Coenonica foeminea, Pace, 2012

Pace, R., 2012, New data and new species of Aleocharinae from Tropical Africa in the Natural History Museum of the Humboldt University, Berlin (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (2), pp. 1331-1362 : 1336

Coenonica foeminea nov.sp. ( Figs 13-16 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype, Usambara, Derema , 16.II.-7.X.1899, leg. Conradt ( MNHUB).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Length 2.8 mm. Body shiny and yellowish-red, head brown, antennae reddish-brown with basal antennomere yellow, legs yellow. Reticulation on the posterior half of the head strong, in front absent. Reticulation of pronotum and elytra only on the longitudinal median band, to the sides it is absent. Abdomen devoid of reticulation. Puncturation of head and abdomen superficial, that of pronotum and elytra indistinct. Pronotum with deep median posterior impression. Aedeagus Figs 14-15 , sixth free urotergite of the male Fig. 16.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The new species in habitus is similar to C. aethiopica FAUVEL 1904 from East Africa, of which I have examined the female holotype from Derema and 3 males from Usambara (IRSNB). The new species has head superficially punctate, that of C. aethiopica strongly and deeply punctate. The pronotum of the new species has a deep posterior median impression, that of C. aethiopica has a U-shaped median sulcus. The posterior border of the sixth free tergite of the male of the new species is plurilobate, that of C. aethiopica has a single large median lobe between the two lateral thorns. The aedeagus of the new species is slender, that of C. aethiopica is short and squat.

E t y m o l o g y: The name of the new species derives from the absence of evident secondary sexual characters of the male that so it looks superficially like a female.

Figures

Figs 13-18: Habitus, aedeagus in lateral and ventral views, sixth visible tergite of male, spermatheca. (13-16) Coenonica foeminea nov.sp.; (17-18) Longiprimitarsus kamerunensis nov.sp. Habitus scale bar Fig. 13: 2.7 mm; Fig. 18: 2.4 mm, other scale bars: 0.1 mm.