Cephennodes (Cephennodes) meredaranus, 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 : 24-26

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) meredaranus sp. n.

( Figs 35 , 51, 70–71, 89)

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Sindhupalchowk District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL (Prov. Bagmati) / Mere Dara / 3200 m, 8.IV.81 / Löbl & Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. BL 1.25 mm; elytra long, EI 1.12; body brown with much darker, dark chocolate head and pronotum; antennae unmodified; protibiae in male not thickened, densely covered with golden setae; apical projection of median lobe in ventral view slender and narrowing to pointed apex, in lateral view very weakly curved; each paramere with one apical and one subapical seta which are unequal in length and only slightly thickened.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 35 ) dark brown with much darker, dark chocolate head, pronotum and antennae, also elytral suture distinctly darkened; relatively slender, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, moderately convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.25 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.30 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 and shallow, with diffuse margins but distinct, separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures; setae very short, sparse, suberect. Antennae moderately long and moderately thickened, AnL 0.60 mm; antennomeres relatively loosely assembled, especially in distal half, pentamerous club moderately distinctly delimited and about as long as half AnL, surface of five terminal antennomeres less glossy than that of proximal antennomeres; antennomere I about 1.3 × as long as broad; II distinctly narrower but only slightly shorter than I, 1.7 × as long as broad; III and IV subequal in shape, each slightly narrower than II and much shorter, about 1.1 × as long as broad, V indistinctly broader and longer than IV, slightly elongate, VI as broad as V but slightly shorter, about as long as broad, VII distinctly broader but only slightly longer than VI, about as long as broad, VIII– X each gradually larger than preceding one and distinctly transverse, XI distinctly broader than X, indistinctly longer than IX–X together, about 1.7 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view subtrapezoidal, equally broad between base and middle, PL 0.38 mm, PW 0.50 mm; pronotum strongly convex at middle and strongly flattened near each hind corner but the flattened area very small; anterior margin in strictly dorsal view slightly convex; lateral margins not microserrate, strongly rounded in anterior third and nearly straight and parallel in posterior half; hind pronotal corners nearly right-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small and shallow, diffuse, each nearly equally distant from posterior and lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc fine, inconspicuous, surface glossy; setae short and moderately dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest between middle and anterior third, EL 0.70 mm, EW 0.63 mm, EI 1.12. Humeral calli weakly elevated, elongate; subhumeral lines weakly marked, very short, equal to only about 0.15 EL and developed as rounded 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 still only superficial and inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum.

Hind wings not studied.

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

Protibiae (Fig. 51) not thickened but covered with conspicuously golden dense setae.

Abdomen and hind legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 70–71 ) in ventral view with slightly asymmetrical median lobe broadest near base, AeL 0.38 mm, median lobe in ventral view with nearly straight and symmetrical distal margin; apical projection in ventral view very slender and narrowing distally to pointed apex, in lateral view very weakly curved dorsally, curved portion short; each paramere with one apical and one subapical seta unequal in length, setae only slightly thickened.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 89 ). Central Nepal.

Etymology. Locotypical, after Mere Dara, a locality near Thare Pati in Nepal.

Remarks. This species looks like a sibling of C. clavodentatus and C. yangrianus described below, all these species have a similarly small body with similar pigmentation and proportions. Cephennodes meredaranus can be easily distinguished from both of them by a combination of unmodified antennae and protibiae lacking a welldefined patch of spatulate setae; aedeagal structures are also clearly different in all three species.

Figures

FIGURES 32 – 39. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (32), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (33), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (34), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (35), C. (s. str.) yangrianus sp. n. (36), C. (s. str.) suturalis sp. n. (37), C. (s. str.) karnaliensis sp. n. (38), and C. (s. str.) churtanus sp. n. (39).

FIGURES 64 – 71. Aedeagus in ventral (64, 66, 68, 70) and lateral (65, 67, 69, 71) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (64 – 65), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (66 – 67), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (68 – 69), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (70 – 71). Abbreviations: ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 88 – 89. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) bagmatianus sp. n. (88, circle), C. (s. str.) popeye sp. n. (88, triangle), C. (s. str.) clavodentatus sp. n. (89, circle), C. (s. str.) meredaranus sp. n. (89, circle), C. (s. str.) yangrianus sp. n. (89, triangle).