Oedichirus amoamontis, Rougemont, 2018

Rougemont, Guillaume de, 2018, The genus Oedichirus in New Caledonia (Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Pinophilini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 537-586 : 542

Oedichirus amoamontis nov.sp. (Figs 8)

Material studied: ♂ Holotype: NEW CALEDONIA 11911, 2058’S X 16517’E, Pic d’Amoa, N. Slope, 480m, 16 Dec 2004, G. Monteith, pyr. palms, smooth sheaths ♀ HOLOTYPE Oedichirus amoamontis des. 2017 G. de Rougemont [ MNHN].

Description: length: ca. 11.5 mm; length of fore-body: 4.9; length of head: 1.25; breadth of head: 1.45; length of antenna: 3.5; length of pronotum: 2; breadth of pronotum: 1.4; length of elytron: 1.5; breadth of elytra: 1.62. Body entirely black, palpi, antennae and legs pale testaceous, the knees broadly infuscate, infuscation occupying more than ¼ the distal part of metafemorae. Head and pronotum shiny but finely microreticulate, the microsculpture stronger on head than on pronotum; elytra with indistinct microsculpture; abdomen entirely microsculptate, the sculpture consisting of dense micro-reticulation on anterior margins of tergites and transverse micro-striation on rest of surface. Pubescence moderately long, fairly sparse, pale, erect. Habitus: similar to Fig. 4h.

Head less transverse than in most members of the novacaledonicus complex, temples long, scarcely rounded; post-ocular groove displaced to dorsal surface of head, well removed from sharp carina which lies on the lateral margin and does not form an angle; disc sparsely and irregularly punctate, the punctures small, round, simple. Pronotum strongly elongate; lateral margins entirely bordered; punctures of disc small, scarcely larger than those of head, sparse, arranged in a pair of irregular discal series of 5-6 punctures in basal half and a less widely spaced pair of 3-4 punctures before that enclosing three other punctures, plus scattered lateral punctures. Elytra short, broad, the sides fairly regularly rounded from base to posterior angles; puncturation of disc sparse, consisting on each elytron of a juxta-sutural series of 4-5 larger punctures, an oblique lateral series of 3smaller punctures, and half a dozen much smaller punctures along lateral margin. Bases of abdominal tergites without a transverse row of keels and furrows; puncturation of tergites irregular, moderately dense, progressively sparser on successive segments.

Male: abdominal sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII: Fig. 8s8, strongly micro-reticulate, with a moderately large apical emargination; aedoeagus: Fig. 8arl; Plate AEE.

This species differs from others in the novacaledonicus complex by the shape of the process of the ventral blade and broadly infuscate knees.