Pselaphodes villosus Westwood, 1870

Yin, Zi-Wei & Li, Li-Zhen, 2015, Review of some species in the genera Pselaphodes Westwood and Labomimus Sharp (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Zootaxa 4040 (3), pp. 331-344 : 341-343

7. Pselaphodes villosus Westwood, 1870

( Fig. 8 )

Pselaphodes villosus Westwood, 1870: 129 .

Type material examined. Lectotype (fixed by present designation; in OUMNH): MALAYSIA: ♀, with eight labels ( Fig. 8 B): ‘ Pselaphodes villosus Westw Sarawak Wallace 1865 (handwritten) / ♀ (printed) / Pselaphodes allied to Tmesiphorus Lec (handwritten) / Type COL: 198 Pselaphodes villosus Westw. HOPE DERT. OXFORD (specific name and author in handwritten) / Sar (round label in handwritten) / Type Pselaphodes villosus Westw. Cl. Besuchet dét. III 1980, ♀ (handwritten) / HOLOTYPE ♀ Pselaphodes villosus WESTWOOD P. Hlaváč det. 2001 (handwritten) / Lectotype ♀, Pselaphodes villosus Westwood , des. Z.-W. Yin 2015 (handwritten)’ (left protarsus and right antennomeres VIII–XI missing).

Lectotype designation. In the original description, Westwood (1870: 129) did not mention the number of the specimens upon which this species was based, nor did he fix a name-bearing type. Thus the single female found in OUMNH is treated as a syntype, with a possibility that another syntype may exist. In 1980, Claude Besuchet (Geneva, Switzerland) put a label with the text ‘type’ under this female, but this designation was never published, and thus remains invalid. In his revision of the Pselaphodes complex of genera, Hlaváč (2003b: 284) treated this female as the holotype and put a type label with the specimen. According to Articles 74.6 and 74.7, the term ‘holotype’ in his publication is considered as misused, and this act did not fix a name-bearing type. In order to ensure the stability of nomenclature and provide a unique name-bearing type for the name, here we designate this female as a lectotype (Recommendation 73F).

Diagnosis of female. Reddish brown; body length less than 3.0 mm; postgenae rounded laterally; antennal club composed of three enlarged apical antennomeres; pronotum rounded at anterolateral margins; all legs simple without spines; elytra and abdomen with distinct microsculpture.

Redescription of female. Habitus as in Fig. 8 A. Body length 2.9 mm. Head ( Fig. 8 C) about as long as wide, HL 0.57 mm, HW 0.55 mm; dorsum distinctly sculptured; maxillary palpi ( Fig. 8 E) with palpomeres II pedunculate in basal half, slightly expanded at anterolateral margin, III and IV enlarged, roundly expanded at lateral margins; eyes relatively large, each composed of about 35 facets. Antennal club composed of three apical antennomeres. Pronotum ( Fig. 8 D) as long as wide, PL 0.57 mm, PW 0.58 mm, rounded at anterolateral margins; surface strongly sculptured. Elytra wider than long, EL 0.69 mm, EW 0.99 mm; disc with distinct microsculpture.

Legs lacking spines. Abdomen broad at base and narrowed posteriorly, AL 1.07 mm, AW 1.09 mm; abdominal tergites IV–V ( Fig. 8 G), and sternites IV–VII ( Fig. 8 H) covered with distinct microsculpture.

Comparative notes. This is the type species of the genus Pselaphodes . Currently, only a single female (the lectotype) is known. To our knowledge, this is the only Pselaphodes species that bears conspicuous sculpture on the head dorsum and pronotum, and distinct microsculpture on the elytra and abdominal tergites and sternites. Based on these characters and the distribution of the species, Pselaphodes villosus may be provisionally separated from all other known congeners.

Distribution. This species is known only from Sarawak, East Malaysia.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Lectotype of Pselaphodes villosus, female. A. Dorsal habitus. B. Labels of the lectotype. C. Head. D. Pronotum. E. Maxillary palpus. F. Elytra. G. Abdominal tergites IV – VII. H. Abdominal sternites III – VII. Scales: A = 1.0 mm; G, H = 0.5 mm; C – F = 0.2 mm; E = 0.1 mm.