaki Watanabe et; Yasutoshi Shibata, 1961.” (coll. Watanabe, 23, 1♀) . OTHER MATERIAL: see Appendix.

REDESCRIPTION: Forebody as in Fig. 555. Measurements (n=10): HW = 0.61 (0.56-0.66); TW = 0.55 (0.50-0.58); PW = 0.70 (0.63-0.76); SW = 0.91 (0.79-1.00); AW = 0.97 (0.80-1.10); HL = 0.48 (0.43-0.52); EL = 0.22 (0.20-0.23); TL = 0.09 (0.08- 0.11); PL = 0.56 (0.48-0.63); SL = 1.10 (0.95-1.22); SC = 0.98 (0.84-1.12); FB = 2.18 (1.88-2.43); BL = 3.86 (3.43-4.21) mm. Whole body blackish dark brown with occasional reddish tint. Mouthparts and antennae dark brown, legs also but tarsi and both ends of tibiae lighter, reddish medium brown. Rarely occuring lighter specimens with elytra distinctly reddish except scutellar area to shoulders and a transversal stripe at apex darker, almost black; basal antennomeres also lighter, reddish. Body with greasy lustre due to medium dense elytral setation and fine but dense punctation all over. Pubescence on elytra short but strong and rather dense (regularly spaced), in contrast with much less conspicuous setation of head and pronotum: with rather fine and moderately dense setae. Abdominal tergites with setae just as thick as elytral ones but much longer, especially at apices of tergites and adjacent to laterosternites. Head anteriad eyes and near inner posterior margin of eye with stronger and much longer bristles, as well as pronotal margin; at middle of tibiae with darker bristles. Elytral apex with an occasional, slightly longer seta near sutural corner. Last tarsomere with a few setae only.

Forebody. Antenna as in Fig. 568. Clypeus almost impunctate (colliculate microsculptured), trapezoid, corners rounded, anterior edge gently arched; separated by impressed transversal line (frontoclypeal suture) across a shinier area. Supraantennal prominences well developed, feebly separated from clypeus/vertex by impressions. Vertex with oblique impressions in middle almost joining in V-shape. Temples bulging, evenly curved, little shorter than half of eye length. Neck separated by an impressed transversal groove, microsculpture much stronger than on head, with transverse cells, no setation. Pronotum with a narrow marginal bead, visible to anterior pronotal corners. Posterior pronotal angles well-formed, just slightly obtuse-angled, sides in posterior 1/3 moderately concave. 'Anchor' fully formed, longitudinal midline as a slightly elevated, impunctate, weakly microsculptured line, parallel to this line two gentle, semi-longitudinal elongate elevations in anterior half of disc. In corners of anchor feeble, oblique impressions directed outwards, in middle at sides of midline two smaller impressions. Elytra slightly broadening posteriorly, sutural corners narrowly rounded; apical sides slightly oblique and in inner halves more or less straight. Elytral surface rather uneven, posterior half of disc slightly impressed plus two shallow, very elongate impressions behind scutellum. Head with fine coriaceous/colliculate microsculpture, fading on elevated parts, stronger in impressions, on pronotum microsculpture slightly stronger and more even. Punctation on head moderately dense, even more so on posterior part and sides, on pronotum more evenly spaced, average interspaces much larger than puncture diameters; elytral punctation more even and regularly spaced, average interspaces (with indistinct coriaceous microsculpture) about as puncture diameters, punctures discrete.

Abdomen. Compared to forebody, abdomen with much more sparse, finer, less distinct punctation, microsculpture on tergal apices fine coriaceous with moderately transverse cells. Tergite VII posterior margin with palisade fringe broadened in middle with more coarse spiniform processes. Tergite VIII basal edge evenly arched, with small concavity in middle of basal sclerotized band; apical edge with sinuate (protruding) corners, and broad, moderately deep emargination in between. Sternite VIII with rounded apical corners, apex in males shallowly concave laterally, gently sinuate in middle; in females slightly more sinuate (convex) in middle. Tergite X unmodified, apex very slightly wider in males than in females. Aedeagus as in Fig. 437. Female ringstructures as in Figs 438-439.

COMPARATIVE NOTES: This is an extremely variable species, large sized, similar to O. planus , but can be easily separated from it by the posterior margin of tergite VII without broadened palisade fringe that is present in O. planus .

NOTES: The name ' Ochtephilus masatakai ' was published in 2007, after my type study was finished and while this publication was in preparation, with complete ignorance of my work and efforts (in fact at the very same time Watanabe's types were on loan to me!). The description comapares the new taxon to O. vulgaris , but fails to FIGS 406-412

(406-407) Ochthephilus loebli sp. n.; forebody (406), side of head (407). (408-410) O. hammondi sp. n.; side of head (408), elytron (409), abdominal apex, female (410). (411-412) O. ketmenicus (Kashcheev) ; elytron (411), left side of tergite VII (412). All SEM, dorsal views. Scale bar = 0.20 mm for 408, 0.23 mm for 407, 412, 0.30 mm for 410, 0.5 mm for 406, 409, 0.64 mm for 411.

realize that this species is wide-ranging and extremely variable. The characters discussed in the description are rather irrelevant in terms of the truly diagnostic traits ( Makranczy 2001 with these had already been published). However, a habitus photograph and an aedeagus drawing is presented and the diagnostic features are within the variability range of O. vulgaris . The aedeagus as figured is totally identical to that of the aforementioned species. Furthermore, numerous specimens from Taiwan studied by me agree with the presented habitus photograph, so there is no reason to doubt the name being a synonym of O. vulgaris .

DISTRIBUTION: The species is so far known from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the

Russian Far East and northeast China.

BIONOMICS: Collected in Picea-Populus-Betula forest, litter, dead wood and moss sifted, also in wet bed of dried-out creek.

IX. Ochthephilus wrasei species group