Agyrtolasia calliptera Szymczakowski, 1973

Seago, Ainsley E., 2005, Male description and generic review of Agyrtolasia Szymczakowski, with key to genera of Agyrtodini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Camiarinae: Agyrtodini), Zootaxa 1103 (1103), pp. 1-15 : 2-7

Agyrtolasia calliptera Szymczakowski, 1973

Holotype: female. Type locality: Australia, South Queensland: Lamington National Park , bark and decayed wood with fungi, 3.IX.1966, leg. R. A. Crowson . Holotype (as of 1973) deposited in Crowson Collection, Glasgow University ( Szymczakowski 1973).

Material examined: Australia: 2♂♂, 3♀♀, Upper Tallebudgera Ck below Springbrook, SEQ. 8 Jan. 1984, G. B. Monteith, 550 m, Pyrethrum, Rainforest ( QMBA) ; ♂, ♀, Mt. Superbus summit, SEQ, 8–9 Feb. 1990 1300 m, Monteith, Thompson, Janetzki. Pyrethrum, trees & logs ( QMBA) ; ♂, 2♀♀, 28.29S 152.23E NSW, Tooloom Scrub Floral Res. , rest area, 755 m, Beaury SF, 23 km W of Urbenville, 16 June 1993, D. S. Chandler ( ANIC) ; ♂, 2♀♀, NSW; Dorrigo Dorrigo N. P., 700 m, S. & J. Peck, 10–14.VII.1978, rainforest / fungi with logs & litter ( FMNH) ; 2♀♀, NSW Kyogle Wiangarie S. F. Brindle Ck., 800 m, 21 Jun. 1978, temperate forest S. & J. Peck, rotted bark and litter ( FMNH). (Holotype not examined)

Diagnosis: Agyrtolasia calliptera is easily recognized by its combination of dense dorsal vestiture with upright hairs and a distinctive tricolor pattern on the elytra ( Fig. 1). The only other Australian agyrtodines with such a conspicuous color pattern are Agyrtodes variegatus Jeannel, 1936 and Agyrtodes decoratus Zwick, 1979 , both of which have bicolor patterns of dark brown chevrons or checkerboard­like maculations on lighter brown cuticle.

Description: Body ( Figs. 1, 11): Length 1.5–1.7 mm (n=6, measured from front of clypeus to elytral apices); width 1.0– 1.1 mm (n=6, measured at widest point across elytra). No apparent size dimorphism within or between sexes.

Head, pronotum, and elytra clothed with dense vestiture of recumbent, golden hairs as in Agyrtode s. Convex, but not hemispherical or contractile as in many Leiodinae (e.g., Agathidium Panzer, 1797 ). Pronotum relatively short for Agyrtodini , <0.3x elytral length in dorsal view. Conspicuous color pattern on elytra, longitudinal dark brown markings along disk overlaid with basal and discal rows of rounded ivory­colored patches. Paler brown along suture, lateral margins, and elytral apex. Venter uniformly pale brown. Pronotum lighter reddish­brown than elytra; darker brown at disc and at lateral margins.

Head ( Figs. 1–4, 7): Head approximately 0.3x greatest width of pronotum; vertex and frons with scattered shallow punctures bearing short, slender, golden hairs. Long, stiff setae (as on elytra) absent from head. Antennomeres I–IV slender, scape and pedicel wider than subsequent three segments. Antennomere 6 rounded and apically flattened. Antennomere 7 roughly 2.5x as long as 6. Antennomere 8 reduced, near spherical and less than 0.5x the apical width of adjacent antennomeres. Antennomeres 9 and 10 subquadrate; antennomere 11 roughly quadrate with blunt apical papilla. Antennal club distinct but loose (not compact as in Colon Herbst 1797). Epistomal suture absent. No ocelli. Compound eyes large and globular, not reduced (as in some other small agyrtodines).

