Oedichirus russipennis, Assing, 2019

Assing, Volker, 2019, Three new species and additional records of Oedichirus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (1), pp. 33-42 : 40-41

Oedichirus russipennis nov.sp. ( Figs 7 -11 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♂: ̎ West-Papua, Japen , Ambeidiru , ca. 1000 m, südl. z. T. Primärwald, 20.07.95 leg. Stüben / Holotypus ♂ Oedichirus russipennis sp. n. det. V. Assing 2019̎ (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective: red-winged) alludes to the reddish elytra, one of the characters distinguishing this species from other Papuan congeners.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 7.3 mm; length of forebody 3.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 8 . Coloration: head, pronotum, and abdomen black; elytra dark-reddish; legs yellow with the femoral apices and the tibial bases narrowly and weakly infuscate; antennae yellowish-brown; maxillary palpi brown.

Head ( Fig. 9 ) transverse, broadest across eyes; dorsal surface with eight coarse punctures on either side; median portion extensively impunctate; integument without microsculpture. Eyes large and strongly convex. Antenna 2.2 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 9 ) 1.13 times as long as broad and as broad as head, widest anteriorly and distinctly tapering posteriorly, strongly convex in cross-section; punctation coarse, sparse, and irregularly spaced; in posterior two-thirds with a series of five coarse punctures on either side of middle, anterior to these series with a median pair of close coarse punctures; in lateral and postero-median portions largely impunctate.

Elytra ( Fig. 9 ) approximately 0.9 times as long as pronotum, distinctly convex in crosssection, and with strongly convex lateral contours; humeral angles weakly marked; punctation coarse and sparse, somewhat arranged in irregular series. Hind wings not examined.

Abdomen ( Fig. 8 ) narrower than elytra; tergites III-VII with very coarse and partly confluent punctation at anterior margins; tergite III with two transverse rows of moderately dense coarse punctures on disc; tergites IV-VI with three transverse rows of coarse and very dense punctures on disc; tergite VII with three transverse rows of moderately coarse punctures on disc; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 7 ) unmodified; sternite VIII ( Fig. 7 ) with pronounced posterior excision of trapezoid shape, middle of this excision with a dense fringe of long golden bristles; aedeagus 0.9 mm long and shaped as in Figs 10-11.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Oedichirus russiceps is distinguished from other Papuan congeners by the coloration of the body alone. Most Papuan Oedichirus species have the body black, one is reddish, and one is black with a reddish pronotum. Based on the similar external characters, including the conspicuous punctation of the abdomen, on the similar modifications of the male sternite VIII, and on the similar general morphology of the aedeagus, O. russipennis is closely allied to O. novaguinea WENDELER, 1926, a bicoloured species with the head, elytra, and abdomen black, and the pronotum red. For illustrations of O. novaguinea see ROUGEMONT (2018a).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The type locality is situated in Yapen, an Indonesian island off the northwestern coast of New Guinea. The holotype was collected in a primary forest at an altitude of approximately 1000 m.

Figures

Figs 1-7: Oedichirus pauli (1-6) and O. russipennis (7): (1) habitus (holotype); (2) forebody; (3, 7) male abdominal segments VII-VIII in ventral view; (4) male abdominal segments VII-VIII in latero-ventral view; (5-6) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-4: 1.0 mm; 5-7: 0.5 mm.

Figs 8-16: Oedichirus russipennis (8-11) and O. terminatus, lectotype (12-16): (8, 12) habitus; (9) forebody; (10-11, 15-16) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (13) male abdominal segments VII-VIII in ventral view; (14) male abdominal segments VII-VIII in latero-ventral view. Scale bars: 8-9, 12: 1.0 mm; 13-16: 0.5 mm; 10-11: 0.2 mm.