Craspedomerus violaceipennis Cameron , 1928

Li, Liang & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2010, Taxonomy of the genus Craspedomerus Bernhauer, 1911 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina) from China, Zootaxa 2506, pp. 1-25 : 20

9. Craspedomerus violaceipennis Cameron, 1928

( Figs. 11 A–E, 12D)

Cameron, 1928: 566 ( Craspedomerus , type locality: Karponang and Phadam Chen, India; Chumbi Valley and Yatung, Tibet, China); Cameron, 1932: 250 ( Craspedomerus , characters; Sikkim and Tibet); Scheerpeltz, 1933: 1410 ( Craspedomerus , catalog); 1976b: 149 ( Craspedomerus , characters); Coiffait, 1982a: 32 ( Craspedomerus , Nepal); Herman, 2001: 2583 ( Craspedomerus , world catalog); Smetana, 2004: 632 ( Craspedomerus , catalog for Palaearctic region).

Type material. Syntypes: INDIA: Sikkim: ɗ, Ψ ( FMNH), Ψ ( BMNH), Karponang, 10000 ft, 20.IX.1924, Maj. R. W. G. Hingston collected.

Additional material examined. CHINA: Tibet: 6ɗɗ, 12ΨΨ, Yadong (27°32´N, 88°55´E), 2800 m, 5– 7.VI.1961, Wang Linyao collected (IZ-CAS); ɗ, Yadong (27°33´N, 88° 54´E), 2800 m, 31.V.1975, Huang Fusheng collected (IZ-CAS); INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh: ɗ, N Bomdila Chander (27°25´N, 92°22´E), ca. 2700 m, 17–26.VI.2008, C. Reuter collected ( NMW).

Description. Head and pronotum black with slightly bronze-greenish reflex. Antennae black with 8th–10th segments yellow. Elytra metallic blue. Scutellum black. Abdomen with strongly iridescent reflex; posterior 1/ 2–2/3 portion of tergite VII and entire tergites VIII–X reddish-yellow. Mandibles dark-brown. Maxillary and labial palpi and legs reddish-brown.

Body moderately large, 10.5–12.3 mm long (HPL = 4.49–4.57 mm). Head of rounded quadrangular shape, 1.71–1.98 mm long, 1.88–2.29 mm wide, slightly wider than long (HW:HL = 1.09–1.17). Tempora 0.74–0.81 mm long, almost evenly rounded, densely and coarsely punctate, setiferous; eyes moderately large, slightly protruded, 0.57–0.74 mm long, 0.70–0.90 times as long as tempora. Dorsal surface of head with moderately numerous, large setiferous punctures, becoming sparser toward vertex, vertex largely impunctate; entire head with distinct and profound microsculpture of transverse waves.

Pronotum subquadrate, slightly narrowed anteriad, 2.12–2.45 mm long, 2.04–2.38 mm wide, slightly wider than head (PW:HW = 1.04–1.08), densely and finely punctate, punctures separated by 4–6 times their diameter, narrowly impunctate along midline, microsculpture fine, similar to that on head.

Elytra 2.61–3.02 mm long, 2.78–3.35 mm wide, 1.23–1.26 times as long as pronotum, densely and finely punctate, punctures separated by 2–3 times their diameter. Scutellum large, triangular, densely and finely punctate.

Abdomen a little narrowed posteriad, widest 2.69–2.86 mm, tergites densely and finely punctate, at base punctures separated by 2–3 times their diameter, gradually becoming sparser toward apex of each tergite; surface between punctures with dense and fine microsculpture of transverse striae; elevated area between basal lines of tergites III–V almost impunctate.

Male. Sternite VIII with moderately wide, obtusely triangular medio-apical emargination ( Fig. 11 D). Sternite IX with distinctly asymmetrical basal portion, apex deeply emarginate, each lobe bearing two long apical setae ( Fig. 11 C). Tergite X simple, triangular, subrounded at apex, with variable number of apical setae ( Fig. 11 E).

Aedeagus as ( Figs. 11 A–B); underside of each branch with very small, flat sensory peg setae arranged at subapical portion ( Fig. 12 D).

Female. Sternite VIII without medio-apical emargination. Gonocoxites moderately developed, second gonocoxites each with minute stylus bearing two long apical setae. Tergite X similar to that of male.

Remarks. Cameron (1928) described C. violaceipennis from India and China (Tibet). Coiffait (1982a) reported this species from Nepal. Craspedomerus violaceipennis is similar to C. cyanipennis in having elytra metallic blue or violaceous and antennae black with 8th–10th segments yellow. Craspedomerus violaceipennis differs from C. cyanipennis by femora reddish-brown (dark in C. cyanipennis ) and different number and distribution of the peg setae on the underside of the paramere ( Figs. 12 D, I).

Distribution. China (Tibet), India, Nepal.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Craspedomerus violaceipennis Cameron. A, aedeagus, ventral view; B, aedeagus, lateral view; C, sternite IX of male; D, sternite VIII of male; E, tergite X of male. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURE 12. Scanning electron micrographs of the underside of one of the branches of the paramere of Craspedomerus. A, C. sinetuber (Coiffait); B, C. glenoides (Schubert); C, C. beckeri Bernhauer; D, C. violaceipennis Cameron; E, C. zhangi Li & Zhou sp. n.; F, C. giganteus Li & Zhou sp. n.; G, C. ganeshensis Coiffait; H, C. gongshanus Li & Zhou sp. n.; I, C. cyanipennis Scheerpeltz. Sensory peg setae are indicated with arrows.