Cephennodes (Cephennodes) tharepatianus, 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 : 62-63

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) tharepatianus sp. n.

( Figs 152 , 179–182 , 225 )

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Sindhupalchowk District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL (Prov. Bagmati) / below Thare Pati / 3300 m, 11.IV.81 / Löbl & Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG) . Paratypes (2 exx): 1 ♀, same data as for holotype ; 1 ♀, " NEPAL (Prov. Bagmati) / below Thare Pati / 3300 m, 9.IV.81 / Löbl & Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG, cPJ).

Diagnosis. BL 1.28–1.38 mm; abdominal sternite III in ventral view with only one, submedian transverse carina, which is expanded medially and forming broadly rounded subtriangular lobe directed ventrally; apex of median lobe of aedeagus subtriangular and blunt; apical projection of aedeagus partly hidden behind apex of median lobe, with distal margin shallowly sinuate and transverse in relation to the long axis of aedeagus, in lateral view median lobe with tooth-like projection distad basal foramen.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 152 ) light brown, stout, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, strongly convex, covered with yellowish setae; BL 1.28 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.33 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly, evenly convex, vertex with a pair of tiny but distinct tubercles; supraantennal tubercles small, weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on vertex and frons fine, dense but inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, suberect. Antennae moderately long and strongly thickened, AnL 0.63–0.65 mm, pentamerous club relatively distinctly delimited; antennomere I about 1.2 × as long as broad; II narrower and slightly longer than I, 1.7 × as long as broad; III–VI similar in shape, each slightly narrower and much shorter than II, each about as long as broad; VII slightly broader but not longer than VI, 1.2 × as long as broad; VIII distinctly broader but indistinctly shorter than VII, slightly transverse; IX much larger than VIII, slightly transverse; X larger than IX, slightly transverse; XI distinctly broader than X, indistinctly shorter than IX–X together, about 1.5 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view nearly semicircular, broadest near posterior third, PL 0.40–0.43 mm, PW 0.63–0.65 mm; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view straight; lateral margins indistinctly microserrate, strongly rounded in anterior third, weakly so in posterior half and slightly convergent toward slightly obtuse-angled hind corners; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae distinct but narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, each much closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc very small and shallow, inconspicuous; setae moderately long, dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest near anterior fourth, EL 0.68–0.70 mm, EW 0.63 mm, EI 1.08–1.12. Humeral calli weakly elevated; subhumeral lines distinct, equal to about 0.2 EL, each developed as a moderately sharp stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron connected to shallow and diffuse arcuate impression extending posteriorly and slightly mesally; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures slightly more distinct than those on pronotum but superficial and inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum.

Hind wings vestigial.

Metaventrite with moderately large, sharply delimited postmesocoxal impressions, with median area covered with fine, dense punctures.

Abdomen ( Figs 179–180 ) with only sternite III modified, in ventral view sternite III bears broad transverse submedian carina, carina broadly expanded at middle as a rounded subtriangular lobe projected ventrally.

Legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 181–182 ) moderately slender, AeL 0.18 mm, apex of median lobe subtriangular and blunt; apical projection partly hidden behind median lobe, its distal margin shallowly sinuate and transverse in relation to the long axis of aedeagus; apex of apical projection subtriangular and blunt; median lobe in lateral view with large tooth-like projection distad basal foramen; parameres very slender, unequal in length, not exceeding apex of median lobe, each with one apical seta.

Female. Very similar to male but with unmodified abdomen; BL 1.38 mm; HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.33 mm, AnL 0.70 mm; PL 0.45 mm, PW 0.65 mm; EL 0.75 mm, EW 0.68 mm, EI 1.11.

Distribution ( Fig. 225 ). Central Nepal.

Etymology. Locotypical, after the locality Thare Pati.

Remarks. This species is unique within the C. simplicipes group in the pronotum conspicuously broader than elytra, in the abdominal sternite III with only one carina forming a rounded subtriangular lobe directed ventrally, and not posteriorly, and in aedeagal structures. The aedeagus in lateral view is unlike any other of this species group, it has a dorsal projection located distally to the basal foramen, a structure not known in any member of the C. simplicipes species group. The modification of abdomen in C. tharepatianus is most similar to that in C. pinnapes Jałoszyński, 2015c , but the latter belongs in the C. spatulipes group and has strongly spatulate metatibiae in males; also the aedeagi of these species markedly differ.

Figures

FIGURES 148 – 155. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) letheanus sp. n. (148), C. (s. str.) myagdiensis sp. n. (149), C. (s. str.) malla sp. n. (150), C. (s. str.) gorkha sp. n. (151), C. (s. str.) tharepatianus sp. n. (152), C. (s. str.) minisulcatus sp. n. (153), C. (s. str.) mustangensis sp. n. (154), and C. (s. str.) lalitpuranus sp. n. (155).

FIGURES 179 – 194. Abdomen of male in right lateral (179, 183, 187, 191) and ventral (180, 184, 188, 192) views and aedeagus in ventral (181, 185, 189, 193) and lateral (182, 186, 190, 194) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) tharepatianus sp. n. (179 – 182), C. (s. str.) minisulcatus sp. n. (183 – 186), C. (s. str.) mustangensis sp. n. (187 – 190), and C. (s. str.) lalitpuranus sp. n. (191 – 194).

FIGURES 225 – 226. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) tharepatianus sp. n. (225, circle), C. (s. str.) minisulcatus sp. n. (225, triangle), C. (s. str.) mustangensis sp. n. (226, circle), C. (s. str.) lalitpuranus sp. n. (226, triangle).