Syndicus (Semisyndicus) sinensis Jałoszyński, 2004

Yin, Zi-Wei & Zhou, De-Yao, 2016, New Species, New Synonymy, and Additional Records ofSyndicusMotschulsky (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 70 (4), pp. 871-879 : 871-879

Syndicus (Semisyndicus) sinensis Jałoszyński, 2004

( Fig. 5A, C, E )

Syndicus (Semisyndicus) sinensis Jałoszyński 2004: 100 .

Syndicus (Semisyndicus) schuelkei Jałoszyński 2011: 26 ; Yin and Li 2015: 420 (description of female). New synonymy.

Material Examined. Syndicus sinensis : holotype ♀: ‘CHINA-Yunnan, 14.- 21.6.1993, 100 km W. Baoshan (), Gaoligongshan Nat. Res. (), E. Jendek & O. Sauss leg.’ ( NHMW) . Syndicus schuelkei : 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀: ‘ China: Yunnan Prov., Lushui County (), Pianma (), 15-V-2009, alt., 2300 m, Jian- Qing ZHU leg’ ( SNUC) ; 2 ♂♂: same locality, except for ‘ 2200 m, 3.v.2015, W.-X. Bi leg.’ ( SNUC) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀: ‘ China: Yunnan, Baoshan City (), Tengchong County (), Mingguang Town (), Zizhi Village (), 25°42′29″N, 98°35′02″E, 2300 m, 30.iv.2013, Dai, Song & Peng leg.’ ( SNUC) .

Notes on Synonymy. In a revision of Syndicus , S. sinensis was described from the Gaoligongshan (Tengchong), Yunnan, southwestern China, based on a single female, as the first species of the genus known to occur in China ( Jałoszyński 2004). This species differed from other known congeners primarily by the unique oval, slightly elongate spermatheca. Later, two male and three female Syndicus specimens collected from Xiaoxiang Ling in the adjacent Sichuan Province (ca. 600 km northeast of the type locality) were identified as conspecific with S. sinensis , and a supplementary description of the male was provided ( Jałoszyński 2008). In 2011, the same author described ( Jałoszyński 2011) a second Chinese Semisyndicus species, S. schuelkei , from the Gaoligongshan (Tengchong) based on a single male. The uniquely broad aedeagal form of this species is similar to those of the members of the nominotypical subgenus. Recently, Yin and Li (2015) described two additional Semisyndicus from Hainan, and in the same paper a description of the female of S. schuelkei was provided with its spermatheca illustrated.

Since the type localities of S. sinensis and S. schuelkei are both in the Gaoligongshan near Tengchong, we investigated a possible synonymy of these two names. After an examination of the holotype female of S. sinensis and seven specimens of S. schuelkei from the areas near its type locality, we found that the body size (2.7 mm) of the holotype of S. sinensis ( Fig. 5A ) from Tengchong is smaller than that of all S. schuelkei (2.93–2.99 mm) from Tengchong and Pianma, which is considered intraspecific variation. Other than this difference, the same proportion of the body parts and antennomeres, a finely punctate pronotum, and an oval, slightly elongate spermatheca are shared by all female individuals. Since there are no significant differences between the holotype of S. sinensis and specimens of S. schuelkei , S. schuelkei is placed as a junior synonym of S. sinensis . The specimens identified as ‘ S. sinensis ’ from Sichuan are not conspecific with the holotype from Yunnan, and they represent an undescribed species, Syndicus (Semisyndicus) sichuanicus , new species.

Comparative Notes. Syndicus sinensis is most similar to S. sichuanicus by sharing similar body shape and proportions of body parts, and even the structures of the aedeagal endophallus and shape of the spermatheca are very similar. These two species can be separated by the finely punctate pronotal disc ( Fig. 5C ), relatively longer antennomere II ( Fig. 5E ) in comparison to antennomere III, and much stouter aedeagus ( Jałoszyński 2011: figs. 4–5; Yin and Li 2015: Fig. 5A–B ) in S. sinensis , while S. sichuanicus possesses a much more coarsely punctate pronotal disc, relatively shorter antennomere II, and the aedeagus is distinctly more slender.

Distribution. China: Yunnan.

Figures

Fig. 5. Syndicus sinensis, holotype female: A) Dorsal habitus, C) Head and pronotum, E) Antennomeres I–III. Syndicus sichuanicus, male: B) Dorsal habitus, D) Head and pronotum, F) Antennomeres I–III.