Pseudolathra pulchella ( KRAATZ , 1859)

Assing, V., 2012, The Pseudolathra species of the East Palaearctic and the Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 62, pp. 299-330 : 317-319

Pseudolathra pulchella ( KRAATZ, 1859) , revalidated ( Figs 33-34 , 38-39 , Map 3 )

Lathrobium pulchellum Kraatz, 1859: 116 ; revalidated.

Lathrobium cafrum [sic] javanum Cameron, 1940: 104; syn. n.

Type material examined:

L. pulchellum : Syntypes: 3 ♀♀: “ Ceylon / Syntypus / Coll. Kraatz / Coll. DEI Eberswalde / Paralectotypus ♀ Lathrobium pulchellum Kraatz, V. Gusarov des. 1993 / Pseudolathra pulchella (Kr.) ♀, V.I. Gusarov det. 1994 / DEI Müncheberg, Col - 02772-02774 / Pseudolathra pulchella (Kraatz) , det. V. Assing 2012” (SDEI); 1 ♀: same data, but “Lectotypus ♀ Lathrobium pulchellum Kraatz, V. Gusarov des. 1993” and additional labels “145” and “ Lathrobium pulchellum Kr. ” ( SDEI) .

L. caffrum javanum : Syntype ♀: “ Tjilatjap, Java, Drescher , 14.II.1926 / L. cafrum s. sp. javanum Cam. / Syntype / Pseudolathra pulchella (Kraatz) , det. V. Assing 2012” ( BMNH) .

Comment:

Lathrobium pulchellum was described from an unspecified number of syntypes from “ Ceylan ” ( Kraatz 1859). Four type specimens were located in the collections of the SDEI. They have (para-) lectotype labels by V. Gusarov attached to them, but a designation was never published. In view of the fact that all the available type specimens are females and probably conspecific, a lectotype designation does not seem advisable. Lathrobium pulchellum was synonymised with L. caffrum Boheman, 1848 by Fauvel (1903), a species whose original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from “Caffraria orientali” ( Boheman 1848). Repeated loan requests addressed to the curator in charge at the natural history museum in Stockholm, where the Boheman collection is deposited, remained unanswered.

Last (1966) figured the aedeagus of what he regarded as P. caffra , but failed to state if he had seen type material and what specimen his illustrations were based on. In any case, they show that the male he studied is not conspecific with the present interpretation of the P. pulchella , but probably with P. vellicans .

An examination of material from Kenya (one male and one female) and from South Africa (two females), which had been identified by Cameron as P. caffra , revealed that this material represents an externally highly similar and, based on the similar general morphology of the male sexual characters, closely related, but nevertheless distinct species. Furthermore, it is often impossible to reliably distinguish Pseudolathra species based on external characters alone, and the male sexual characters of true P. caffra had never been examined and illustrated. Therefore, it seems most unlikely that both names should refer to the same species and, until there is evidence proving otherwise, P. pulchella is revalidated. For illustrations of the aedeagus of P. caffra from Kenya see Figs 35-37 .

Cameron (1940) described Lathrobium caffrum javanum based on “two examples” from “ S. Java: Tjilatjap”, stating that this subspecies was distinguished from the nominate subspecies by slightly smaller size, different coloration, and denser punctation of the head and pronotum. Only one syntype was located in the Cameron collection, although, according to the original description, both syntypes were deposited there. In external characters, the examined syntype is indistinguishable from material seen, e.g., from northern India. Hence the synonymy proposed above.

Additional material examined:

Nepal: 15 exs., Narayani, Chitawan, Gynganagar , at light, 9.V.2005, leg. Ahrens ( NME, cAss) ; 1 ♀, Narayani, Chitawan district, Chitawan National Park, Sauraha-Thati-Bagh Mare , 200-500 m, 17.-21.V.1996, leg. Pejetra [?] (cAss) .

India: 9 exs., Assam, Bhalukpong , 27°02'N, 92°35'E, 150 m, 26.V.-3.VI.2006, leg. Dembický & Pacholátko ( BMNH, cAss) ; 1 ♀, Uttaranchal, Dehra Dun , VI.1932, leg. Champion ( BMNH) ; 1 ♀, Uttaranchal, Dehra Dun, Lachhiwala , 14.III.1922, leg. Cameron ( BMNH) ; 1 ♂, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, Narpur , ca. 1100 m, leg. Champion (cAss) ; 1 ♂, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore prov., Tiruppur town , 18.-20.XI.2002, leg. Saluk (cSch) ; 2 ♀♀, Kerala, Alwaye town , 15.-18.XI.2002, leg. Saluk (cSch, cAss).

Myanmar: 2 ♀♀, Pegu, 60 km NW Yangon, 17°19'N, 96°28'E, light trap, 22.XI.2003, leg. Hornburg (cSch, cAss) .

