Cheilocolpus olliffi Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov

Shaw, Josh Jenkins & Solodovnikov, Alexey, 2016, Systematic and biogeographic review of the Staphylinini rove beetles of Lord Howe Island with description of new species and taxonomic changes (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 638, pp. 1-25 : 7

Cheilocolpus olliffi Jenkins Shaw & Solodovnikov sp. n. Figures 2A, 3

Material examined.

Type material. Holotype: Male, point-mounted with apical abdominal segments in glycerin in capsule under specimen, with labels 'AUSTRALIA: N.S.W., Lord Howe Island, 17-31.v.1980, S. + J. Peck / Intermediate Hill, Big Creek, 50 ’–200’, malaise trough, tall forest, 18-30.v.80 / Holotype Cheilocolpus olliffi Jenkins Shaw and Solodovnikov des. 2016' (ANIC). Paratypes [all supplied with the labels 'Paratype Cheilocolpus olliffi Jenkins Shaw and Solodovnikov des. 2016': 3 males with locality labels same as holotype specimen. 5 paratypes with labels 'AUSTRALIA: N.S.W., Lord Howe Island, 17-31.v.1980, S. + J. Peck / Intermediate Hill, 50' pan traps, 19 –30.v.1989’ (ANIC); 1 male with labels 'NSW: Lord Howe Is., Mt Gower summit, c870m, 31°35'23"S. 159°04'21"E, 05Dec2000, C. Reid, Visitors book, mossy floor / K 188898 / H. sp2' (AMS).

Description.

Measurements: HL 0.5-0.7; HW 0.5-0.6; PL 0.7-0.8; PW 0.5-0.7; EL 0.8-1; EW 0.8-1.1. Total body length 3.6-5.

Small, black to dark brown beetles. Habitus as in Figure 3.

Head capsule elongate more or less parallel-sided. Head surface with transverse microsculpture, on vertex with additional pair of punctures between anterior frontal punctures (sensu Smetana 1971), on temples sparsely pubescent. Length of eyes about one third of the side of the head. Nuchal ridge complete. Infraorbital ridge present but very short, far not reaching base of mandibles. Maxillary and labial palpi yellow, their apical segment aciculate. Labrum transverse, somewhat bilobed. Mandibles strongly produced. Dorsal mandibular ridge developed posteriorly. Gular sutures converging posteriad but not joining. Postmandibular ridge developed, directed towards gular sutures. All antennomeres elongate; first slightly paler than 2-11; 1-3 setose; 4-11 setose and with tomentose pubescence.

Surface of pronotum with transverse microsculpture and three pairs of punctures in dorsal series. Hypomeron strongly inflexed, and thus not visible in lateral view. Post-coxal process absent. Basisternum with pair of macrosetae.

Scutellum with only anterior scutellar ridge. Light brown, covered in setiferous punctures. Fully winged species, veins CuA and MP4 fused in one vein and vein MP3 present.

Legs yellow to orange with femora slightly darker than tibia and tarsi. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Tarsi with sparsely distributed long setae ventrally.

Abdominal tergites III to V with anterior and posterior basal carinae the latter connecting spiracles.

Male. Sternite VIII without apical incision. Aedeagus with paramere closely attached to, and apically protruding over median lobe, but both still distinctly seen as two separate structures. Paramere apically acutely pointed with several small setae. In lateral view apical portion of paramere somewhat expanded. Apical tip of median lobe with narrow notch. Aedeagus of Cheilocolpus olliffi noticeably more elongated and about twice the length of the aedeagus of Cheilocolpus kentiae or Cheilocolpus castaneus (Figure 2A).

Diagnosis.

Cheilocolpus olliffi can be distinguished from other species of the genus from Australia based on the three pairs of punctures in the dorsal series of the pronotum and the pair of punctures on the frons between the eyes. Compared to the other LHI species, Cheilocolpus kentiae and Cheilocolpus castaeneus with respective antennomeres transverse, Cheilocolpus olliffi has antennomeres 6-11 elongate. All three LHI Cheilocolpus species have very distinctive habitus and aedeagi (Figure 2).

Etymology.

Cheilocolpus olliffi is named in recognition of Arthur Sidney Olliff (1865-1895), an English-born entomologist and taxonomist who made significant contributions to the understanding of LHI’s insect fauna, including recognising its affiliation with the mainland Australia. The species epithet is a noun in the genitive singular.

Taxon discussion.

The species is placed in the genus Cheilocolpus because it fully matches the diagnosis of the genus given in the Taxon discussion section under Cheilocolpus kentiae .