Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015, Confused identity: subgenera of Pseudoeudesis Binaghi belong in two tribes (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4048 (4), pp. 493-507 : 506-507

Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz

( Figs 6 , 21–22 , 26 )

Pseudoeudesis (s. str.) aberdarensis Franz, 1963: 15 , fig. 10.

Pseudoeudesis (Oreoeudesis) aberdarensis Franz; Franz (1985 : 332).

Material studied. Lectotype (designated by Franz (1988: 104) ( KENYA): ♂: three original labels ( Fig. 26 ): "Aberdare Mts. / Kenya / lg.H.Franz" [white, printed], " Pseudoeudesis / aberdarensis / m. / det.H.Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], " Holotypus " [red, handwritten] ( NHMW). Paralectotypes (8 specimens): 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, 1 ex. of unknown sex (one disarticulated and embedded in Canada balsam, all remaining dry-mounted), same collecting data as holotype ( NHMW).

Diagnosis. Eyeless; aedeagus in ventral view with sides in subapical region nearly straight, endophallus with approximately bell-shaped structure located in median region, with two lateral elongated and pointed sclerites of strongly unequal length.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 6 ) elongate and slender, convex, with moderately long appendages, BL 0.75– 0.84 mm; pigmentation light brown; vestiture of setae slightly lighter than cuticle.

Head ( Fig. 6 ) in dorsal view round, strongly convex, broadest behind middle, HL 0.15 mm, HW 0.18 mm; eyes absent; vertex short and broad, strongly convex, anteriorly confluent with frons; frons subtrapezoidal, strongly convex behind antennal insertions and rapidly declining anteriorly; supraantennal tubercles indistinct. Vertex and frons with inconspicuous fine punctures and short, sparse, suberect setae. Antennae ( Fig. 6 ) moderately long, slender, with three terminal antennomeres enlarged, AnL 0.31–0.35 mm; antennomeres I and II strongly elongate, III–VIII each slightly transverse, IX–X distinctly broader than long, XI much shorter than IX and X together, about as long as broad, with blunt apex.

Pronotum ( Fig. 6 ) in dorsal view oval, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.20–0.23 mm, PW 0.20–0.24 mm; anterior and posterior margins weakly rounded, lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior half, weakly rounded in posterior half; base lacking pits. Pronotal disc with fine and inconspicuous punctures; setae on dorsal part short, sparse and suberect, sides with dense bristles (mostly broken off in holotype illustrated in Fig. 6 ).

Elytra oval, broadest slightly anterior to middle, strongly narrowing both anteriorly and posteriorly; EL 0.40– 0.46 mm, EW 0.26–0.30 mm, EI 1.52–1.57; basal impressions, subhumeral lines and humeral calli absent. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotal disc. Hind wings absent.

Legs ( Fig. 6 ) moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 21–22 ) thin-walled, elongate, in ventral view drop-shaped, with narrowly subtriangular apical portion of median lobe and nearly straight sides in subapical region, AeL 0.12 mm; endophallus with median bellshaped structure and two elongate sclerites of strongly unequal lengths, the longer sclerite (in ventral view located to the left of the long axis of the median lobe) projecting through ostium; parameres long and slender, each with one apical seta.

Female. Similar to male; BL 0.78–0.86 mm; HL 0.15–0.16 mm, HW 0.18–0.19 mm, AnL 0.33–0.38 mm; PL 0.20–0.23 mm, PW 0.21–0.24 mm; EL 0.43–0.48 mm, EW 0.30–0.33 mm, EI 1.42–1.46.

Distribution. Central Kenya.

Remarks. In the original description Franz (1963) stated that the type series was composed of ten specimens, all from the Aberdare Mountains, collected on 24.07.1962 on the Riongi Hill, at 3100 m. One of the paratypes, a specimen with damaged abdomen, was found to represent a species different from the holotype. Franz (1963) did not correctly fix a holotype, only labeled one specimen as a holotype and all others as paratypes. Later he designated the lectotype (Franz 1988), but without stating explicitly which specimen he designates. He used the phrase " Pseudoeudesis aberdarensis FRANZ: Lectotypus (♂) and 9 Paralectotypen, Aberdare Mts. in Kenya (F)", where "F" stands for the Franz Collection. However, it is clear that Franz's intention was to designate as lectotype the male specimen previously labeled as holotype, and this interpretation allows for accepting his designation as valid.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Habitus of Afroeudesis and Oreoeudesis. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz, paratype male (1); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz, holotype male (2) and paratype female (3); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz, holotype male (4) and paratype male (5); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz, holotype male (6).

FIGURES 15 – 22. Aedeagus in ventral (15, 17, 19, 21) and lateral (16, 18, 20, 22) views. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz (15 – 16); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz (17 – 18); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz (19 – 20); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz (21 – 22).

FIGURES 23 – 26. Original set of labels. Afroeudesis (s. str.) basilewskyi Franz, paratype (23); Oreoeudesis lindneri Franz, holotype (24); Oreoeudesis camerunensis Franz, holotype (25); Oreoeudesis aberdarensis Franz, lectotype (26).