Thailand: 9 exs., Kanchanaburi, farmland near Kwai river , 400 m, 25.-27.III.1987, leg. Brendell ( BMNH, cAss) ; 1 ♀, Chumphon prov., Pha To env., 9°48'N, 98°47'E, 1.-12.III.1996, leg. Průdek (cSch) ; 3 exs., Uthai Thani, 65 km NW Uthai Thani, 25 km NW Lan Sak , 110 m, light trap in rice fields and mixed cultures, V.1990, leg. Thielen (cSch) .

Malaysia: 4 exs., W Ipoh , 5 km from Tanjong Rambutan, 13.-15.IV.2000, leg. M. Snižek (cSch, cAss) ; 1 ♀, Borneo, Sarawak, 4th Division , Gn. Mulu NP., near Base Camp , 50-100 m, at light, V-VIII.1978, leg. Hammond & Marshall ( BMNH) .

Indonesia: 1 ♀, Bali, Ubud, Donpasar , light trap, 16.XI.-4.XII.1993, leg. Pankow (cAss) ; 1 ♀, Borneo, Pontianak ( BMNH) ; 1 ♀, W-Java, Buitenzorg [= Bogor, 6°36'S, 106°47'E], at light, 16.IV.1923, leg. Pendlebury ( BMNH) .

Redescription:

Body length 5.7-7.0 mm; length of forebody 3.1-3.8 mm. Coloration variable: head usually blackish-brown to blackish, rarely reddish-brown; pronotum reddish; elytra usually blackishbrown to blackish (sometimes with weak bluish hue), rarely reddish-brown; abdomen uniformly reddish to uniformly blackish-brown, sometimes reddish with darker apex (segments VII-X); legs reddish; antennae reddish to brown.

Head approximately as broad as long; posterior angles usually broadly convex, weakly marked; punctation coarse and sparse, in median dorsal portion very sparse or absent; interstices without microsculpture and glossy. Eyes large, slightly shorter than distance between posterior margin of head and neck in dorsal view. Antennae slender, 2.0- 2.4 mm long; all antennomeres oblong.

Pronotum of somewhat variable shape,1.15-1.25 times as long as broad and usually1.00-1.05 times as broad as head; on either side of the impunctate midline with series of 15-20 punctures, these punctures often accompanied by additional punctures; punctation of lateral portions sparse to moderately dense; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra approximately as long as pronotum or indistinctly shorter; laterally with fine and almost complete submarginal carina; punctation arranged in distinct series; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings fully developed. Protarsomeres with very weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism, in both sexes strongly dilated, only slightly less so in female than in male.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; punctation very fine and very dense; interstices with microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII without distinctly modified pubescence and shallow median impression, posterior margin truncate ( Fig. 38 ); sternite VIII oblong, posterior excision narrowly V-shaped and deep, not quite reaching middle of sternite ( Fig. 39 ); aedeagus 1.0- 1.2 mm long, shaped as in Figs 33-34 ; ventral process of aedeagus conspicuously laterally compressed and apical portion of dorsal plate of distinctive shape.

Comparative notes:

Pseudolathra pulchella is distinguished from the preceding species by slightly larger body size, on average darker coloration of the elytra and of the head, an on average more oblong pronotum, the slightly broader posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, and by the completely different morphology of the aedeagus. It is readily separated from P. nigerrima and P. regularis by external characters alone, especially by the different coloration ( P. nigerrima and P. regularis : body completely blackish).

Distribution and natural history:

This species is remarkably widespread, its revised distribution ranging from Nepal to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia ( Map 3 ). According to Fauvel (1903) and Cameron (1931), it has been recorded also from other parts of the Oriental region. However, in view of the similarity to other species, all previous records and all female-based records above should be considered doubtful.

Little is known about the habitat of this species. The highest altitude specified on the labels of the examined material is 500 m. On several occasions, the species was collected with light traps in March, May/June, and November. In one locality in southern central Nepal, the species was found together with P. unicolor and P. himalayana .

Figures

Map 3: Distributions of Pseudolathra pulchella (triangles; open triangles: female-based records), P. vellicans (filled circles), P. transversicollis (open squares), based on revised records.

Figs 29-37: Pseudolathra cordiformis (29-30), P. pulchella from Malaysia (33-34), and P. caffra from Kenya (35-37): male sternite VII (29); male sternite VIII (30); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (31-36); ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (37). Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Figs 38-44: Pseudolathra pulchella from Malaysia (38-39) and P. vellicans (40-44): male sternite VII (38); male sternite VIII (39-40); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (41-42); ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (43); apex of ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (44). Scale bars: 38-43: 0.5 mm; 44: 0.2 mm.