Cephennodes (Cephennodes) newar, Jałoszyński, 2017

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2017, Ant-like stone beetles on the roof of the world. Cephenniini of Nepal and Bhutan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4349 (1), pp. 1-120 : 95-96

Cephennodes (Cephennodes) newar sp. n.

( Figs 252 , 265–266 , 273 )

Type material. Holotype: NEPAL (Kathmandu District): ♂, one label: " NEPAL: distr. / Kathmandu: Phulcoki / 2500 m, 28–30.IV.84 / Löbl - Smetana" [white, printed] ( MHNG). Paratypes (2 exx): 1 ♂, 1 ♀, same data as for holotype ( MHNG, cPJ).

Diagnosis. BL 1.28–1.33 mm; pronotum indistinctly narrower than elytra; elytra broadest far in front of middle; antennomere V slightly longer than VI; subhumeral line on each elytron relatively sharply marked; median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view with its rod-like apical portion strongly broadened in apical region, apex leaf-like, distinctly pointed; apical margin of apical projection strongly oblique in relation to the long axis of aedeagus and nearly straight, in ventral view its left lateroapical corner forming long rounded subtriangular projection, and its right corner forming short, very slender, nearly straight and pointed triangular projection.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 252 ) dark brown, elongate, with shallow constriction between pronotum and elytra, weakly convex, covered with light brown setae; BL 1.28–1.33 mm.

Head subtrapezoidal, HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.30–0.31 mm; vertex and frons confluent, evenly and weakly convex, supraantennal tubercles small and weakly elevated; eyes moderately large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted. Punctures on vertex and frons small but distinct, sharply marked and densely, unevenly distributed, slightly denser on sides, where they are separated by spaces equal to or shorter than diameters of punctures, and sparser at middle; setae short, sparse, suberect. Antennae moderately long and with loosely assembled antennomeres, AnL 0.60–0.63 mm, club appears trimerous, indistinctly delimited and relatively strongly thickened; antennomere I 1.4 × as long as broad; II slightly narrower and shorter than I, 1.4 × as long as broad; III–IV similar in shape, each narrower than II and about 1.1 × as long as broad, V slightly longer but not broader than IV, about 1.2 × as long as broad, VI slightly shorter than but about as broad as V, indistinctly elongate, VII indistinctly broader and longer than VI, about as long as broad, VIII slightly shorter than VII but similar in width, slightly transverse, IX and X each much larger than preceding one, distinctly transverse; XI distinctly broader than X, indistinctly longer than IX–X together, about 1.4 × as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view approximately subrectangular with rounded sides, broadest near middle or slightly posterior to middle and very indistinctly narrowing posteriorly, PL 038– 0.40 mm, PW 0.58 mm; anterior margin arcuate; lateral margins indistinctly microserrate, strongly rounded in anterior third, nearly straight in median third and weakly rounded in posterior third; posterior corners slightly obtuse-angled; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; lateral carinae very narrow, fused with lateral edges; antebasal pits small, shallow and diffuse, each located slightly closer to posterior than to lateral pronotal margin. Punctures on disc distinctly larger and deeper than those on frons and vertex, in median area separated by spaces shorter than diameters of punctures, punctures become gradually smaller and shallower toward anterior and lateral pronotal margins, but not toward posterior margin; setae moderately long, moderately dense, suberect.

Elytra elongate, oval, broadest slightly in front of middle, EL 0.73–0.75 mm, EW 0.63 mm, EI 1.16–1.20. Humeral calli small and weakly elevated; subhumeral lines equal to only about 0.2 EL and moderately distinct, each developed as a moderately sharply marked stepwise border between more convex humeral region and less convex adsutural area; basal pit on each elytron large, located in small, relatively shallow and nearly circular basal impression; apices of elytra separately rounded. Punctures slightly shallower than those on pronotum but slightly denser and similar in diameters; setae similar to those on pronotum but more erect.

Hind wings not studied.

Metaventrite with short postmesocoxal impressions, not exceeding anterior 1/3 of ventrite length, median portion finely punctate.

Abdomen and legs unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 265–266 ) elongate, AeL 0.25 mm, median lobe in ventral view with long, moderately broad apical portion strongly constricted in subapical region and with leaf-shaped pointed apex; apical projection broadly T-shaped, with apical margin strongly oblique in relation to the long axis of aedeagus and nearly straight; parameres slender, unequal in length, each with three setae.

Female. Externally indistinguishable from male; BL 1.33 mm; HL 0.18 mm, HW 0.30 mm, AnL 0.60 mm; PL 0.40 mm, PW 0.56 mm; EL 0.75 mm, EW 0.63 mm, EI 1.20.

Distribution ( Fig. 273 ). Central-eastern Nepal.

Etymology. The species name newar (noun in apposition) refers to the Newar people, historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley.

Remarks. This small and distinctly flattened species has a uniquely shaped apex of median lobe of aedeagus, it is leaf-like and pointed, slightly resembling that of C. kusunda , but symmetrical, whereas that in C. kusunda is distinctly asymmetrical. Moreover, C. newar is distinctly smaller than C. kusunda and has different proportions of antennomeres.

Figures

FIGURES 247 – 254. Dorsal habitus of Cephennodes (s. str.) gopala sp. n. (247), C. (s. str.) paniporuanus sp. n. (248), C. (s. str.) brachyclavatus sp. n. (249), C. (s. str.) phulchokianus sp. n. (250), C. (s. str.) pokharensis sp. n. (251), C. (s. str.) newar sp. n. (252), C. (s. str.) kusunda sp. n. (253), and C. (s. str.) sindhupalchowk sp. n. (254).

FIGURES 263 – 270. Aedeagus in ventral (263, 265, 267, 269) and lateral (264, 266, 268, 270) views. Cephennodes (s. str.) pokharensis sp. n. (263 – 264), C. (s. str.) newar sp. n. (265 – 266), C. (s. str.) kusunda sp. n. (267 – 268), and C. (s. str.) sindhupalchowk sp. n. (269 – 270). Abbreviations: aml, apex of median lobe; ap, apical projection.

FIGURES 273 – 274. Distribution of Cephennodes (s. str.) pokharensis sp. n. (273, circle), C. (s. str.) newar sp. n. (273, triangle), C. (s. str.) kusunda sp. n. (274, circle), and C. (s. str.) sindhupalchowk sp. n. (274, triangle).