Cephennodes (Cephennodes) martensi, Jałoszyński, 2017

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2017, Ant-like stone beetles on the roof of the world. Cephenniini of Nepal and Bhutan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4349 (1), pp. 1-120 : 43-44

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) martensi sp. n.

( Figs 96 , 106 , 120–123 , 145 )

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Sankhuwasabha District): ♂, " NEPAL, Sanhua Sabah [sic!] Distr., / above Pahakhola, 2600–2800 m, / 31.V.–3.VI.1988, / leg. J. Martens & W. Schawaller" [white, printed] ( SMNS). Paratype: 1 ♂, " NEPAL, Taplejung Distr., / Omje Kharka NW Yamputhin, / 2300–2500 m, 1.–6.V.1988 / leg. J. Martens & W. Schawaller" [white, printed] ( SMNS).

Diagnosis. BL ~ 1.5 mm; body stout, with elytra weakly narrowing behind the broadest site; distal portion of metatibia strongly thickened, with oval subapical porous field much broader than long and with one remarkably long bristle within short setal fringe of apical margin; abdomen in ventral view with sternite III bearing broadly rounded median lobe; apical portion of median lobe of aedeagus evenly rounded, its longitudinal axis forming about 30°-angle with long axis of aedeagus; apical projection with sinuate distal margin.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 96 ) dark reddish-brown, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, strongly convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.43–1.51 mm (mean 1.45 mm).

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18–0.20 mm (mean 0.18 mm), HW 0.38–0.40 mm (mean 0.39 mm); vertex and frons confluent, evenly and strongly convex; frons with a pair of tiny tubercles; supraantennal tubercles small and weakly elevated; eyes large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on frons and vertex small but very distinct, relatively sharply marked, densely and unevenly distributed, sparser at middle and denser on sides, those in middle of frons between eyes separated by spaces 1–2 × as wide as diameters of punctures; setae short, moderately dense, suberect to erect. Antennae relatively short and slender, AnL 0.75–0.80 mm (mean 0.77 mm), pentamerous club indistinctly delimited; antennomere I 1.5 × as long as broad; II slightly longer and narrower than I, twice as long as broad; III–VI similar in length and width, each distinctly narrower than II and 1.1–1.2 × as long as broad; VII slightly broader and distinctly longer than VI, 1.4 × as long as broad; VIII distinctly broader but slightly shorter than VII, slightly broader than long; IX much larger than VIII, about as long as broad; X larger than IX, slightly broader than long; XI indistinctly broader than X, equal in length to IX–X together, about twice as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view nearly semicircular, broadest slightly in front of middle but very indistinctly narrowing posteriorly, PL 0.45–0.50 mm (mean 0.46 mm), PW 0.68–0.73 mm (mean 0.70 mm); anterior margin broadly and weakly rounded; lateral margins not serrate, strongly rounded in anterior half, nearly straight in posterior half; hind corners nearly right-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae narrow and fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and very shallow, each located distinctly closer to posterior than to lateral margin of pronotum. Punctures on disc very small and shallow, very dense, separated by spaces 1–2 × as wide as diameters of punctures; setae dense, short, suberect.

Elytra short, oval, broadest between middle and anterior third, EL 0.80–0.83 mm (mean 0.81 mm), EW 0.70– 0.78 mm (mean 0.75 mm), EI 1.03–1.14. Humeral calli weakly elevated; subhumeral lines very narrow but distinct, equal to about 0.3 EL, each developed as sharp stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large and connected to short, slightly arcuate impression extending posteromesally; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures on elytra similar to those on pronotum but slightly sparser; setae about as dense and short as those on pronotum but less erect.

Hind wings present, long.

Metaventrite with large and sharply delimited postmesocoxal impressions, median part covered with very fine punctures.

Hind legs with strongly modified tibiae ( Fig. 106 ); in dorsal view lateral (external) tibial margin distinctly recurved and spatulate portion of tibia rapidly narrowed distally; dorsodistal porous field much broader than long; distal fringe of setae with one outstanding long bristle.

Abdomen ( Figs 120–121 ) with posterior margins of sternites II and III distinctly projected in lateral view ( Fig. 120 ); in ventral view sternite II with very broadly projected and rounded posterior margin, sternite III with narrower, broadly rounded median lobe ( Fig. 113 ).

Aedeagus ( Figs 122–123 ) moderately stout; AeL 0.25 mm, apical portion of median lobe nearly evenly rounded, its longitudinal axis forming about 30°-angle with the long axis of aedeagus; apical projection with sinuate distal margin; parameres long and slender, not exceeding apex of median lobe, each bearing one apical seta.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 145 ). Eastern Nepal.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Dr. Jochen Martens, collector of some specimens used in this study.

Remarks. The aedeagus of this species, modifications of the abdominal sternites and the metatibiae are nearly identical to those in C. dolakhanus . However, the body shape is distinctly different. Cephennodes martensi is slightly smaller, much more convex and more slender than C. dolakhanus ; its elytra are distinctly less rapidly narrowed behind the broadest site. Proportions of body parts in these two species are also clearly different: pronotal index <0.65 vs.> 0.65, and elytral index <1.1 vs.> 1.1 in C. dolakhanus and in C. martensi , respectively. The aedeagus of C. dolakhanus has a more symmetrical apex of median lobe, the distal margin of apical projection straight in proximal half and the apical portion of apical projection shorter; in C. martensi the apex of median lobe is more asymmetrical, the distal margin of apical projection is strongly convex in proximal half and the apical portion of apical projection is more elongate, forming a short subtriangular lobe exceeding in length the apex of median lobe. See also remarks for C. paramartensi and C. monolaminatus .

Figures

FIGURES 94 – 101. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) dolakhanus s sp. n. (94), C. (s. str.) manangensis sp. n. (95), C. (s. str.) martensi sp. n. (96), C. (s. str.) paramartensi sp. n. (97), C. (s. str.) monolaminatus sp. n. (98), C. (s. str.) thakanus sp. n. (99), C. (s. str.) annapurnaensis sp. n. (100), and C. (s. str.) parbatensis sp. n. (101).

FIGURES 102 – 111. Right metatibia of male in dorsal view. Cephennodes (s. str.) dolakhanus s sp. n. (102, 104), C. (s. str.) manangensis sp. n. (103, 105), C. (s. str.) martensi sp. n. (106), C. (s. str.) paramartensi sp. n. (107), C. (s. str.) monolaminatus sp. n. (108), C. (s. str.) thakanus sp. n. (109), C. (s. str.) annapurnaensis sp. n. (110), and C. (s. str.) parbatensis sp. n. (111). 104 – 111 not to the same scale.

FIGURES 112 – 127. Abdomen of male in right lateral (112, 116, 120, 124) and ventral (113, 117, 121, 125) views and aedeagus in ventral (114, 118, 122, 126) and lateral (115, 119, 123, 127) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) dolakhanus sp. n. (112 – 115), C. (s. str.) manangensis sp. n. (116 – 119), C. (s. str.) martensi sp. n. (120 – 123), C. (s. str.) paramartensi sp. n. (124 – 127). Abbreviations: aml, apex of median lobe; ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 144 – 145. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) dolakhanus sp. n. (144, circle), C. (s. str.) manangensis sp. n. (144, triangle), C. (s. str.) martensi sp. n. (145, circle), C. (s. str.) paramartensi sp. n. (145, triangle).