Philonthus currax, Hromádka, 2010

Hromádka, Lubomír, 2010, A revision of the Afrotropical species of the Philonthus arrowianus species group (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Philonthina), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 50 (1), pp. 131-144 : 136-137

Philonthus currax sp. nov.

( Figs. 10–14 )

Type locality. Gabon, Loango.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‛ GABON, Loango // Holotypus Philonthus currax Hromádka det. 2009 [oblong red label, printed] // Philonthus currax Tottenham ,TYPE [oblong ochre label, handwritten] // Philonthus mimus Fauvel , coll. et det. A. Fauvel, R.I.Sc.N.B. 17.479 [oblong ochre label, handwritten]’ ( IRSB). PARATYPES: 4 spec., same data as in holotype ( IRSB).All paratypes with red printed oblong labels.

Description. Body length 11.3–13.8 mm, length of fore body (to end of elytra) 5.3– 6.0 mm.

Colouration. Head black, pronotum brown-black, scutellum, elytra and abdomen orangeyellow, maxillary and labial palpi yellow-brown, mandibles brown, antennomeres 1–3 and 10–11 pale brown, remaining antennomeres dark brown, legs yellow-brown.

Head transverse, wider than long (ratio 41: 36), inconspicuously narrowed posteriad, posterior angles obtusely rounded, each with several short bristles. Four coarse punctures between eyes, distance between medial interocular punctures about four times the distance between medial and lateral interocular puncture. Eyes large and slightly convex, much longer than temples (ratio 14: 8), with several coarse punctures situated along inner margin of each eye; temporal area with several variably large punctures. Surface without microsculpture.

Antennae slender and long, reaching posterior margin of pronotum when reclined. All antennomeres longer than wide, relative lengths of antennomeres: 1 = 15; 2 = 12; 3 = 14; 4–5 = 8; 6–7 = 7; 8–10 = 6; 11 = 9.

Pronotum wider than long (ratio 55: 50), slightly narrowed anteriad, sides slightly curved, anterior angles rectangular, conspicuously deflexed, vaguely obtusely rounded, posterior angles markedly rounded. Each dorsal row with 10 fine punctures of variable distance between each pair, each sublateral row with three fine punctures, puncture 2 distinctly shifted laterad. Surface with very fine microsculpture.

Entire scutellum very finely and densely punctate, punctures as large as eye facets, arranged into transverse rows, occasionally slightly contiguous, distance between punctures very small.

Elytra combined wider than long (ratio 69: 60), slightly widened posteriad. Punctation very dense and fine, diameter of punctures somewhat larger than eye facets, punctures separated mostly by a distance smaller than diameter of punctures, surface without microsculpture; setation long and yellow.

Legs. Metatarsus longer than metatibia (ratio 44: 42), relative lengths of metatarsomeres: 1 = 14; 2 = 7; 3 = 6; 4 = 5; 5 = 10.

Abdomen wide, gradually narrowed posteriad. First four visible tergites with two basal lines, elevated area between lines impunctate. Punctation of visible tergites finer than that on elytra, punctures separated by one puncture diameter in transverse direction. Surface without microsculpture; setation similar to that on elytra.

Male. Protarsomeres 1–3 markedly dilated and sub-bilobed, each covered with modified pale setae ventrally, protarsomere 4 distinctly narrower than preceding ones. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 14 ), aedeagus ( Figs 10–13 ).

Female. Protarsomeres 1–3 much less dilated than in male, protarsomere 4 small, all protarsomeres bearing modified pale setae ventrally.

Differential diagnosis. Philonthus currax sp. nov. may be distinguished from all species of this species group by the paler body colouration, larger number of punctures in dorsal row of pronotum and different shape of the aedeagus.

Etymology. Currax (Lat.) , meaning swift, adjective. The specimens were found in the collection of IRSN, bearing the identification labels by Fauvel (as P. mimus ) and Tottenham (as P. currax ). None of these names have ever been published. I am using Tottenham’s original name, because the name suggested by Fauvel is already preoccupied by P. mimus Smetana, 1959 from Albania.

Distribution. Gabon, known only from the type locality.

Discussion. In comparison to other species of the P. arrowianus group, Philonthus currax sp. nov. is abberant in the following characters: presence of a large number of punctures in the dorsal rows on the pronotum, presence of impunctate elevated areas between the basal lines on the tergites, a conspicuously different arrangement of the peg setae on the parameres and the shape of the terminal hook of the median lobe. The shape of the aedeagus is, however, otherwise rather similar to other species of the P. arrowianus group. For that reason, I tentatively include this species into P. arrowianus group, but its placement needs to be reexamined in the future studies.

Figures

Figs. 1–14. Philonthus species. 1–5 – P. arrowianus Bernhauer, 1931 (1 – aedeagus, ventral view; 2 – aedeagus, lateral view; 3 – apex of of paramere with sensory peg setae, ventral view; 4 – apical portion of male sternite VIII, ventral view; 5 – male sternite IX, ventral view). 6–9 – P. chappuisi Bernhauer, 1939 (6 – aedeagus, ventral view; 7 – aedeagus, lateral view; 8 – apex of paramere with sensory peg setae, ventral view; 9 – male sternite IX, ventral view). 10–14 – P. currax sp. nov. (10 – aedeagus, ventral view; 11 – aedeagus without paramere, ventral view; 12 – aedeagus, lateral view; 13 – apex of paramere with sensory peg setae; 14 – apical portion of male sternite VIII, ventral view).