Doryloxenus aenictophilus, Song, Xiao-Bin & Li, Li-Zhen, 2014

Song, Xiao-Bin & Li, Li-Zhen, 2014, Three new species of the myrmecophilous genus Doryloxenus from China (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), ZooKeys 456, pp. 75-83 : 76

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Doryloxenus aenictophilus sp. n. Fig. 1

Type material.

Holotype: China: ♂, labeled 'CHINA: Zhejiang Province, Huzhou City, Anji County (安吉县), Longwangshan (龙王山), alt. 1330m, 30°24'15.53"N, 119°26'36.81"E, 14-V-2013, X.-B. Song leg., from a colony of Aenictus sp. / HOLOTYPE [red], Doryloxenus aenictophilus sp. n., Song & Li det. 2014, SNUC’. Paratype: China: 1♂, 1♀, 8 sex?, same data as holotype, bearing the following label: 'PARATYPE [yellow], Doryloxenus aenictophilus sp. n., Song & Li det. 2014'. (SNUC, KUM).

Comparative notes.

Doryloxenus aenictophilus is most similar to Doryloxenus tangliangi described below by the forebody sparsely covered with yellow setae and the macrochaetotaxy of tergites II–V: 6, 4, 4, 4, 4. It differs from Doryloxenus tangliangi by the smaller eyes, the shorter elytra and the reduced hind wings. The new species is also similar to the unique blind and wingless species Doryloxenus coecus Kistner by the light color and the short elytra, but can be easily distinguished from it by the presence of small eyes, the different macrochaetotaxy of abdominal tergites II–VIII.

Description.

Body (Fig. 1A) smooth, glossy. Coloration: Light reddish-brown overall.

Head shaped as in Fig. 1B, sparsely covered with yellow setae; eyes small. Pronotum (Fig. 1A) wider than long, about 1.44 times as wide as long; disc sparsely covered with yellow setae. Elytra (Fig. 1A, C) short, wider than long, about 3.72 times as wide as long; disc sparsely covered with yellow setae, with a row of setae on lateral margins. Hind wings reduced. Abdomen wedge-shaped; posterior margins of tergite II–VI with a row of very long yellowish setae; abdominal tergite VII (Fig. 1D) truncate at apex, with 2 pairs of macrochaetae at the anterior 1/3; tergite VIII (Fig. 1E) slightly truncate at apex, with 1 pair of lateral macrochaetae; sternite VIII shaped as in Fig. 1F. Macrochaetotaxy of abdominal tergites II–VIII: 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2.

Male. Median lobe of aedeagus shaped as in Fig. 1 G–H.

Female. Spermatheca with apical part strongly swollen, shaped as in Fig. 1I.

Measurements.

BL: 1.48-1.61; FBL: 0.64-0.68; PL: 0.33-0.35; PW: 0.48-0.51; PW/PL: 1.42-1.45; HW/PW: 0.51-0.56.

Distribution.

East China: Zhejiang.

Symbiotic host.

Aenictis sp. (Fig. 5 A–B). According to the key provided by Jaitrong and Yamane (2011), the host ant should belong to the Aenictis ceylonicus group. This is the first record of a Doryloxenus associated with Aenictus ant together with the next new species.

Biological notes.

Eleven Doryloxenus aenictophilus were sifted together with a large series of Doryloxenus tangliangi from the colony of Aenictus sp. nesting under a rock. One individual was observed riding on the head of a worker ant.

Etymology.

The specific name is a combination of ‘Aenictus’, generic name of the ant host, and the Greek stem ‘philos’, meaning 'to be fond of’.