Articerodes jaloszynskii, Hlaváč & Baňař, 2020

Hlaváč, Peter & Baňař, Petr, 2020, New species of Clavigeritae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from Malawi and South Africa, Zootaxa 4877 (3), pp. 587-597 : 593-596

Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov.

( Figs 5–6 , 11–12 )

Material studied. holotype, 1 ♂: Rep. South Africa: KZ Natal, Mkuze , pasture near camping, S27.63924, E32.15834, 90m, 01.xii.2012, under stone, leg. P. Jałoszyński ( DNHM) ; paratypes, 2 ♂, 1 ♀: the same data as holotype ( MNHW, PCPH) .

Description. Body ( Figs 5–6 ) dark reddish-brown, shiny, head and pronotum with rugose structure, with few setae, mainly on sides of pronotum, elytra and abdomen smooth, with sparse golden setae on sides of elytra and posterior third of abdomen; length 1.35–1.40 mm, maximum width 0.50–0.55 mm.

Head elongate, about 1.05–1.15 times as long as wide, rostrum pointed, about 0.60 of length of head, vertexal foveae situated close to and in level of posterior margin of eyes; temples slightly longer than eyes.

Antennae about 0.30 mm long, scape minuscule, completely hidden in antennal cavity, pedicel transverse, III about as long as wide and as long as pedicel. Terminal antennomeres 5.50 times as long as III, about 3.15 times as long as wide.

Pronotum quadrate or 1.05 times as wide as long, antebasal fovea well-defined, lateral antebasal foveae smaller.

Elytra 1.50–1.60 times as long as pronotum and 0.75–0.85 times of length of the abdomen, lacking sutural striae, with two short discal carinae, internal one slightly longer, reaching anterior third of elytral length. Elytra with well-defined trichomes opposite to trichomes on keels of abdomen.

Abdomen slightly wider than elytra, 1.05–1.10 times as wide as long, composite tergite (tergites IV–VI fused) with pair of keels bearing trichomes dividing it into 3 sectors, keels distant from paratergites; basin between keels deep, obliquely ridged posteriad, reaching about third of composite tergite length, first paratergites with basal welldefined trichomes.

Legs short, mesofemora with sharp basal spur, mesotibiae with shorter spur in apical third.

Aedeagus ( Figs 11–12 ) 0.26 mm long, about 2.79 times as long as wide, apex of median lobe divided into separated lobes, lacking internal apophysis, not divided in basal and apical part. Apex strongly curved in lateral view, dorsal diaphragm opening elliptical.

Differential diagnosis. A. jaloszynskii can be readily separated from all Asian species, apart from the small, 1.43 mm long A. jariyae Nomura & Sakchoowong, 2008 , by its small body size. The body size of the remaining Asian species varies between 1.58–2.50 mm. A. jaloszynskii differs from A. jariyae by its longer antennae (approximately 0.30 mm versus 0.23 mm) and by the terminal antennomere (3.15 times as long as wide versus 2.70 times as long as wide). A. jaloszynskii differs from A. syriacus by the shape of the aedeagus ( Hlaváč & Baňař, 2014) and from the African species A. joannae Jeannel, 1951 by smaller size, 1.35–1.40 mm against 1.50 mm, by transverse pedicel, antennomere III as long as wide against both globular and by terminal antennomere 3.15 times as long as wide against three times as long as wide.

Etymology. Named after Paweł Jałoszyński, our friend and an excellent specialist on Scydmaeninae and the collector of the type series.

Biology. All specimens were collected in an ant colony of Plagiolepis intermedia Emery, 1895 under one stone after checking more than a hundred stones at the same place. Beetles were found on the bottom surface of the stone, but not on the soil under the stone. The colonies were on the relatively wet pasture in a valley ( Fig. 18 ).

Host ant. Plagiolepis intermedia Emery, 1895 (B. Taylor det, 2013).

Distribution. Republic of South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal).

Figures

FIGURES 5–6. Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov., dorsal habitus. 5, male holotype; 6, female paratype. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 7–14. 7–8, Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (7) and dorsal (8) aspect; 9–10, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (9) and dorsal (10) view; 11–12, Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (11) and dorsal (12) aspect; 13–14, Ischyroceros mirus, aedeagus in lateral (13) and dorsal (14) aspect. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 17–18. 17, Mount Zomba forest, where undescribed female of Zuluclavodes sp. was collected, southern Malawi; 18, wet pasture with stones, type locality of Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov., KwaZulu-Natal, Republic of South Africa (photo by Paweł Jałoszyński).