Lomechusoides teres ( Eppelsheim, 1884 )

Jászay, Tomáš, Hlaváč, Peter & Baňař, Petr, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the myrmecophilous genus Lomechusoides Tottenham, 1939 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). Part II. The revision of the strumosus species group, Zootaxa 5343 (6), pp. 539-593 : 583-585

Lomechusoides teres ( Eppelsheim, 1884)

Figs 133–138

Lomechusa teres Eppelsheim, 1884: 11 , Type data: Von Leder in zwei Exemplaren im Herbst 1879 auf der Passh ̂he des Kasbek bei Ameisen entdeckt.

Lomechusa teres Eppelsheim, 1884 : Wasmann, 1897: 246 (key and short description of species); Jakobson, 1909: 555 (synonymy to L. inflatus ); Roubal, 1916: 46 (as synonymy to L. inflata Zetterstedt ); Palm, 1949: 101 (valid species); Schilow 1981: 217 (in key to the species of Lomechusa , L. wellenii Palm treated as synonymum to L. teres Eppelsheim ).

Lomechusoides teres ( Eppelsheim, 1884) : Smetana 2004: 457: ( L. caucasicus Wasmann, 1897 as synonymy to L. strumosus strumosus (Fabricius, 1775) ; Hlaváč & al. (2011: 15): ( L. strumosa var. caucasica Wasmann, 1897 as synonymy to L. strumosus strumosus Fabricius, 1793 ); Schülke & Smetana 2015: 663: ( L. caucasicus Wasmann, 1897 as synonymy to L. strumosus strumosus Fabricius, 1792 ).

Lomechusa strumosa var. caucasica Wasmann, 1897 , new synonymy.

Material studied: LECTOTYPE, ♁: GEORGIA: (p) Caucasus, Martkopi, Leder (Reitter) / (h) 50 / (h) teres / (p) c. Epplsh. Steind. d. / (h) teres Eppelsh., Verh. naturf. Ver. Brünn, Bd. XXII. / red label (p) TYPUS / (h) inflata Zett. (p) det. Bernhauer / (h) Lomechusa teres Epp. (p) W. Schilov det. 19 / (h) L. inflata Zett. (p) det Stig Lundberg, DATA ZOO-TAX (h) 85 / red label (p) LECTOTYPE ♁ Lomechusoides teres ( Eppelsheim, 1884) , des. Jászay & Hlaváč, 2020 ( NMW). PARALECTOTYPE, ♁: GEORGIA: (p) Caucasus, Martkopi, Leder (Reitter) / (p) coll. Reitter / (h) Lomechusa teres mihi n (?) 2/2. / (p) Holotypus (h) 1883 Lomechusa teres Eppelsheim / red label (p) PARALECTOTYPE ♁ Lomechusoides teres ( Eppelsheim, 1884) , des. Jászay & Hlaváč, 2020 ( HNHM). Other material studied: Caucasus region: 1♁: (p) ♁ / (p) Caucasus. Araxesthal. Leder. Reitter. / (h) teres Epp. vgl. Typ in Coll. Mus. Vindob. / (p) Chicago NHMus. M. Bernhauer Collection ( FNHM). Georgia: ♁: (p) Caucasus, Lomis Mta, (illegible letter or number?) 000, E. K̂nig / (p) 153 / (h) (red ink) var. caucasica Wassm. / (p) D.E.I. coll. von Heyden ( DEI). ♁: (p) Caucasus, Lomis Mta, (illegible letter or number?) 000, E. König ( ZIN). ♁: (h) Caucasus, (Reitter). / (h) Lomechusa strumosa F. v. caucasica Wasm, III. 99 (p) A. Semenov det. ( ZIN). ♁: (h) Lomechus strumosa Cauc. / (h) Lomechusa strumosa F. v. caucasica Wasm, III. 99 (p) A. Semenov det. ( ZIN).

Note. All available material from the Caucasus was originally identified as L. strumosus caucasicus Wasmann, 1896 and clearly belongs to L. teres . Although the type material of L. strumosa var. caucasica was not available for this study, we believe that all Caucasian Lomechusoides are conspecific with L. teres , thus L. strumosus caucasicus is treated here as a synonym of L. teres .

Description. Body light reddish-brown ( Fig. 133 ); head except anterior part of frontal median impression, clypeus, labrum, antennae, disc of pronotum, larger part of anterior margin of visible tergites V–VII, lateral part of visible sternites III–IV, larger part of anterior margin of visible sternites V–VII, metaventrite except anterior part of its metaventral process and except disc of metaventrite and epimeral and episternal sclerites brown.

