Amphichroum pindarense Champion, 1920

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2021, New species and records of the genus Amphichroum Kraatz, 1857 from the Himalayan Region and Tibet (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini), Zootaxa 5082 (1), pp. 1-14 : 10-11

Amphichroum pindarense Champion, 1920

( Figs. 6 , 16 , 23–24 )

Amphichroum pindarense Champion, 1920: 243 ; Cameron 1928: 558, 1930: 157, Coiffait 1978: 114

Type material examined: Syntype, ♂ ( Fig. 6 ): ‘ ♂ ’ <printed>, ‘Type | H.T.’ <round label with red margin, printed>, ‘Sunderhunga V., | 8-12,000 ft. | W. Almora. H.G.C.’ <printed>, ‘H.G. Champion | 1920-69’ <printed>, ‘Amphichroum | pindarense | Champ.’ <handwritten>, ‘ Amphichroum | pindarense Champion, 1920 | Shavrin A.V. det. 2021’ ( BMNH); Syntype, ♀: ‘ ♀ ’ <printed>, other labels as the previous syntype ( BMNH).

Additional material studied: INDIA: 1 ♂, 1 ♀: same data as in syntypes, but without type labels ( BMNH); CHINA: 5 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀: ‘ Tibet: Rongshar Valley 11,000ft 27.vi.1924. Maj.R.W.G.Hingston’, ‘ Everest Exp. Brit. Mus. 1924-386.’, ‘ Amphichroum pindarense Champ. ’, ‘ M.Cameron. Bequest. B.M.1955-147.’ ( BMNH) .

Redescription. Measurements (n=16): HL: 0.27–0.36; HW: 0.57–0.65; AL (averaged): 1.45; OL: 0.13–0.16; PL: 0.57–0.68; PW: 0.90–1.09; ESL: 1.07–1.32; EW: 1.20–1.36; AW: 1.18–1.39; MTbL (averaged): 0.65; MTrL (averaged): 0.57 (MTrL 1–4: 0.30; MTrL 5: 0.27); AedL: 0.55–0.75; TL: 2.70–4.20 (holotype: 3.25).

Habitus as in Fig. 6 . Body yellow-brown to reddish brown, usually with slightly darker head, pronotum and abdomen, and paler elytra; apical maxillary segment and antennomeres 4–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–3, legs and paratergites yellow. Head with distinct, dense, transverse microsculpture, finer and sparser between anteocellar foveae, and denser and coarser on infraorbital ridges; pronotum with very fine and sometimes indistinct microreticulation, without meshes in middle and mediobasal portion. Head with fine, irregular punctation, usually denser and larger in middle; pronotum with dense punctation, slightly larger and deeper than that on head, sparser and finer in mediobasal portion; abdomen with very sparse and fine punctation. Forebody with dense and short pubescence.

Head about twice as broad as long or slightly narrower. Distance between ocelli about one and a half times distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eyes. Antennomere 3 slightly shorter and narrower than 2, 4 slightly broader than 3, 5–7 slightly longer and broader than 4, 8–10 slightly broader and distinctly shorter than 7.

Pronotum 1.5–1.6 times as broad as long and 1.5–1.6 times as broad as head, widest about middle, slightly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad.

Elytra 1.7–1.8 times as long as pronotum.

Abdomen slightly narrower or broader than elytra.

Male. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight or rounded. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII straight or slightly concave. Aedeagus ( Fig. 23 ) with moderately narrow basal portion, gradually narrowed toward subacute apex; parameres moderately narrow, slightly broadened apically, significantly exceeding apex of median lobe, with short apical and preapical setae; internal sac narrow and long, with two pairs of relatively large subtriangular teeth in basal and preapical portions. Lateral aspect of aedeagus as in Fig. 24 .

Female. Apical margins of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII rounded.

Comparative notes. Regarding the coloration and length of the body, A. pindarense is similar to A. monticola sp. n. and A. nepalicum , from which it can be distinguished by the wider body, longer elytra, narrower preapical part of the median lobe and the presence of paired large sclerotized structures in preapical and basal portions of the internal sac. The length of the elytra is similar to that in A. milkensis , but the apical portions of the parameres of A. pindarense are somewhat wider.

Distribution. Amphichroum pindarense is known from several locations in India (Uttarakhand), China (Tibet, Xizang) and Bhutan ( Fig. 16 ).

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevations from 2400 to 3650 m a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Habitus of Amphichroum (males): 1—A. ahrensi (paratype), 2—A. altivagans (holotype), 3—A. anthobioides (lectotype), 4—A. monticola (holotype), 5—A. nepalicum (Nepal, Manaslu Himal), 6—A. pindarense (syntype), 7—A. telnovi (paratype). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 15–17. Distribution of Amphichroum species in the Himalayan Region and Tibet: 15—A. ahrensi (circle), A. altivagans (triangle), A. anthobioides (squares), 16—A. monticola (circles), A. pindarense (triangles), A. telnovi (diamond), 17—A. nepalicum.

FIGURES 18–24. Aedeagus of Amphichroum monticola (18, 20: Nepal, Deorali, 19: Nepal, Khola Valley), A. nepalicum (21–22: Nepal, Manaslu Himal) and A. pindarense (23–24: Tibet, Rongshar Valley): 18, 21, 23—parameral view, 19—apical portion of aedeagus, parameral view, 20, 22, 24—lateral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.