Amaurodera thailandensis PACE, 1986

Assing, Volker, 2016, On some Lomechusini of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (1), pp. 13-111 : 87-88

Amaurodera thailandensis PACE, 1986

( Figs 137–138 , 144 , 406–410 )

Material examined: Thailand: 2 ♂♂, Doi Inthanon, Mae Ya Waterfall , 18°26'N, 98°36'E, 580 m, along stream, 12.I.2014, leg. Ob (cAss) ; 1 ♂, Doi Inthanon , 18°35'N, 98°29'E, 2440 m, peat bog, litter in swampy area, 14.I.2014, leg. Ob (cAss) ; 1 ♂, Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon , 1080 m, 14.II.1987, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG) ; 1 ♂, same data, but 1020 m, 17.II.1987 (cAss) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep , 1580 m, leaf litter, 13.XI.1995, leg. Wunderle (cWun, cAss) ; 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀, Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep , 890 m, pitfall traps, III.1986, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG, cAss) ; 1 ♂ [teneral], 2 ♀♀, Doi Suthep , 1120 m, pitfall trap, I.1986, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG, cAss) ; 1 ♂, Doi Suthep , 1100 m, pitfall trap, IV.1986, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG) ; 1♂, Chiang Mai, Doi Saket , 1130 m, 4.XII.1987, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG) ; 1 ♀, Chiang Mai prov., Doi Chiang Dao , 450 m, 7.V.1987, leg. Schwendinger ( MHNG) .

Comment: The original description is based on a male holotype from Doi Pui and a female paratype from Doi Inthanon ( PACE 1986). As can be inferred from the illustration of the spermatheca ( PACE 1986: figure 105), the paratype is not conspecific with the holotype, but belongs to one of the species allied to A. fasciata and A. meorum . The male from Doi Saket is only tentatively attributed to this species. It is distinguished from material seen from other localities by larger body size, smaller eyes ( Fig. 145 ) and an aedeagus of slightly different shape.

Redescription: Body length 4.0– 4.7 mm; length of forebody 2.0– 2.2 mm. Coloration: forebody dark-reddish to reddish-brown; abdomen: tergites III–IV pale-reddish (IV rarely darker), tergites V–VIII dark-brown to blackish-brown with the anterior margin of tergite V and the posterior margins of tergites VII and VIII reddish; legs yellowish, with the profemora yellowish to pale-brown (sometimes with the bases yellowish, the tibiae sometimes yellowish-brown, and the apical halves of the meso- and metafemora pale-brown; antennae reddish with antennomeres III–VIII usually somewhat darker; maxillary palpi reddish to dark-reddish, with palpomere IV pale-yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 144 ) approximately as long as broad, broadest across eyes, with sexual dimorphism; punctation sparse and extremely fine; interstices with very shallow microreticulation composed of transverse meshes visible only at high magnification (100 x). Eyes of moderate size, approximately 0.7 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna ( Fig. 137–138 ) 2.3–2.5 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 144 ) 0.81–0.87 mm long, approximately 1.45 times as long as broad, and approximately as broad as, or slightly narrower than, head; with two or three erect lateral setae on either side anteriorly; dorsal and lateral surface not meeting at an angle posteriorly; microreticulation reaching lateral carinae only in posterior half; narrow median furrow long, but reaching neither anterior nor posterior margins.

Elytra ( Fig. 144 ) 0.56–0.60 times as long as pronotum; punctation fine and rather sparse; interstices with shallow microreticulation visible only at high magnification (100 x); pubescence moderately long and depressed. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I slightly longer than the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation fine and sparse on anterior, even sparser on posterior tergites; interstices with microsculpture composed of transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly serrate.

♂: head with shallow, but extensive median impression; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 406–409 ) 0.63–0.68 mm long; ventral process somwhat bulging, but not angular in the middle (lateral view); crista apicalis pronounced.

♀: head without dorsal impression; spermathecal capsule ( Fig. 410 ) 0.27–0.30 mm long, with distinctly dilated distal portion and moderately long proximal portion.

Comparative notes: Amaurodera thailandensis is of similar coloration as A. dentata and allied species, but distinguished particularly by the different shape of the aedeagus, especially the absence of a median tooth or angle on the ventral face of the ventral process (lateral view).

Distribution and natural history: The species was collected in four mountain ranges (Doi Inthanon, Doi Suthep/Doi Pui, Doi Saket, Doi Chiang Dao) in Chiang Mai Province, North Thailand. The female from Chiang Dao is hypothesized to be conspecific with the three males from Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep based on the similar external characters and the similar spermatheca. However, males from Doi Chiang Dao would be required to confirm this hypothesis. Some of the specimens were collected along streams, in a peat bog, and from leaf litter, partly together with A. fasciata . The altitudes range from 580 to 2440 m.

Figures

Figs 119–143. Drusilla bifida (119–122), Rabdotodrusilla pectinata (123–125), Amaurodera arunica (126–127, 132), A. gilvios (128, 133), A. reticulata (129, 134), A. dentata (130, 135), A. parvoculata (131, 136), A. thailandensis (137–138), A. fasciata (139), A. meorum(140),A. disparicollis (141), A. spinans (142),andA. varicollis(143):forebody (119, 123, 126, 128–131); head and pronotum (120); antenna (121, 124, 132–143); abdomen (122, 125, 127). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

Figs 144–159. Amaurodera thailandensis (144–145), A. fasciata (146), A. meorum (147), A. spinans (148), A. varicollis (149), A. disparicollis, male (150), A. disparicollis, female (151), Tetrabothrus nilgiricus (152–153), T. pubescens, syntype (154–156), T. collucatus (157–158), and T. neoguineensis, holotype (159): forebody (144–152, 154, 157, 159); abdomen (153, 156); antenna (155, 158). Scale bars: 144–154, 156–157, 159: 1.0 mm; 155, 158: 0.5 mm.

Figs 396–419. Amaurodera dentata (396–399), A. parvoculata (400–404), A. thailandensis (405–410), A. fasciata (411–414), and A. meorum (415–419: 415–416, 419:Khao Yai Nat.Park):median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (396–397, 400–402, 405–409, 411–412, 415–418); spermatheca (398–399, 403–404, 410, 413–414, 419). Scale bars: 0.2 mm.