Philhygra palustris ( Kiesenwetter, 1844 )

Lee, Seung-Gyu & Ahn, Kee-Jeong, 2012, A taxonomic review of Korean species of the genus Philhygra Mulsant & Rey (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Zootaxa 3483, pp. 58-70 : 62-64

Philhygra palustris ( Kiesenwetter, 1844)

( Figs. 1 C, 4A–H)

Homalota palustris Kiesenwetter, 1844: 318 .

Microdota (Philhygra) palustris: Mulsant & Rey, 1873b: 309 (as valid species).

Atheta (Philhygra) palustris: Fenyes, 1920: 201 ; Yosii & Sawada, 1976: 29; Paśnik, 2001: 206; (as valid species). See Gusarov (2003), Smetana (2004) and Gouix & Klimaszewski (2007) for more synonymies.

Description. Body length 2.2–2.9 mm. Body ( Fig. 1 C) relatively narrow and elongate in dorsal aspect. Head almost black; antennae, pronotum and elytra dark brown, elytra paler than pronotum; abdominal tergites II–V dark brown and VI–VIII brownish black; legs yellowish brown. Head surface glossy, with fine punctation, distance between punctures 1–3 times longer than their diameter; head about as wide as long, widest at across eyes; eyes slightly prominent, about 1.25 times longer than tempora; antennomeres 4–5 slightly elongate, 6–10 about as long as wide, 11 about as long as preceding two combined ( Fig. 4 A); labrum ( Fig. 4 B) emarginate in anterior margin; asensillum relatively long; medial pseudopores absent, lateral pseudopores present in prementum. Pronotum transverse, approximately 1.2 times as wide as long, widest at apical third; pubescence in midline directed anteriorly; punctation finer than on head, distance between punctures 1–2 times longer than their diameter; metanotal scutum with one long setae and about 3–6 short setae on each side of midline; mesoventral process elongate and slightly pointed at apex, longer than isthmus; metaventral process little shorter than isthmus ( Fig. 4 C). Elytron approximately 1.8 times as long as wide; postero-lateral margin nearly straight; flabellum composed of about 14 setae. Abdominal tergites glossy, with fine punctation, distance between punctures 0.5–1 times longer than their diameter; male tergite VIII ( Fig. 4 D) with 4 macrosetae on each side of midline, posterior margin emarginate; male sternite VIII ( Fig. 4 E) truncate in posterior margin, with conspicuously long marginal setae; female tergite VIII similar to male tergite VIII; posterior margin of female sternite VIII convex, more or less round, with moderately long marginal setae. Aedeagus as in Figs. 4 F–H.

Material examined. KOREA: Chungnam prov.: 4 ex., Asan-si, Shinchang-myeon, Gangcheong-ri, N36°50′ 0 8.9″ E126°56′ 15.4″ 155 m, 6 vi 2006, SJ Park, DH Lee, decaying vegetables; Gangwon prov.: 15 ex., Pyeongchang-gun, Bangrim-myeon, Mt. Baekduksan, 12 vii 2001, KJ Ahn, SJ Park, decaying vegetables; Gyeongbuk prov.: 20 ex., Bonghwa-gun, Murya-myeon, Mt. Seondalsan, 23–25 vii 1998, KL You, HJ Lim, FIT; Jeju prov.: 9 ex., Seoguipo-si, Hawon-dong, Seoguipo natural recreation forest, N33°18′ 36″ E126°28′ 9.2″ 665 m, 31 v 2007, DH Lee, YH Kim, leaf litter; Jeonbuk prov.: 17 ex., Muju-gun, Seolcheon-myeon, Mt. Deogyusan, 22–24 v 1998, KL You, HJ Lim; Jeonnam prov.: 7 ex., Hadong-gun, Hwagye-myeon, Mt. Jirisan, Ssanggyesa, 25 v 2000, US Hwang, sifting; 15 ex., Gurye-gun, Toji-myeon, Mt. Jirisan, Piagol, 24–26 v 2000, HK Choi, JH Song, MS Kim, baited trap.

Distribution. Canary Islands, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Madeira Archipelago, Mongolia, Morocco and Russia (Siberia) ( Smetana 2004).

Remarks. This species is similar to P. yokkaichiana , but can be distinguished by the characters provided in the key and the shape and structure of aedeagus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of Philhygra. A, P. elongatula, 3.4 mm; B, P. homoeopyga, 3.6 mm; C, P. palustris, 2.9 mm; D, P. polaris, 4.0 mm; E, P. pseudoelongatula, 3.0 mm; F, P. sparsa, 3.1 mm; G, P. yokkaichiana 2.9 mm.

FIGURE 4. Philhygra palustris. A, antenna, dorsal aspect; B, labrum, dorsal aspect; C, meso- and metaventrites, ventral aspect; D, male tergite VIII, dorsal aspect; E, posterior margin of male sternite VIII, ventral aspect; F, median lobe, lateral aspect; G, median lobe, ventral aspect; H, paramere, lateral aspect. Scale bars 0.1 mm.