Scydmaenozila macrosticta Lea, comb. n.
Creators: name: Jałoszyński, Paweł
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Scydmaenozila
Scydmaenozila macrosticta

description: Scydmaenozila macrosticta (Lea) comb. n.
(Figs. 57–72, 76–77, 80–82, 89–90, 195 a)
Phagonophana macrosticta Lea, 1910: 189.
Syndicus macrostictus (Lea); implied new combination ex Phagonophana, which was synonymized with Syndicus by Franz, 1971b.
Horaeomorphus macrostictus (Lea); Franz, 1975: 148, Fig. 125.
Horaeomorphus australiensis Franz, 1975: 149, Fig. 126, syn. n.
Type material studied. Lectotype (here designated): AUSTRALIA: ♂: five labels (Fig. 76): "Co-type" [white, printed], [Horaeomorphus / macrostictus / Lea / det. H. Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], "S. Aust. Museum / specimen" [orange, printed], " PHAGONOPHANA / macrosticta Lea, 1910 / P. Jałoszyński, 2014 / LECTOTYPUS " [white, printed], " SCYDMAENOZILA / macrosticta (Lea, 1910) / det. P. Jałoszyński, 2014" [white, printed] (SAM). Paralectotype: ♀: seven labels (Fig. 77): "14300 / Phagonophana / macrosticta / Tasmania / TYPE " [white, handwritten, " TYPE " in red ink], " macrosticta / Lea TYPE / Marrawah" [white, handwritten], " Horaeomorphus / macrostictus / Lea / det. H. Franz" [white, handwritten and printed], " SAMA Database / No. 25- 037062" [white, printed], " PHAGONOPHANA / macrosticta Lea, 1910 / P. Jałoszyński, 2014 / PARALECTOTYPUS " [white, printed], " SCYDMAENOZILA / macrosticta (Lea, 1910) / P. Jałoszyński, 2014" [white, printed] (SAM).
Additional material (38 exx.). 1 ♂, 1 ♀ (holotype and paratype of Horaeomorphus australiensis): S Australia, Bakewell (NHM); 1 ex., Australian Capital Territory, Blundells Creek, 3 km E of Piccadilly Circus, 850 m, Feb. 1984, "flight intercept window / trough trap", leg. Lawrence & Johnson; 8 exx., same data except for Jan. 1985, leg. Weir, Lawrence, Johnson; 3 exx., same data, except for Mar. 1985; 5 exx., same data except for Apr. 1985; 1 ex., same data, except for May 1985; 2 exx., same data, except for Sep. 1985; 1 ex., same data, except for Oct. 1985; 1 ex., same data except for 6 km NE of Piccadilly Circus, 750 m, Feb. 1985; 2 exx., Blundells Creek, 3 km E of Piccadilly Circus, 850 m, 7 Sept. 1986, "Berlesate, ANIC 1066, leaf litter", leg. J. F. Lawrence; Black Mountain near Canberra, "near light trap", flight intercept trap, 9-30 Sept. 1996, leg. T. Weir & W. Dressler; 1 ex., Tasmania, Cradle Mountain, leg. J. Armstrong; 1 ex., Tasmania, 7 km SWW Derwent Bridge, pantrap, 6 Jan. - 2 Feb. 1983, leg. I. Naumann & J. Cardale; 1 ex., Tasmania, Hobart, Mt. Nelson, dry sclerophyll, under fallen branch, 2-5 Feb. 1992, leg. C. Reid; 2 exx., Tasmania, Anson's Bay Road, pitfall trap, "Leptospermum, in wet heath", 20- 25.ii.1993, leg. J. Trueman et al.; 2 exx., same data except for Peters Link Road, dry sclerophyll; 1 ex., same data, except for 22-27.v.1993; 2 exx., same data, except for Eddystone Point, 20-25.ii.1993, coastal heath; 1 ex. same data, except for 22-27.v.1993 (specimens in ANIC and cPJ).
Revised diagnosis. Male and female: elytra with variously distinct pattern: base of elytra and subtriangular subapical spots dark brown, remaining surface light brown. Male: aedeagus slender, in ventral view with broadly rounded apex; apical part of median lobe abruptly demarcated.
Redescription. Body of male (Fig. 72) strongly convex, elongate and slender, with long appendages, BL 2.58–2.95 mm (mean 2.80 mm); cuticle glossy, head, pronotum and appendages light to dark brown, each elytron with dark suture, base and subtriangular subapical spot, remaining surface lighter (in some cases indistinctly but the pattern still discernible), vestiture dark brown, on elytra slightly darker than on remaining body parts.
Head (Figs. 57, 72) broadest at eyes, HL 0.50–0.58 mm (mean 0.51mm), HW 0.50–0.60 mm (mean 0.56 mm); tempora longer than eyes, strongly curved posteromesally; vertex weakly convex; frons subtrapezoidal. Eyes large and strongly projecting laterally from the head silhouette, finely faceted. Punctures on head dorsum fine, separated by spaces 1.5– 2 x as wide as diameters of punctures; setae on frons and anterior portion of vertex short, sparse and suberect, tempora and posterior portion of vertex densely covered with long bristles directed posteriorly and posterolaterally. Antennae (Fig. 72) slender, AnL 1.48–1.73 mm (mean 1.51 mm); antennomeres I–VII distinctly elongate, VIII slightly longer than wide, IX–X each about as long as broad, XI as long or nearly as long as IX–X together, 2.5x as long as broad, pointed.
