Pseudomedon chobauti COIFFAIT 1970

Assing, V., 2009, On the Pseudomedon species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1175-1189 : 1185-1186

Pseudomedon chobauti COIFFAIT 1970 (Map 2)

Pseudomedon (Euphonus) chobauti COIFFAIT 1970: 280 .

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on a male holotype and a male paratype from "environs d'Avignon, bords de la Durance" and a female paratype from "Avignon". The type specimens were looked for, but not found in the collections of the MNHNP (TAGHAVIAN pers. comm.).

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d France: P r o v e n c e: 1♀, Avignon , flood, 17.VIII.1905, leg. Chobaut ( MNHNP) ; 1♀, Avignon , flood of Rhône river, flood debris, 24.IX.1905, leg. Chobaut ( MNHNP) .

D i a g n o s i s: Externallysimilarto P. dido , but distinguished as follows:

Body larger, 3.7-4.7 mm. Coloraton paler; body uniformly dark-yellowish, abdomen as pale as forebody or slightly darker; legs and antennae pale yellowish.

Head approximately as wide as long; antennae more slender, of similar morphology as in P. huetheri . Elytra longer and broader than in P. dido , as long as, or slightly longer than pronotum.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Pseudomedon chobauti is distinguished from other pale-coloured congeners distributed in the Mediterranean region as follows:

from P. lecoqi and the brachypterous morph of P. obscurellus by the same characters that distinguish it from P. dido (see diagnosis above);

from P. pallidus by much larger size, more slender antennae, and much larger eyes.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The known distribution of P. chobauti is confined to Provence, southeastern France (Map 2). The fact that it appears to have been collected exclusively during floods, usually in flood debris on river banks, suggests that its ecology is similar to that of P. huetheri . Its reproduction habitat is unknown, but apparently subterranean.