Microscydmus (Scydmomicrus) edithensis Jałoszyński, 2014, sp. n.
Creators: name: Jałoszyński, Paweł
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Microscydmus
Microscydmus edithensis

description: Microscydmus (Scydmomicrus) edithensis sp. n.
(Figs. 25, 34, 57, 62)
Material studied. Holotype: ♂: two labels: " 17.06S 145.37E QLD / Mt. Edith GS2 1050m / 6 Apr-4 May 1995 / P.Zborowski / Malaise trap" [white, printed], " MICROSCYDMUS / (SCYDMOMICRUS) / edithensis m. / det. P. Jałoszyński, 2013 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] (ANIC).
Diagnosis. Male: body distinctly bicolorous, with dark brown head and moderately light brown pronotum and elytra; frons subtrapezoidal with weakly marked antero-median projection; punctures on head fine and sparse but distinct, clearly more distinct than those on pronotum; BL> 0.60 mm; pronotum nearly 1.2x broader than head, with ante-basal transverse groove; EI 1.58; aedeagus with lightly sclerotized but distinct internal armature containing strongly elongate median longitudinal tube expanded at base into a bell-shape structure and with subapical lateral groups of densely assembled needle-like sclerites. Females and their diagnostic characters unknown.
Description. Body of male (Fig. 25) strongly convex, elongate and slender, with moderately long appendages, BL 0.650 mm; cuticle glossy, pronotum and elytra moderately light brown, head dark brown, appendages slightly lighter, vestiture yellowish.
Head (Fig. 34) subtrapezoidal, broadest at eyes, HL 0.112 mm, HW 0.150 mm; tempora distinctly shorter than eyes, moderately convergent postero-mesally; vertex weakly convex; frons subtrapezoidal with tiny antero-median projection. Eyes moderately large and moderately projecting laterally from the head silhouette, coarsely faceted. Punctures on head dorsum sparse and small but distinct; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.250 mm; antennomeres I–II elongate, III–X transverse; XI as long as broad.
Pronotum in dorsal view oval, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.162 mm, PW 0.175 mm; anterior and lateral margins rounded; posterior margin shallowly bisinuate; base of pronotum with two pairs of small and shallow pits, internal pair connected by transverse impression. Punctures on pronotal disc fine and inconspicuous; setae sparse, thin, short and suberect.
Elytra oval, slightly more convex than pronotum, broadest near middle, EL 0.375 mm, EW 0.237 mm, EI 1.579; basal impressions long and shallow; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytral disc slightly more distinct than those on pronotum, fine and dense, forming fine transverse wrinkles; setae short, sparse and suberect. Hind wings well developed, about twice as long as elytra.
Legs moderately long and slender, without modifications.
Aedeagus (Fig. 57) small, AeL 0.100 mm; slender, with lightly sclerotized but distinct internal armature containing long and slender median tube expanded basally into bell-shaped structure and with two lateral subapical groups of dense needle-like sclerites; each paramere with long apical seta.
Female. Unknown.
Distribution (Fig. 62 f). NE Australia (N Queensland).
Etymology. Locotypical, after Mount Edith, where the holotype specimen was collected.
Remarks. Microscydmus edithensis is a remarkable species that can be easily identified on the basis of its strongly convex and distinctly bicolorous body (the head clearly darker than pronotum and elytra), long and shallow basal elytral impressions and the elytral microsculpture, which is unique and composed of dense fine punctures forming transverse wrinkles.
description: Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2014, The smallest Cyrtoscydmini of Australia: revision of Microscydmus Saulcy & Croissandeau and Penicillidmus gen. n. (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), pp. 1-30 in Zootaxa 3774 (1) on pages 23-24, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3774.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/285693