Cephennodes (Cephennodes) clavodentatus, Jałoszyński, 2017

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2017, Ant-like stone beetles on the roof of the world. Cephenniini of Nepal and Bhutan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4349 (1), pp. 1-120 : 21-24

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) clavodentatus sp. n.

( Figs 34 , 49–50, 68–69, 89)

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Sindhupalchowk District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL (Prov. Bagmati) / Mere Dara / 3200 m, 8.IV.81 / Löbl & Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG). Paratype: 1 ♀, same data as for holotype ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. BL <1.3 mm; elytra long, EI 1.13–1.17; body brown with much darker, dark chocolate head and pronotum; antennae modified, with mesodorsal surface of antennomeres IX and X concave and distomesal margin forming short triangular tooth; protibiae in male strongly modified, slightly curved inwards, strikingly thickened dorso-ventrally, with long patch of dense spatulate setae on mesal surface; apical projection of median lobe in ventral view slender and with subparallel sides, in lateral view strongly curved dorsobasally; each paramere with one apical and one subapical seta which are unequal in length and only slightly thickened.

FIGURES 45–63. Left protibia in dorsal (45, 47, 49, 51–52, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61–63) and mesal (46, 48, 50, 54, 56, 58, 60) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (45–46), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (47–48), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (49– 50), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (51), C. (s. str.) yangrianus sp. n. (52), C. (s. str.) suturalis sp. n. (53–54), C. (s. str.) karnaliensis sp. n. (55–56), C. (s. str.) churtanus sp. n. (57–58), C. (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (59–60), C. (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (61), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (62), and C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (63). Not to the same scale.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 34 ) dark brown with much darker, dark chocolate head, pronotum and antennae, also elytral suture distinctly darkened; relatively slender, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, moderately convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.2 3– 1.28 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18–0.20 mm, HW 0.30 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles distinct but weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on frons and vertex small and shallow, with diffuse margins but relatively distinct, separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures; setae very short, sparse, suberect. Antennae moderately long and moderately thickened, AnL 0.63 mm; antennomeres relatively compactly assembled, pentamerous club moderately distinctly delimited and slightly longer than half AnL, surface of five terminal antennomeres less glossy than that of proximal antennomeres; antennomere I about 1.3 × as long as broad; II distinctly narrower but only slightly shorter than I, 1.5 × as long as broad; III and IV subequal in shape, each slightly narrower than II and much shorter, about as long as broad, V indistinctly broader and longer than IV, slightly elongate, VI indistinctly broader and longer than V, slightly elongate, VII much broader but not longer than VI, strongly transverse, VIII distinctly broader but minimally longer than VII, strongly transverse, its dorsodistal margin slightly expanded distally, angulate, IX distinctly longer and broader than VIII, transverse, its dorsomesal surface distinctly impressed and its distal margin forming subtriangular expansion, X slightly broader and nearly twice as long as IX, slightly elongate, with its dorsomesal surface strongly impressed, distal margin of impressed area strongly concave, so that its mesodistal and laterodistal corners form subtriangular expansions (in Fig. 34 antennae are twisted so that only distomesal corner of antennomere X is visible as triangular expansion), XI not broader than X, distinctly shorter than IX–X together, only about 1.6 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view subtrapezoidal, broadest near posterior third but very indistinctly narrowing posteriorly, PL 0.35–0.40 mm, PW 0.50–0.53 mm; pronotum strongly convex at middle and strongly flattened near each hind corner but the flattened area very small; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view slightly convex; lateral margins not microserrate, strongly rounded in anterior half and nearly straight and nearly parallel in posterior third; hind pronotal corners nearly right-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, diffuse, each located distinctly closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc fine, inconspicuous, surface glossy; setae short and moderately dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest between middle and anterior third, EL 0.68–0.70 mm, EW 0.60 mm, EI 1.13– 1.17. Humeral calli weakly elevated, elongate; subhumeral lines weakly marked, very short, equal to only about 0.15 EL and developed as rounded stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large and located in very short, deep, round basal impression; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures as inconspicuous as those on pronotum; setae similar to those on pronotum but slightly thicker.

Hind wings not studied.

Metaventrite with indistinct postmesocoxal impressions, median area covered with fine punctures.

Protibiae (Figs 49–50) very strongly thickened dorso-ventrally but weakly curved inwards, with a long patch of dense spatulate setae on mesal surface.

Abdomen and hind legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 68–69 ) in ventral view with slightly asymmetrical median lobe broadest near base, AeL 0.30 mm, median lobe in ventral view with nearly straight and distinctly asymmetrical distal margin oblique in relation to the long axis of median lobe; apical projection in ventral view strongly elongate and nearly parallel-sided, in lateral view strongly curved dorsally, with its tip directed proximally, curved portion long; each paramere with one apical and one subapical seta unequal in length, setae only slightly thickened.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 89 ). Central Nepal.

Etymology. The name clavodentatus refers to the modified antennal club, with dorsomesal margin of antennomeres IX and X forming a subtriangular tooth.

Remarks. The small body, extremely thickened protibiae and modified antennomeres IX and X make C. clavodentatus easily distinguishable from similar congeners.

Figures

FIGURES 32 – 39. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (32), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (33), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (34), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (35), C. (s. str.) yangrianus sp. n. (36), C. (s. str.) suturalis sp. n. (37), C. (s. str.) karnaliensis sp. n. (38), and C. (s. str.) churtanus sp. n. (39).

FIGURES 64 – 71. Aedeagus in ventral (64, 66, 68, 70) and lateral (65, 67, 69, 71) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (64 – 65), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (66 – 67), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (68 – 69), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (70 – 71). Abbreviations: ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 88 – 89. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (88, circle), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (88, triangle), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (89, circle), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (89, circle), C. (s. str.) yangrianus sp. n. (89, triangle).