Platyprosopus maximus, Assing, 2019

Assing, Volker, 2019, Three new species of Platyprosopus from Thailand, Cambodia, and Sierra Leone, and additional records (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (2), pp. 707-715 : 714-715

Platyprosopus maximus nov.sp. ( Figs 11-17 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype Ƌ: " SIERRA LEONE, Eastern Prov. , Gola Rainforest N. P., nr Sileti Camp, 24.-26.XI.2015, W. Rossi / Holotypus Ƌ Platyprosopus maximus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2017" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is the superlative of the Latin adjective magnus (large) and alludes to the enormous body size of this species.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 21.0 mm; length of forebody 10.0 mm. Coloration: body black, with the posterior margin of segment VII, the posterior portion of segment VIII, and the anterior portions of segments IX and X reddish; legs dark-brown; antennae dark-brown with the apical antennomeres partly slightly paler.

Head ( Figs 11-12 ) 1.12 times as broad as long; lateral margins behind eyes subparallel in dorsal view; dorsal surface with moderately dense and more or less evenly spaced micropunctation; interstices with minute punctation visible only at high magnification (100 x); dorso-laterally, antero-laterally, and posteriorly with few coarse setiferous punctures; laterally with dense and moderately coarse setiferous punctures. Eyes slightly shorter than postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum ( Figs 11, 13 ) 1.15 times as broad as long and 1.13 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles; anterior margin concave; dorsal series of punctures absent; setiferous punctures present only at margins and in antero-lateral portions; disc with fine, moderately dense, and more or less evenly spaced micropunctation, this micropunctation finer than that of head.

Elytra ( Fig. 11 ) 0.75 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, rather fine, and defined; pubescence short and depressed. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I longer than the combined length of metatarsomeres II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation fine and very dense on tergites III-VI, somewhat sparser and distinctly coarser on tergites VII and VIII; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

Ƌ: sternite VIII with distinctly concave posterior margin; segments IX-X ( Fig. 14 ) very slender; apices of hemitergites IX with spine-shaped extension curved upwards; sternite IX ( Fig. 15 ) slender, posterior margin concave and laterally with a long and acute extension on either side; aedeagus ( Figs 16-17 ) 2.0 mm long; median lobe slender and apically acute both in lateral and in ventral view; parameres not reaching apex of median lobe, each with two long apical setae.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Platyprosopus maximus is readily distinguished from all described African congeners by much larger body size alone. The largest previously described species from the Afrotropical region is P. ghidinii CERRUTI, 1950 (15.5 mm) from Ethiopia, which is additionally distinguished from P. maximus by reddish-brown coloration of the body. There is a female of similar size as P. maximus from South Africa in my collection, but this specimen evidently belongs to an undescribed species. In habitus, coloration, punctation, and the general structure of the male primary and secondary sexual characters, P. maximus somewhat resembles P. indicus from the Oriental region, suggesting that both species belong to the same species group. It is distinguished from this species by significantly larger body size, a more robust body, a more transverse pronotum, darker legs, and a much larger aedeagus with an apically more acute median lobe and with relatively shorter parameres.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: Gola Rainforest National Park is situated in the south of Sierra Leone, close to the border with Liberia. Additional data are not available.

Figures

Figs 11-17: Platyprosopus maximus: (11) forebody; (12) median dorsal portion of head; (13) median portion of pronotum; (14) male tergites IX-X; (15) male sternite IX; (16-17) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 11, 14-17: 1.0 mm; 12-13: 0.2 mm.