Cephennodes (Cephennodes) tipulipes, Jałoszyński, 2017

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2017, Ant-like stone beetles on the roof of the world. Cephenniini of Nepal and Bhutan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4349 (1), pp. 1-120 : 33-34

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) tipulipes sp. n.

( Figs 41 , 61, 82–83, 92)

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL ( Sankhuwasabha District ): ♂, one label: "E . NEPAL: KOSI / Forêt S. Mangsingma / 2200–2600 m, 11–13.IV. / Löbl - Smetana 1984" [white, printed] ( MHNG) . Paratype: 1 ♂, same data as for holotype ( MHNG) .

Diagnosis. BL 1.55–1.60 mm; elytra strongly elongate, EI 1.17–1.29; body uniformly brown; antennae unmodified; all legs strikingly long and slender, protibiae in male slender, slightly curved outwards and with subbasal broadening of lateral (external) margin bearing a tuft of unmodified setae; apical projection of median lobe in ventral view very slender and narrowing to pointed apex, in lateral view weakly curved dorsally, with slightly recurved apical region; each paramere with one long apical and one short subapical seta, setae only slightly thickened.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 41 ) uniformly brown; slender, with barely marked constriction between pronotum and elytra, moderately convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.5 5– 1.60 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.23 mm, HW 0.38 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly convex; supraantennal tubercles distinct but weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on frons and vertex small, superficial and diffuse, inconspicuous; setae short, sparse, suberect. Antennae relatively long and relatively strongly thickened, AnL 0.85 mm; antennomeres moderately compactly assembled, pentamerous club indistinctly delimited and distinctly longer than half AnL, surface of five terminal antennomeres less glossy than that of proximal antennomeres; antennomere I about 1.5 × as long as broad; II distinctly narrower and slightly shorter than I, 1.4 × as long as broad; III–VI similar in shape, each slightly narrower and distinctly shorter than II, each about 1.2 as long as broad, VII slightly longer and broader than VI, about 1.2 × as long as broad, VIII slightly broader but shorter than VII, about as long as broad, IX and X each gradually larger than preceding antennomere, each distinctly transverse, XI indistinctly broader than X, about as long as VIII–X together, about 3.2 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view subtrapezoidal, broadest near anterior third but very indistinctly narrowing posteriorly, PL 0.48 mm, PW 0.65 mm; pronotum moderately convex at middle and weakly flattened near each hind corner; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view slightly convex; lateral margins indistinctly microserrate, broadly rounded in anterior third and nearly straight in posterior half; posterior corners right-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, diffuse, the deepest site of each pit nearly equally distant from posterior and lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc fine, inconspicuous, surface glossy; setae long and moderately dense, suberect.

Elytra strongly elongate, oval, broadest slightly in front of middle, EL 0.85–0.90 mm, EW 0.70–0.73 mm, EI 1.17–1.29. Humeral calli weakly elevated, elongate; subhumeral lines very short, equal to merely 0.10 EL and moderately distinct, developed as moderately sharp stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large and located in very short, deep, round basal impression; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures more distinct than those on pronotum and dense, but superficial, diffuse and inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum but distinctly more erect.

Hind wings present, long.

Metaventrite with indistinct postmesocoxal impressions, median area covered with fine punctures.

Protibiae (Fig. 61) slender, nearly cylindrical, slightly curved outwards, each with sub-basal broadening on lateral (external) margin bearing a tuft of unmodified setae.

Abdomen and hind legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 82–83 ) in ventral view with slightly asymmetrical, very slender median lobe broadest near middle, AeL 0.48 mm, median lobe in ventral view with nearly straight and asymmetrical distal margin, oblique in relation to the long axis of aedeagus, diaphragm with deeply and narrowly emarginate edge; apical projection in ventral view long and very slender, narrowing to pointed apex, in lateral view apical projection curved ventrally at an obtuse angle and with slightly recurved apical region; each paramere with one long apical and one short subapical seta, setae only slightly thickened.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 92 ). Eastern Nepal.

Etymology. The name tipulipes refers to the unusually long and slender legs, as those in the crane fly family ( Tipulidae ).

Remarks. This species is an unusual member of the C. excavatus group; its body shape and extremely long legs are different from those of any other representatives of this group. However, the shape and structure of the aedeagus of C. tipulipes are very similar to those of the other members of the C. excavatus group, and for this reason this species is tentatively placed among its members. The unusually long legs and the modification of protibiae in male make this species easily distinguishable from all remaining species of Cephennodes .

Figures

FIGURES 40 – 44. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (40), C. (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (41), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (42), and C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (44), and elytral apex in dorsolateral view (43) of C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n.

FIGURES 80 – 87. Aedeagus in ventral (80, 82, 84, 86) and lateral (81, 83, 85, 87) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) sermathangensis sp. n. (80 – 81), C. (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (82 – 83), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (84 – 85), and C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (86 – 87). Abbreviations: ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 92 – 93. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) tipulipes sp. n. (92, circle), C. (s. str.) yeti sp. n. (92, triangle), C. (s. str.) inflaticornis sp. n. (93, circle).