Pomphopsilla klotoensis, Jałoszyński, 2024

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2024, Three new species of Pomphopsilla Jałoszyński in Togo (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5471 (2), pp. 287-292 : 290-292

Pomphopsilla klotoensis sp. n.

( Figs 3 , 6 , 7 )

Type material. Holotype: ( TOGO): ♂, three labels: “TOGO KPALIME / Forêt de Klouto / 20-24-IV-74 S. Vit ” [white, printed, with handwritten “K” added before “Palime”], “ Coll. S. Vit / MHNG - 2021” [white, printed], “ POMPHOPSILLA / klotoensis m. / P. Jałoszyński, '24 / HOLOTYPUS” [red, printed] ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. Body ( Fig. 3 ) dark brown, nearly black; pronotum and elytra with inconspicuously fine punctures; pronotum with two pairs of antebasal pits: inner pair circular, small and widely separated at middle, outer pair yet smaller, nearly punctiform; aedeagus in ventral view ( Fig. 6 ) drop-shaped with abruptly delimited elongate subtriangular apex and central complex of elongate paired endophallic sclerites.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 3 ) stout, strongly convex, dark brown, nearly black. BL 0.75 mm.

Head broadest at large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.08 mm, HW 0.20 mm; vertex strongly transverse, weakly convex, anteriorly confluent with subtriangular and similarly weakly convex frons; supraantennal tubercles small but distinct; punctures on frons and vertex fine and inconspicuous; setae very short and sparse, recumbent; frontal glands present, each situated behind supraantennal tubercle and near mesal margin of eye. Antenna moderately long, with abruptly broadened club composed of two antennomeres, AnL 0.33 mm, antennomeres 1 and 2 each elongate, 3–6 each about as long as broad, 7 indistinctly elongate, 8 slightly transverse, 9 as long as broad, 10 indistinctly transverse, 11 slightly broader and distinctly longer than 10, weakly elongate.

Pronotum subrectangular with broadly rounded anterior corners, broadest near anterior third; PL 0.25 mm, PW 0.30 mm. Anterior margin strongly rounded; anterior corners in strictly dorsal view not visible; lateral margins rounded in anterior third and nearly straight in posterior half, indistinctly microserrate; posterior corners obtuse-angled; posterior margin with narrow and rounded emargination in front of mesoscutellum, sides of posterior margin weakly concave; pronotal base with two pairs of antebasal pits: inner pair circular, small and widely separated at middle, outer pair yet smaller, nearly punctiform. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuously fine; setae short, moderately dense, recumbent.

Elytra oval, broadest near middle; EL 0.43 mm, EW 0.35 mm, EI 1.21; humeral calli small but distinctly elevated, slightly elongate. Punctures and setae similar as those on pronotum.

Hind wings well developed.

Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 6 ) stout, AeL 0.15 mm; median lobe in ventral view drop-shaped with abruptly delimited elongate subtriangular apex and central complex of elongate paired endophallic sclerites; parameres slender, their apices not reaching apex of aedeagus, each with two short apical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Southern Togo ( Fig. 7 ).

Etymology. The specific adjective klotoensis refers to Kloto Prefecture in the Plateaux Region of Togo.

Remarks. Despite the unusually dark brown pigmentation, P. klotoensis is externally rather unremarkable, but the drop-shaped aedeagus with abruptly narrowed subtriangular apex and unique shapes and arrangement of endophallic structures allow for unambiguous identification.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution of nominal Pomphopsilla species, with aedeagus of each species in ventral view (P. felicitas is known from a single female, and P. crenata is known from a single male with a strongly distorted aedeagus).

FIGURES 1–3. Dorsal habitus of holotype males. Pomphopsilla spinosa sp. n. (1); P. bifurcata sp. n. (2); P. klotoensis sp. n. (3).

FIGURES 4–6. Aedeagus in ventral view. Pomphopsilla spinosa sp. n. (4); P. bifurcata sp. n. (5); P. klotoensis sp. n. (6).