identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
7241879BD1194678A5E1F8C0FE7BFCF7.text	7241879BD1194678A5E1F8C0FE7BFCF7.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Scydmaenus (Cholerus) excaviceps Lhoste 1937	<div><p>Scydmaenus (Cholerus) excaviceps Lhoste</p><p>(Figs 1‒14)</p><p>Scydmaenus (Cholerus) excaviceps Lhoste, 1937: 408 .</p><p>Scydmaenus (Cholerus) excaviceps Lhoste, 1938: 126 . As new; synonymic homonym. Material studied. 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Sri Lanka, Inginiyagala, 12.02.1970, leg. Mussard, Besuchet, Löbl ; 2 ♂♂, Sri Lanka, Kantalai, 02.077.1970, leg. Mussard, Besuchet, Löbl ; 1 ♂, Sri Lanka, Rajakadaluwa, 31.01.1970, leg. Mussard, Besuchet, Löbl ; 1 ♀, Sri Lanka, Alut Oya, 03.02.1970, leg. Mussard, Besuchet, Löbl ; 1 ♂, Sri Lanka, Habarana, 7- 8.02.1962, under bark, leg. Brinck, Andersson, Cederholm ; 1 ♀, Sri Lanka, Wilpattu N.P. Maradan Maduwa, 23 mls W Anuradhapura, 02.02.1962, leg. Brinck, Andersson, Cederholm ; 2 ♀♀, Sri Lanka, Habarana, 16.03.1981, leg. Rogemont ; 1 ♀, Sri Lanka, without detailed data (NHMW, cPJ) .</p><p>Revised diagnosis. Male with strongly modified frontovertexal region of head, with deep transverse posterior cavity and large rhomboidal anterior impression composed of five asetose areoles separated by setose ridges, anterior margin of frons subtriangular and projecting anterad, posterior cavity incompletely divided into lateral halves by elongate arrow-shaped asetose process projecting posterad; aedeagus in dorsal view divided by broad constriction near middle into elongate basal capsule and much broader, elongate and subtrapezoidal distal region, ostium with pair of elongate processes of unequal lengths, in lateral view aedeagus broadest in subapical region.</p><p>Redescription. Body of male (Fig. 1) strongly elongate and moderately strongly convex, moderately dark brown, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.88‒2.03 mm.</p><p>Head (Figs 3, 4) distinctly transverse and from anterior margins of eyes to occipital constriction subrectangular in shape, broadest slightly behind eyes, HL 0.35‒0.38 mm, HW 0.40‒0.45 mm; frontovertexal region strongly modified (Fig. 4), with deep transverse and asetose posterior cavity broadest anteriorly and narrowing posterad, incompletely divided into lateral halves by elongate arrow-shaped median asetose process projecting posterad, and with large rhomboidal anterior impression composed of five asetose areoles separated by setose ridges; anterior margin of frons subtriangular and projecting anterad, supraantennal tubercles not developed; eyes small, finely faceted, in dorsal view not projecting from head silhouette and distinctly shorter than tempora. Punctures on lateral areas of frontovertexal region outside median modified area unevenly distributed, large and dense behind antennal fossae, fine and dense just mesad each eye, and fine and sparse posterad eyes; impressed areas impunctate; setae unevenly distributed outside modified median area, those behind antennal fossae and those flanking posterior cavity long and dense, setae on ridges of anterior impressions slightly shorter and sparser, those on lateral regions of head short and sparse. Antennae slender, with trimerous clubs, AnL 1.03‒1.05 mm; antennomeres 1‒3, 5, 9 and 11 each strongly elongate, 4 and 10 weakly elongate, 7 and 8 each about as long as broad and slightly asymmetrical, 11 much shorter than 9 and 10 combined, about 1.8 times as long as broad.</p><p>Pronotum (Fig. 3) inversely subtrapezoidal, broadest near anterior fourth; PL 0.53‒0.58 mm, PW 0.48‒0.50 mm; anterior margin strongly rounded and confluent with lateral margins, which are anteriorly strongly rounded and posteriorly nearly straight; posterior corners obtuse-angled and rounded; posterior margin weakly arcuate; base with two pairs of small and shallow pits, inner pair separated by much wider space than that between inner and outer pit. Punctures on pronotal disc small but distinct, those in middle separated by spaces 1‒2 times as wide as diameters of punctures; setae moderately long, sparse and suberect.</p><p>Elytra together oval, broadest slightly anterior to middle; EL 1.00‒ 1.10 mm, EW 0.73‒0.75 mm, EI 1.37‒1.47; humeral calli weakly elevated, basal impressions virtually absent; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures and setae similar to those on pronotum.</p><p>Legs long and slender, lacking modifications.</p><p>Aedeagus (Figs 5‒13) strongly elongate, AeL 0.43 mm, in dorsal view divided by broad submedian constriction into elongate basal capsule and much broader, elongate and subtrapezoidal distal region, ostium with pair of elongate processes of unequal lengths, in lateral view aedeagus nearly straight, broadest in subapical region, with ostium flanked by weakly sclerotized walls which are elevated and projecting ventrad; apex lacking setae; flagellum in lateral view with particularly thick and large proximal loop.</p><p>Female (Fig. 2). Externally similar to male but with unmodified head, slightly shorter body and antennae slightly shorter in relation to BL. BL 1.83‒1.90 mm; HL 0.35 mm, HW 0.38 mm, AnL 0.90‒0.95 mm; PL 0.48‒0.50 mm, PW 0.45‒0.48 mm; EL 1.00‒ 1.05 mm, EW 0.73‒0.75 mm, EI 1.38‒1.40.</p><p>Spermatheca (Fig. 14) 0.15 mm in length (from base of ductus spermathecae to opposite wall), weakly elongate, with small accessory gland.</p><p>Distribution. SE India and Sri Lanka.</p><p>Remarks. Lhoste (1937, 1938) and Franz (1982) accurately illustrated the aedeagus of this species (Figs 10‒ 13), and the error made in Lhoste (1937) was easy to detect based on his 1938 publication. This, and the Lhoste’s illustrations of the male head made it possible to identify specimens that Franz used in his 1982 paper as belonging to S. excaviceps . The shape of the aedeagus is unique and not similar to any other Cholerus, but the spermatheca is unremarkable and similar to that of many other species, not only Cholerus (pers. obs.).</p><p>Scydmaenus femoralis was redescribed based on the type specimen in Jałoszyński (2025a), and it is clear that S. excaviceps does not belong to the same subgenus, and that it is a separate species. The name S. excaviceps is here resurrected as valid.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7241879BD1194678A5E1F8C0FE7BFCF7	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Jałoszyński, Paweł	Jałoszyński, Paweł (2025): Redescription of Scydmaenus excaviceps Lhoste (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae). Zootaxa 5716 (4): 586-592, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5716.4.8, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5716.4.8