Head trapezoidal, longer than wide, ratio HW/HL: 0.88, with shallow round-shaped median impression which is unevenly microsculptured with distinct larger shallow punctures, weakly shiny; disc of head microsculptured with fine and slightly larger shallow punctures, dull; length of eyes 0.23x of length of head; eyes not protuberant, temples behind eyes straight, divergent posteriad. Antennae long, scape 1.60x as long as wide and 2.22x as long as pedicel, all antennomeres elongate, pedicel 1.06x, antennomere III: 1.44x, IV: 1.20x, V: 1.47x as long as wide, terminal antennomere slender and acute, 1.30x as long as scape, relative length of antennomeres from base to apex: 20: 9: 13: 12: 14: 15: 15: 14: 14: 14: 26.

Pronotum ( Fig. 134 ) trapezoidal, ratio PW/PL: 1.40, with concave anterior margin, anterior corners obtuse, lateral sides in anterior half broadly rounded, in basal half shortly straight and divergent posteriorly, narrowed just before posterior corners, posterior corners slightly acute, bearing shallow microsculptured and unevenly punctate lateral impressions, which are slightly deeper in posterior part, pronotal disc unevenly microsculptured and sparsely, unevenly punctate, tubercles very slightly defined; median line slightly defined; in lateral view lateral margins in anterior part thick, sligthly equally narrowed posteriad, lacking visible sharp edge; maximal pronotal width shortly before posterior corners, here narrower than width of elytra; pronotum with macrosetae, anterior margin with about five, lateral margins with about five–six macrosetae.

Anterior margin of metaventral process ( Fig. 137 ) straight, lateral margins concave, with lateral lines in anterior part, convergent anteriad, posterior part in median line with lentil-like impression, metaventral process microsculptured and punctate; metaventral disc posteriorly with large shallow longitudinal impressions on sides of medial line, metaventrite microsculptured and unevenly punctate, with long setae exceeding margin of adjacent puncture.

Elytra finely punctate, 0.89x as long as pronotum, ratio EW/EL: 2.12, anterior part with about eight–nine macrosetae and humeral part with about two macrosetae, distance between punctures on disc about twice of diameter of puncture.

Abdomen with visible tergite II densely punctate and setaceous, visible tergites III–IV with dense puncturation and setation, visible tergite V sparsely punctate on posterior margin, anterior parts lacking puncturation, visible tergites VI–VII sparsely punctate, with diameter of puncture in lateral parts larger, visible tergites II–V lacking microsculpture, tergites VI–VII unevenly microsculptured.

Aedeagus ( Figs 135–136 ) with robust median lobe, apical lobe tube-like, apical part shorter than basal bulb, acute, with scattered pseudopores, ventral side convex in lateral view, apex sharp, lateral sides of apical lobe in ventral view slightly convergent apicaly. Ventral protuberance subparallel, apex drop-like, twice as long as wide. Apical lobe of parameres enlarged at apex ( Fig. 138 ), boomerang-shaped and bent backwards, apex with about four setae, lacking minute microsetae.

Spermatheca: female unknown.

Measurements. (♁, Lectotype): TL 5.50 mm; FL 2.55 mm; HL 0.85 mm; HW 0.75 mm; antennal length 2.70 mm; PL 0.90 mm; PW 1.42 mm; EL 0.80 mm; EW 1.70 mm; FTL 0.95 mm; MTL 1.25 mm; HTL 1.55 mm.

Differential diagnosis. L. teres is separated from L. folgaricus , L. primoricus , L. strumosus and L. wellenii , by the trapezoidal pronotum, from L. dlabolai and L. reitteri by the larger size and bicoloured body. From L. penicillatus it differs by shorter antennomeres, and from L. zeyai and L. sibiricus by the presence of humeral macrosetae on elytra and by prolonged and slender tibiae. From L. sibiricus , L. zerchei and L. zeyai it differs by the lack of a sharp visible edge on the pronotum in lateral view. From L. dudkorum , L. fallax , L. richteri and L. siculus it differs by narrow lateral impressions on the pronotum that are of equal width through their whole length, slightly deeper in posterior part, microsculptured and unevenly punctate, with visible tubercles, and by unevenly and sparsely punctate and very weakly-defined tubercles on the pronotal disc, with clearly convex disc of the pronotum. From similar L. rossii , it differs by the shiny, unequally microsculptured frontal median impression on the head and with large shallow punctures on the frontal impression and on the disc of the head, by the slender antennae, longer antennomeres with unequally long antennomeres IV and V.

Host ant. Unknown.

Distribution. Georgia, Caucasus region near Arax River.

Figures

FIGURES 133–138. Lomechusoides teres Eppelsheim, 1884, male lectotype. 133, dorsal habitus; 134, pronotum in dorsal view (L: 0.90 mm, W: 1.42 mm); 135, aedeagus, lateral view; 136, aedeagus, ventral view; 137, metaventral process; 138, apex of paramere. Scale bars in mm.