Mouthparts ( Figs. 2–4): Labrum roughly quadrate, not transverse; labral margin complete. Mandible ( Fig. 2) with small mola, lacking any medial or subapical teeth. Prostheca present but slight. Maxilla ( Fig. 3) with slender, 4­segmented palp, with terminal segment roughly 1.5x length of 3 rd palpomere but not otherwise expanded. Galea and lacinia slender. Galea apically crowned with short spines; lacinia with apical, articulated “spore­brush” (sensu Newton 1998) covered with dense array of short, scalelike rasping teeth. Labial palpi short, three­segmented, with minute apical sensilla ( Fig. 4).

Thorax: Faint, shallow punctures only, no conspicuous striae or punctures on pronotum.

Each elytron with nine longitudinal rows of punctures bearing stiff, semirecumbent setae. Puncture rows abutting suture and lateral margins much more deeply­impressed and conspicuous; punctures become increasingly shallow at disc. Evenly­spaced, comb­like array of long, spine­like setae along medial and lateral margins of elytra; unusually long, erect hairs scattered across elytron, not as densely distributed as finer, recumbent setae ( Fig. 11). Lateral striae evanescent, much less conspicuous than those of most agyrtodines.

Prosternum not carinate. Mesosternum with prominent median carina, slightly more pronounced anteriorly and triangular in profile. Metasternum broad, glabrous, with scattered shallow impressions; no carina.

Legs and Wings (Figs. 5–6): Pro­ and mesocoxae globular; metacoxae transverse, tapering distally. Procoxae nearly contiguous; procoxal cavities closed internally. Protarsi sexually dimorphic (Figs. 5–6): in males, tarsomeres 1 and 2 expanded, tarsomeres 1–3 bearing tenent setae ventrally; tarsomeres 1–5 bear long, stiff hairs dorsally. Females without protarsal expansion or long dorsal hairs. Meso­ and metatarsi not expanded in either sex. Tarsal claws simple, straight with slight curve at apex. Femora sparsely clothed with slender hairs; tibiae densely setose, with cluster of stout apical spines.

Wings present, full­sized but with venation much reduced (as in most leiodids). Wing with two proximal struts extending from basal articulation to median chord flexion line. No evident costa or other veins in distal half of wing.

FIGURES 5–6. Agyrtolasia calliptera , protarsi. 5—male protarsus; 6—female protarsus.

Abdomen: Abdominal segments VIII and IX enclosing aedeagus (in males); sternite

IX with elongate, flared, internal apophysis in both sexes ( Fig. 8).

\ Genitalia ( Figs. 8–10): Aedeagus (comprising median lobe, parameres, and endophallus) fits inside telescoping, nested abdominal segments VIII and IX ( Fig. 8). Parameres elongate (extending well past apex of median lobe), flattened and blade­like in form, curved symmetrically around median lobe ( Fig. 9). Parameres lack conspicuous setae or setal rows on inner face. Median lobe simple, tapering distally with slight flare at apex. Endophallus ( Fig. 10) armed with two distinct sizes of slender internal spines, as well as one large, roughly triangular sclerotized process ( Fig. 10, scl).

Female genitalia incompletely sclerotized: no complete spermatheca visible after clearing, although some weakly sclerotized portions of copulatory apparatus remain. External terminalia of female limited to paired, articulated styli, apparently 1­segmented, with 3–4 short apical setae.

Habitat/Ecology: No published records exist for Agyrtolasia adult or larval feeding preferences. Label data (as well as mouthpart morphology) suggest that Agyrtolasia has a fungivore/detritivore lifestyle similar to that of Agyrtodes : the maxilla of Agyrtolasia possesses a dense, articulated lacinial ''spore­brush'' of the kind seen in Agyrtodes , Cholevomorpha , and New Zealand agyrtodines exclusive of Chelagyrtodes ( Newton 1998) . Agyrtolasia calliptera has been collected with pyrethrum ''knockdown'' spraying of fungusy logs, and by Berlese extraction from rotten wood and leaf litter in subtropical closed­canopy forest areas. Based on label data for material examined in this study, the minimum range of A. calliptera extends from Southeast Queensland to Northeastern New South Wales, and is concentrated in less­disturbed rainforest habitat.