Panscopaeus formosanus, Assing, 2011

Assing, Volker, 2011, A revision of Panscopaeus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 61 (2), pp. 389-411 : 399-401

Panscopaeus formosanus sp. n. (Figs 30-36, Map 1 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: " Taiwan - Taitung Co., Rd. no. 20, after Li-Tao ( Lidau ), km 174, 1300 m, mt. forest litter, 8.IV.2007, leg. Vít [2] / Holotypus ♂ Panscopaeus formosanus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2010" (cAss).

Etymology:

The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Formosa, the old name of Taiwan.

Description:

Body length 4.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 31 . Coloration: head blackish-brown; pronotum and elytra reddish, distinctly contrasting with the darker head; abdomen brown, with reddish apex; legs dark-yellowish; antennae reddish.

Head 1.12 times as wide as long ( Fig. 32 ); postocular region usually weakly convex in dorsal view; posterior angles marked; neck slender, approximately 0.15 times the width of head in dorsal view; punctation of dorsal surface very fine and dense, barely noticeable in the pronounced microreticulation; dorsal surface almost matt ( Fig. 35 ). Eyes large and bulging, somewhat shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae similar to those of P. yakushimanus .

Pronotum ( Fig. 32 ) approximately as wide as long and 0.95 times as wide as head, lateral margins subparallel and short, posteriorly broadly rounded towards posterior margin; posterior angles not marked; punctation and microreticulation similar to those of head ( Fig. 36 ); midline in posterior half briefly and narrowly glossy ( Fig. 32 ).

Elytra relatively short, approximately 0.9 times as long and 1.1 times as broad as pronotum ( Fig. 43 ); punctation fine and dense; microsculpture very shallow, visible only at high magnification of at least 100 x. Metatarsomere I longer than II, but shorter than the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen as wide as elytra; punctation very fine and dense; interstices with shallow microsculpture visible only at higher magnification; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII with relatively broad and deep excision posteriorly (Fig. 30); aedeagus 0.6 mm long and shaped as in Figs 33-34 .

Comparative notes:

Externally, this species is characterized particularly by the coloration, the shape of the pronotum, and the short elytra. It is distinguished from the sympatric P. yakushimanusyakushimanus additionally by the broader and deeper posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, as well as by the larger and differently shaped aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history:

The type locality is situated in Taitung county, southeastern Taiwan, at an altitude of 1300 m. The holotype was sifted from mountain forest litter .

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Panscopaeus species in Taiwan: filled circles: P. yakushimanus; open circle: P. formosanus.

Figs 31-34: Panscopaeus formosanus: habitus (31); forebody (32); aedeagus in lateral view (33); aedeagus in ventral view (34). Scale bars: 31: 1.0 mm; 32: 0.5 mm; 33-34: 0.2 mm.

Figs 35-43: Panscopaeus formosanus (35-36) and P. andrewesi, lectotype (37-43): median dorsal portion of head (35, 38); median portion of pronotum (36); forebody (37); posterior portion of pronotum (39); male sternite VIII (40); aedeagus in lateral view (41); aedeagus in ventral view (42); apical portion of aedeagus in dorsal view (43). Scale bars: 37: 0.5 mm; 40-43: 0.2 mm; 35-36, 38-39: 0.1 mm.