Orphnebius falagrioides BERNHAUER, 1929

Assing, Volker, 2016, On some Lomechusini of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (1), pp. 13-111 : 75-76

Orphnebius falagrioides BERNHAUER, 1929

( Figs 69 , 107, 118 , 370–372 )

Orphnebius (Megalocephalobius) falagrioides BERNHAUER, 1929: 142 .

Type material examined: Lectotype ♀, present designation: “ Mt. Makiling, Luzon , Baker / Orphnebius falagrioides Brnh ., Typ. un. / Chicago NHMus, M. Bernhauer Collection / FMNHINS 3048063, Field Museum , Pinned / Lectotypus ♀ Orphnebius falagrioides Bernhauer , desig. V. Assing 2016 / Orphnebius falagrioides Bernhauer , det. V. Assing 2016” ( FMNH).

Comment: Orphnebius falagrioides was made available in key and a footnote without a proper description, without explicitly marking it as a new name, without providing data of actual type specimens, and without stating a type locality ( BERNHAUER 1929). BLACKWELDER (1952) designated O. falagrioides as the type species of the subgenus Megalocephalobius BERNHAUER, 1929 . One specimen with Bernhauer´s original type label attached to it was located in the Bernhauer collection at the FMNH. As can be inferred from the type label (“Typ. un.”), it is a unique syntype. Nevertheless, it is designated as the lectotype.

Redescription: Body length 3.0 mm; length of forebody 1.5 mm. Coloration: head and pronotum brown; elytra yellowish; abdomen pale yellowish-brown; legs yellowish; antennae pale-reddish with yellowish antennomeres I–II.

Head ( Fig. 107 ) strongly transverse, broadest across eyes, not wedge-shaped; dorsal surface with barely noticeable, extremely fine and sparse punctation and pubescence. Eyes enormous and strongly bulging, approximately four times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae ( Fig. 69 ) 1.15 mm long and slender; antennomeres IV–X moderately transverse and XI barely as long as the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum ( Fig. 107 ) small in relation to head and strongly transverse, 1.55 times as broad as long and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles; posterior angles broadly rounded, nearly obsolete; disc with a median pair of punctures and with some punctures laterally.

Elytra ( Fig. 107 ) much broader than pronotum, with moderately fine and sparse punctation; on either side of anterior half of suture with an indistinct oblong elevation. Hind wings fully developed. Legs long and slender; metatarsus nearly as long as metatibia; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II and III.

Abdomen ( Fig. 118 ): sternite and paratergites IV with an oblique process directed posteriad; tergites III–VI practically impunctate; tergite VII with dense non-setiferous punctation in posterior three-fourths, with a transverse row of setiferous punctures near posterior margin, and with a pronounced palisade fringe at posterior margin; tergite VIII ( Fig. 370 ) transverse and with weakly concave, finely serrate posterior margin; sternite VIII ( Fig. 371 ) transverse and with convex posterior margin.

♀: spermatheca as in Fig. 372 .

Comparative notes: Orphnebius falagrioides belongs to the O. siwalikensis group, as can be inferred from the external and sexual characters. Among the species of the O. siwalikensis group, it is characterized by small body size, a large and strongly transverse head, a relatively small and strongly transverse pronotum, the presence of an oblong elevation on either side of the anterior half of the elytral suture, the modifications of sternite and paratergites IV, and by the shape of the spermatheca.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in Luzon, Philippines. Additional data are not available.

Figures

Figs 54–83. Antenna (54–69), forebody (70–73), abdomen (74–76), abdominal segments III–V (77, 81), lateral portion of abdominal segments III–V (78, 82), tergites VI–VII (79, 83), and hind leg (80) of Orphnebius spp. of the subgenus Deroleptus: discrepans (54, 73, 75), triapicalis (55, 71, 76), gracilior (56, 72, 77–80), sexcarinatus (57, 81–83), spoliatus (58), cultellatus (59), septemcuspis (60), vates (61), tortus (62), baccillatus (63), carinatus (64), dispar (65), laticeps (66), biimpressus (67), ulcerosus (68), falagrioides (69), siamensis (70, 74). Scale bars: 70–83: 1.0 mm; 54–69: 0.5 mm.

Figs 102–118. Forebody (102–108), abdomen (109–110, 112–113, 115), lateral portion of abdominal segments III–V/ VII (111, 117–118), and tergites VII(–VIII) (114, 116) of Orphnebius spp. of the subgenus Deroleptus: carinatus (102, 117), laticeps (103, 112), biimpressus (104, 108, 113–114), ulcerosus (105, 115–116), dispar (106, 110–111), falagrioides (107, 118), baccillatus (109). Scale bars: 102–110, 112–113, 115, 117–118: 1.0 mm; 111, 114, 116: 0.5 mm

Figs 359–378. Orphnebius laticeps (359–361), O. biimpressus (362–364), O. ulcerosus (365–369), O. falagrioides (370–372), and Drusilla bifida (373–378): tergite VIII (359, 362, 368, 370, 374); female sternite VIII (360, 363, 371); spermatheca (361, 364, 372); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (365–366, 376–377); paramere (367); male sternite VIII (369, 375); posteromedian portion or head (373); apex of ventral process of aedeagus (378). Scale bars: 359–372, 374–377: 0.2 mm; 373, 378: 0.1 mm.