Weissflogia pubescens Maruyama

Maruyama, Munetoshi, Matsumoto, Takashi & Itioka, Takao, 2011, Rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) associated with Aenictus laeviceps (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Sarawak, Malaysia: Strict host specificity, and first myrmecoid Aleocharini, Zootaxa 3102, pp. 1-26 : 19-22

Weissflogia pubescens Maruyama , sp. nov.

( Figs. 74–84 )

Holotype, 3 “ MALAYSIA: Sarawak, Lambir Hills National Park, 12 X 2004 Matsumoto T. leg. / ATTM 575 / HOLOTYPE Weissflogia pubescens Maruyama ” (no. 575). Paratypes: 1, same data as holotype but 17 V 2004 (no. 399); 1, ditto, 16 V 2004 (no. 401); 3, ditto, 15 V 2004 (no. 408); 1, ditto, 16 V 2004 (no. 414); 31, ditto, 16 V 2004 (no. 418); 2, ditto, 8 XI 2004 (no. 502); 5, ditto, 13 X 2004 (572); 14, ditto, 12 X 2004 (no. 575); 19, ditto, 18 X 2004 (no. 590). See, Table 1 for detailed collecting data.

Symbiotic host. Morphotype S of Aenictus laeviceps .

Distribution. Malaysia (Borneo).

Etymology. The Latin pubescens means pubescent, bringing attention to the setae on the head and elytra that are longer and denser than those of the congener W. rhopalogaster .

Description. Almost uniformly reddish brown. Head ( Figs. 74–77 ) sparsely covered with setae except for between eyes. Pronotum ( Fig. 78 ) with ratio length /width =1.40–1.44, with a row of 5 or 6 setae along midline, 10–14 small setae laterally and 2 or 3 setae posteriorly. Elytra ( Fig. 78 ) sparsely covered with minute setae except for medial area of each elytron, with a large seta near base of scutellum. Abdomen ( Figs. 79–81 ) with sternite III widest around apical 1/3; paratergites III–V slightly matte; numbers of macrosetae from tergite II–VIII: 1, 1, 0, 2, 2, 6. Male: median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs. 82, 83 ) with apical lobe dilated apically, base of parameral side shallowly emarginate in lateral view; apex of apical lobe thin laterally in parameral view. Female: spermatheca ( Fig. 84 ) with basal part short.

Measurements. BL, ≈ 3.7–4.1; FBL, ≈ 2.0–2.2; HW, 0.63–0.67; EL, 0.268–0.280; AL, ≈ 1.9–2.0; PL, 0.81– 0.83; PW, 0.56–0.59; ELW, 0.80–0.83; HTL, 1.27–1.38. N=5.

Diagnosis. This species differs from Weissflogia rhopalogaster (W. r.), by denser and longer setae on the head and elytra (in W. r. the temples are covered with 7–10 scattered small setae, and the setae on the elytral shoulder are sparser and shorter), the sternite III being widest around apical third (in W. r. it is widest around middle) and the paratergites III–V being slightly matt (in W. r. they are entirely shining). The shapes of the median lobe of aedeagus and the spermatheca are also different. In W. r. the base of the parameral side of the apical lobe ( Figs. 85, 86 ) is deeply emarginate in the lateral view; the apex of apical lobe is gently narrowed in the parameral view. Spermatheca ( Fig. 87 ) with the basal part long, curved in basal 1/6.

Comments. The host ant of Weissflogia rhopalogaster , the generic type species and the only congener to the newly described species, was reported as “ Aenictus fergusoni ,” but it was found to be misidentification, and it is actually Morphotype S of Aenictus laeviceps . See the Comments under Aenictobia fergusoni , the species which has been collected together with Weissflogia rhopalogaster at Ulu Gombak, the type locality of W. rhopalogaster ( Kistner, 1997; Maruyama, unpublished data).

Figures

FIGURES 74 – 81. Weissflogia pubescens sp. nov. (76 – 81, SEM photographs). 74, Habitus, dorsal view; 75, ditto, lateral view; 76, head, pronotum and anterior part of elytra, lateral view; 77, head, dorsal view; 78, pronotum, dorsal view; 79, abdominal tergites III – VI, dorsal view; 80, abdomen, lateral view; 81, abdominal sternite III – V, ventral view.

FIGURES 82 – 87. Weissflogia spp. 82 – 84, W. pubescens sp. nov.; 85 – 87, W. rhopalogaster (82, 85, median lobe of aedeagus, lateral view; 83, 86, ditto, ventral view; 84, 87, spermatheca; 82, 83, holotype).