Antimerus posttibialis Lea 1925

Solodovnikov, A. & Newton, A. F., 2010, Revision of the rove beetle genus Antimerus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae), a puzzling endemic Australian lineage of the tribe Staphylinini, ZooKeys 67, pp. 21-63 : 30-31

Antimerus posttibialis Lea 1925 Figs 1024-26

Antimerus posttibialis Lea 1925: 229

Type locality:

Australia: Queensland:Kuranda [16°49'S, 145°39'E]

Material examined.

AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Holotype, pinned, genitalia not dissected, with labels:"Lea, TYPE / posttibialis / Kuranda", "12098 / Antimerus / posttibialis / Lea / Queensland / TYPE", "S. Aust. Museum / specimen" [orange label], "FMNH-INS 0000 019 154", "HOLOTYPE / Antimerus / posttibialis Lea / revised by / A. Solodovnikov 2006 " [red label], ♂ in SAM. Other material: same locality, ii.1921 (F.P. Dodd), 1♂ in SAM; same locality [no date] (F.P. Dodd), 1♂ in SAM; same locality, ii.1909 (G.E. Bryant), 1♀ in ANIC, 2♂ in BMNH; same locality, 1911 (G.E. Bryant, F.P. Dodd), 1♂ in FMNH; NEQ: Mt. Murra y Prior, 770m, 16°56'S, 145°51'E, 31.x.1995, pyrethrum, trees & rocks (Monteith & Cook), 1♀ in QM.

Description.

Measurements (n=5): HL: 2.5-2.9; HW: 3.1-3.5; PL: 2.9-3.2; PW: 2.8-3.5; EL: 3.5-4.2; EW: 3.5-4.2. Total length of the body 16-17 mm.

Body black, without distinct metallic reflection; elytra near their apical margin, and legs slightly paler; two to three basal segments of antennae pale brown, rest of antennae yellowish. Head, pronotum and elytra with moderately dense punctuation and pale, yellowish pubescence, their surfaces at interspaces with microsculpture of mostly transverse waves. Fifth to eighth abdominal tergites (third to sixth visible) with patches of more or less dense silver pubescence. Body elongate, relatively slender.

Head slightly wider than long, with tempora gradually tapering to weakly defined neck constriction, so that posterior angles of head indistinct; tempora as long as eye (in lateral view). Left mandible with very small but distinct tooth in the middle of its internal edge; right mandible without such tooth. Antennae moderately long, with antennomeres VIII–X about as long as wide, not transverse.

Pronotum about as long as wide and as wide as head, its lateral sides gradually diverging from base to pronotal anterior margin, and slightly converging very near to anterior angles; anterior angles very distinct, posterior slightly distinct. Pronotal hypomera not inflexed, visible from lateral view.

Elytron elongate, distinctly longer than pronotum.

Wings well developed.

Abdominal tergites III–VI (first to fourth visible) with deep transverse impression in basal part; tergite VII (fifth visible) with whitish seam at apical margin.

Male (Figs 24-26). Aedeagus with paramere as wide as median lobe (in dorsal or ventral view); paramere strongly notched at the apex. Sclerotized piece of internal sac with shape of three-lobed structure.

Comparison.

From all other species of the genus, Antimerus posttibialis can be easily recognized by the combination of the black, non-metallic coloration of the body covered by silver pubescence, and patches of dense silver hairs on the abdominal tergites V–VIII (third to sixth visible).

Distribution and bionomics.

Antimerus posttibialis is known from only a few specimens from two localities in northern Queensland, near the eastern coast of Australia (Fig. 55, C, triangles). Habitat data are recorded for only one specimen, which was collected in the rainforest at 770 m elevation by low scale pyrethrum fogging of tree trunks and rocks.

Notes on type material.

There is a clear indication in the original description that the latter was based on a single specimen ("Queensland: Kuranda (F.P. Dodd). Type (unique), I. 12698", which was unambiguously located at SAM and interpreted as holotype. Four specimens from the same locality in ANIC, BMNH and FMNH are labeled variously as “type”, “cotype” or “paratype” and may have been collected with the type, but were evidently not part of the original type series.