Oedichirus monteithi, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, The genus Oedichirus in New Caledonia (Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 537-586 : 556

Oedichirus monteithi nov. sp. (Figs 13)

Material studied: ♂ Holotype: NEW CALEDONIA, Ateo ( NNE of Kone ), 26 Nov 2001, G B Monteith ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus monteithi des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ MNHN].

Description: length: 10.6 mm; length of fore-body: 4.2; length of head: 1.1; breadth of head: 1.35; length of antenna: 2.85; length of pronotum: 1.22; breadth of pronotum: 1; length of elytron: 1.2; breadth of elytra: 1.05. Body black; palpi, antennae and legs testaceous, knees broadly infuscate. Dorsal surfaces glossy, devoid of microsculpture except on anterior margins of abdominal tergites and on entire tergite VIII where it is very dense. Pubescence pale, sparse, long, erect or semi-erect on fore-body, decumbent on abdomen. Habitus: Fig. 13h.

Head moderately transverse; eyes protruberant, shorter than temples; temples evenly rounded to neck; post-ocular borders inconspicuous, distinct but obsolescent, situated very near lateral margins; puncturation fine and sparse, consisting of widely separate small umbilicate and simple punctures. Pronotum elongate, behind anterior angles broader than head, the sides thereafter gently rounded to base; lateral margin entirely bordered; puncturation moderately coarse, the punctures much larger than those of head, dense only in antero-median area where punctures are elongate, and leaving an irregular median longitudinal impunctate space in posterior half. Elytra relatively long for a micropterous species, the humeral angles obsolete, joint posterior margin arcuately concave; puncturation coarse and dense, the punctures larger than those of pronotum, round and deep, interstices everywhere narrower than diameter of punctures; rows of keels and grooves at bases of abdominal tergites short, obsolescent; puncturation only moderately dense, consisting of randomly disposed punctures of varying sizes, including very small ones, on tergites III-VI, tergite VII with only sparse small punctures, VIII with no discernible punctures on the heavily microsulptate background.

Male: abdominal sternite VIII: Fig. 13s8, the posterior margin asymmetrically emarginate, the emargination flanked by a pair of longitudinal elevations, the right one more prominent, lamellate; aedoeagus: Fig. 13arl, av.

This species is similar to but distinguished from the other large (> 10 mm) black species with coarse and dense puncturation of the pronotum ( O. cooki nov.sp., O. kanak nov.sp.) by the absence of cephalic microsculpture.