Thyreocephalus subcorticalis, Janák, Jiří & Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2015

Janák, Jiří & Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2015, Revision of the genus Thyreocephalus and description of Afrus gen. nov. of Africa south of the Sahara (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Zootaxa 4038 (1), pp. 1-94 : 58-60

Thyreocephalus subcorticalis sp. nov.

( Figs. 141–146 )

Type locality. Côte d'Ivoire, Lomé, Bingerville.

Type material. Holotype ♂: IVORY COAST: “ Côte d'Ivoire, Lomé, Bingerville, P. Genty 2.IX.1966 ”, “ Holotypus Thyreocephalus subcorticalis sp. nov., Janák & Bordoni det. 2015” ( MNHNP). Paratypes: CAMEROON: 1 ♂: “ Cameroon, Mt Kala, 1150 m, Darge III.1972 ” ( MRAC); 1 ♀: “ Cameroon, Yaoundé, coll. Levasseur” ( MNHNP); CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 2 ♂, 3 ♀: “Rep. Centrafric., La Maboke, R. Pujol 5.VII.1966 ” ( MNHNP, ABFI); DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: 1 ♂, 1 ♀: “ Congo, Lualaba, Zilo, V. Allard V.1960 ” ( JJRC, MRAC); 1 ♂: “ Congo, Mayidi, P. Van Eyen 1942” ( MRAC); 1 ♂: “ Congo, Kasai, Dekese, F. François 1959” ( MRAC); 1 ♂: “ Congo, Deghese [= Dekese], Kasai, V. Allard XII.1959 ” ( MNHNP); 1 ♀: “ Congo, Sankuru, Mt Pomba Zeo (Gandajika), Don R. Maréchal 4.II.1960 ” ( MRAC); 2 ♂, 2 ♀: “ Congo, Kindu, coll. L. Levasseur” ( MNHNP, ABFI); 1 ♂: “ Congo, Kivu, Terr. Kalehe, Karambu, N. Leleup 16.IX.1960 ” ( MRAC); 1 ♂: “ Congo, Kivu, Bukavu (Costermansville), H. Bomans 1951” ( ABFI); 1 ♀: “ Congo, Yangambi (Stan.), J. Decelle XI.1961 ” ( MRAC); 1 ♂, 1 ♀: same data, but “ V.1960 ” ( MRAC, ABFI); IVORY COAST: 1 ♂: “ Côte d'Ivoire, Parc du Banco, C. Gerard 2.IX.1966 ”; ZAMBIA: 1 ♂: “N-Rhodesia, Abercorn [= Mbala], 1800 m, N. Leleup VII.1960 ”( ABFI). The label “ Paratypus Thyreocephalus subcorticalis sp. nov., Janák & Bordoni det. 2015” was added to all paratypes.

Additional material examined. SUDAN: 1 ♂ (partly damaged, without head), Equatoria Lotti forest, 14– 17.iii.1963, Linnavuori ( ZMH) (identification uncertain).

Description. Body length 18.5 mm; length from anterior margin of head to posterior margin of elytra: 10 mm. Dark reddish brown dark, with blackish head and elytra with bluish reflections. Head and pronotum with micropunctation. Head and pronotum and related punctation as in Fig. 142 ; labrum as in Fig. 143 . Head with very dense punctation; setiferous punctures very large and marked. Clypeus with dense punctation. Scutellum large, with some punctures. Pronotum with marked lateral concavity. Elytra slightly longer and wider than pronotum, slightly dilated posteriad, with slightly rounded sides and largely rounded humeral angles. Surface with fine but evident, sparse punctation, arranged in three series, one near suture, one median and one lateral. Abdomen with transverse, extremely fine and dense micro-striation, and very sparse, medium-sized punctation, arranged in few, spaced series.

Male. Tergite 10 and sternite 9 of male genital segment as in Figs. 144, 145 . Aedeagus ( Fig. 146 ) 2.2–3 mm long, ovoid, large, with more or less rounded median lobe; parameres similar to that of T. coeruleipennis ; inner sac wide, very long, folded on itself some times.

Differential diagnosis. Thyreocephalus subcorticalis sp. nov. differs from T. coeruleipennis in larger body, more or less densely punctured disc of head, in temples behind eyes sparsely punctured, different shape of labrum with non-protruding denticulations that appear rather with flat and sub-rectilinear anterior margin, and in larger aedeagus, with wider and longer inner sac, sometimes folded on itself.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the Latin sub- corticalis- e (sub-cortical), in relation to the collecting habitat.

Bionomics. Some specimens were collected under bark; some in “coupe de Triplochiton scleroxylon ”, “coupe de Cola cordifolia ” (both Sterculiaceae ).

Distribution. The species occurs in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo (southwestern or central-western regions), Ivory Coast and Zambia ( Fig. 141 ).

Remarks. The specimen from Banco ( Ivory Coast) has the label “ Holotype, Thyreocephalus bancoensis n. sp., L. Levasseur det. 68, in litt.”. One specimen from La Maboke ( Central African Republic) has the label “ Holotype, Thyreocephalus centrafricanus n. sp., L. Levasseur det. 68, in litt.”. The male (lacking head) recorded from Sudan by Scheerpeltz (1974) as T. coeruleipennis has a similar aedeagus as T. subcorticalis sp. nov. from other localities, but due to lack of head, the identification can be only tentative. We did not designate this specimen as a paratype.

Figures

FIGURE 141. Distribution of species in Thyreocephalus coeruleipennis group (● = T. basilewskyi Tottenham, ▲ = T. subcorticalis sp. nov.).

FIGURES 142 – 146. Thyreocephalus subcorticalis sp. nov.; 142, head and pronotum; 143, labrum; 144, male tergite 10; 145, male sternite 9; 146, aedeagus.