Cephennodes (Cephennodes) kalopanianus, 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 : 106-107

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) kalopanianus sp. n.

( Figs 284 , 290–291 , 295 )

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Mustang District): ♂, two labels: " NEPAL Mustang / Distr. 2km N Ka- / lopani 2550m 1.X. / 83 Smetana&Löbl [white, printed] ( MHNG). Paratype: 1 ♂, same data as for holotype ( MHNG).

Diagnosis. BL 1.30–1.35 mm; body strongly elongate and distinctly flattened; each elytron with deep and narrow groove extending from basal fovea posteriorly and very weakly toward suture; apex of median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view subrectangular, not curved toward apical projection; apical projection of aedeagus touching apex of median lobe, its distolateral margin concave.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 284 ) light to moderately dark brown, elongate, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, weakly convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.30–1.35 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.33–0.35 mm; vertex and frons confluent, evenly and relatively strongly convex; supraantennal tubercles barely marked; eyes small and weakly convex, coarsely faceted. Punctures on frons small and shallow but distinct, separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures, vertex with much smaller, inconspicuous punctures; setae very short, sparse, recumbent to suberect. Antennae slender, with relatively loosely assembled antennomeres, AnL 0.75–0.78 mm, pentamerous club moderately distinctly delimited and only slightly longer than half AnL; antennomere I 1.4 × as long as broad; II distinctly narrower and slightly shorter than I, 1.5 × as long as broad; III slightly narrower and much shorter than II, about as long as broad, IV as broad as III but slightly longer, about 1.2 × as long as broad, V as broad as IV but slightly longer, about 1.3 × as long as broad, VI as broad as V but indistinctly shorter, 1.2 × as long as broad, VII indistinctly broader but not longer than VI, 1.1 × as long as broad, VIII distinctly broader than VII and similar in length, indistinctly transverse, IX and X each distinctly larger than preceding one, each about as long as broad or indistinctly transverse; XI distinctly broader than X, as long as IX–X together, about 1.7 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view nearly semicircular, equally broad from base to posterior third; PL 0.40–0.43 mm, PW 0.58 mm; anterior margin arcuate; lateral margins not serrate, strongly rounded in anterior half, nearly straight in posterior half; hind corners slightly obtuse-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral margins; antebasal pits small but deep and sharply marked, each slightly closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures very fine, inconspicuous, surface glossy; setae moderately long and dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, egg-shaped, broadest near anterior fourth, EL 0.73–0.75 mm, EW 0.60–0.63 mm, EI 1.20– 1.21. Humeral calli barely marked; subhumeral lines equal to about 0.3 EL, each developed as a very narrow and shallow groove; basal fovea on each elytron large and connected to nearly straight, deep and narrow groove extending posteriorly and only very weakly toward suture, demarcating elongate, subtrapezoidal, very convex area around scutellum; subapical region slightly flattened on suture, apices of elytra rounded together. Punctures nearly as indistinct as those on pronotum; setae moderately long and dense, suberect, those on subapical flattening directed posteromesally but not distinctly denser or longer than those on remaining areas.

Hind wings absent.

Metaventrite with large and sharply demarcated postmesocoxal impressions, medially covered with fine punctures.

Abdomen and legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 290–291 ) of simonis form, AeL 0.28 mm, median lobe with subtrapezoidal, slender apical portion; apical projection touching apex of median lobe, with its distolateral margin distinctly concave; parameres slender, slightly unequal in length, each with one apical seta.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 295 ). Central Nepal.

Etymology. Locotypical, after Kalopani (north of Lete).

Remarks. This species externally resembles C. sulcatus , but is distinctly smaller (although its aedeagus is equally long to that of C. sulcatus ), of a different shade of brown, and its aedeagus has differently shaped apical portion of median lobe and apical projection. Cephennodes kalopanianus is also similar to C. poonensis described below, but is distinctly less convex, has different proportions of body parts, sparser vestiture of setae and clearly different aedeagal structures. These three species share some structures, as the grooves extending from each basal elytral fovea posteriorly and only slightly toward suture, demarcating a convex area around the scutellum, and the same form of the aedeagus. However, a similar shape of aedeagus can be found in members of several species groups, and the grooves extending from basal elytral fovea also occur in species belonging to different groups. For this reason, C. sulcatus , C. kalopanianus and C. poonensis are not placed in their own species group, even though they may be closely related.

Figures

FIGURES 282 – 285. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) penicillipes sp. n. (282), C. (s. str.) sulcatus sp. n. (283), C. (s. str.) kalopanianus sp. n. (284), and C. (s. str.) poonensis sp. n. (285).

FIGURES 286 – 293. Aedeagus in ventral (286, 288, 290, 292) and lateral (287, 289, 291, 293) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) penicillipes sp. n. (286 – 287), C. (s. str.) sulcatus sp. n. (288 – 289), C. (s. str.) kalopanianus sp. n. (290 – 291), and C. (s. str.) poonensis sp. n. (292 – 293). Abbreviations: aml, apex of median lobe; ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 294 – 295. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) penicillipes sp. n. (294, circle), C. (s. str.) sulcatus sp. n. (294, triangle), C. (s. str.) kalopanianus sp. n. (295, circle), and C. (s. str.) poonensis sp. n. (295, triangle).