Corynotopsis scotti Jeannel, 1951

Hlavac, Peter, Banar, Petr & Stoces, Dominik, 2024, Clavigeritae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae) of the Arabian Peninsula with the description of a new species of Corynotopsis Jeannel, 1951 from Oman, ZooKeys 1198, pp. 173-184 : 173

Corynotopsis scotti Jeannel, 1951

Figs 1B , 3A, B , 4A-C

Corynotopsis scotti Jeannel, 1951: 229, fig. 2 (habitus). Type locality: Ethiopia, Province of Harrar, Dire Dawa [ Diré-Daoua], 9°36'3.15"N, 41°51'0.51"E, 2300 m.

Corynotopsis scotti Jeannel: Jeannel 1959: 695 (in key), 704 (distribution), fig. 257 (habitus); Coulon 1982: 67 (redescription), figs 5-6 (aedeagus).

Material examined.

1 ♂, Yemen: two labels "S Yemen, 27-28.III.2007 / 20 km W Lawdar / 13°53'N 45°48'E / ca 1100 m, David Král lgt." [white, printed], " CORYNOTOPSIS / scotti Jeannel / P. Hlaváč det., 2023" [white, printed] (NMPC) . 2 ♂, 1 ♀: one label "YEMEN, 1101 m, 20 km / W Lawdar , 26-27.III.2007 / N13°53' E45°48' / P. Kabátek lgt." [white, printed] (MHNG, PCPH) . 1 ♂: one label "YEMEN: Al Lahima / (6105) in Malaise trap / 24.VII-17.IX.2001 / leg. A. van Harten " [white, printed] (MHNG) . 1 ♂: one label "W YEMEN, Wadi Surdud / ( Sari’) W San’a; N15°15' / E43°30', 627 m, 2.XI.2005 / leg. P. Kabátek lgt." [white, printed] (MHNG) . 1 ♀: one label "YEMEN: 12 km NW of / (5986) Manakátekhah / in Malaise trap / 03.VII-21.VIII.2001 / leg. A. van Harten " [white, printed] (MHNG) ;

Remarks.

Corynotopsis scotti was described by Jeannel (1951) based on a single male from Ethiopia (Prov. de Harrar: Diré-Daoua [Dire Dawa], 2300 m). Later, the holotype was studied, the species was redescribed and the illustration of the aedeagus was provided by Coulon (1982). Besuchet (1999) provided a record of one female from Saudi Arabia. The species is also mentioned from Yemen in the last edition of the Palaearctic Coleoptera ( Schülke and Smetana 2015), but the source of this record is unknown to us. New record for Yemen.

Species of the genus Corynotopsis are very similar concerning the external morphology. The only external difference between C. scotti and C. omanicus is a slightly different proportion of antennomeres 3 and 4 (see remarks for C. omanicus ). All specimens from Yemen, assigned here to C. scotti , have quite different shapes of the distal part of the medial lobe of the aedeagus in ventral view (Figs 3A , 4A-C ). The main differences are in the length and shape of the distal projection of the median lobe and its size relative to the pair of distal setae. To solve the question of whether this is just intraspecific variability or a complex of more closely related species, more material will be needed.

Host ant.

Unknown.

Distribution.

Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.

Figures

Figure 1. Dorsal habitus A Corynotopsis omanicus sp. nov., holotype male B Corynotopsis scotti, male C Corynotopsis sp., female. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

Figure 3. Aedeagus of Corynotopsis scotti A dorsal view B lateral view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 4. Variability of aedeagus of Corynotopsis scotti, dorsal view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.