Pronotum (Figs. 64, 72) in dorsal view strongly elongate, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.70–0.85 mm, (mean 0.79 mm), PW 0.55–0.63 mm (mean 0.59 mm); anterior and lateral margins in anterior half rounded; sides slightly concave in posterior third; posterior margin distinctly bisinuate; base of pronotum with two pairs of large and deep pits, additionally with a pair of shallow but distinct impressions located dorsolaterally. Punctures on pronotal disc fine and inconspicuous; entire dorsal and lateral surface of pronotum covered with moderately dense bristles, dorsally with admixture of thin setae.
Elytra (Figs. 65, 72) regularly oval, broadest near middle, EL 1.38–1.60 mm (mean 1.49 mm), EW 0.90–1.13 mm (mean 1.04 mm), EI 1.33–1.53 (mean 1.44); basal impressions short but distinct; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytral disc fine but slightly more distinct than those on pronotum, separated by spaces 2– 3 x as wide as diameters of punctures; setae long, curved sparse and erect, in lightly pigmented specimens setae on light elytral spots contrastingly dark. Hind wings well developed, about twice as long as elytra.
Legs (Figs. 66, 72) long and slender, without modifications.
Aedeagus (Figs. 70, 80–82, 89–90) elongate and relatively slender; AeL 0.58 mm; in ventral view short apical part abruptly demarcated, with broadly and weakly rounded apical margin; in lateral view apical part subtriangular and sharply demarcated from ventral wall; internal armature complicated, with submedian complex of elongate and darkly sclerotized structures and subapical finely denticulate lateral lobes of internal sac; parameres long and slender, with indistinctly broadened apices. Aedeagus erected (Fig. 82) with all components of internal sac extruded and still easily recognizable submedian darkly sclerotized subtriangular central complex.
Female. Similar to male, on average slightly larger, but body lengths and proportions of body parts overlap with those measured in males; distinguished by antennomere VIII about as long as broad and antennomeres IX–X slightly transverse. BL 2.73–2.98 mm (mean 2.86 mm); HL 0.50–0.58 mm (mean 0.52 mm), HW 0.55–0.63 mm (mean 0.58 mm), AnL 1.40–1.75 mm (mean 1.50 mm); PL 0.75–0.83 mm (mean 0.80 mm), PW 0.55–0.63 mm (mean 0.60 mm); EL 1.43–1.65 mm (mean 1.54 mm), EW 1.00– 1.15 mm (mean 1.07 mm), EI 1.33–1.53 (mean 1.44).
Distribution (Fig. 195 a). South-eastern Australia: South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.
Remarks. Franz (1975) studied two specimens from SAM, and he treated one of them as a holotype (without specifying the sex), the other one as a male co-type. Lea (1910) clearly stated that two specimens were available to him: "One specimen was taken from an ants' nest under a stone, a second under a near by stone but not associated with ants". These two specimens have a status of syntypes, and Franz's (1975) redescription does not contain any data that fulfill the requirements of the formal lectotype designation. The two specimens presumably were originally mounted on one card (a frequent case in the Lea Collection) and separated in a later time. The " holotype " mentioned by Franz as a specimen bearing the original set of labels is a female, and the "co-type" without original labels is a male, distinctly smaller than the female, and with the aedeagus mounted by Franz in euparal (remounted in Canada balsam during the present study) and illustrated (Franz 1975; Fig. 125). The aedeagus is erected and distorted (Fig. 82), but internal structures are highly similar to those found in all additional males from the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania, and also in the holotype of Horaeomorphus australiensis. The 25 specimens from Blundells Creek and 11 from various localities in Tasmania show a considerable variation in the body length and pigmentation, ranging from small (BL 2.63 mm) to large (BL 2.98 mm) individuals and from sharply contrasting light and dark elytral pattern to only indistinct (but still discernible) spots with diffused margins. The aedeagus of the holotype of H. australiensis does not differ from those found in all males from Blundells Creek and Tasmania, and the specimen's external morphology falls within the range of interindividual variability of H. macrostictus. Horaeomorphus australiensis is therefore placed as a junior synonym of Scydmaenozila macrosticta (= Horaeomorphus macrostictus). The male syntype of Phagonophana macrosticta that does not bear the original labels (Fig. 76) is here designated as a lectotype to provide a name-bearing type for this name.
As mentioned above, this species is relatively variable in the body length, proportions of body parts and the elytral pattern. Specimens from Tasmania and Australia are similarly variable and do not differ in the range of variability. However, since these populations are isolated, an analysis of larger samples may reveal some subtle differences. The elytral pattern, although variably distinct, is observable even in the most darkened specimens, in which the contrast between lighter and darker spots is low. In all remaining species of Scydmaenozila no traces of elytral pattern can be seen and the elytra are uniformly brown.
Two specimens from NHM (the type series of H. australiensis) bear labels with "S Australia, Bakewell". There is Bakewell Bore in South Australia (over 630 km NW of Adelaide), but Bakewell on the labels is most likely a person name (Adam Ślipiński, in an email to the author dated 06.03.2014). The exact collecting place of Scydmaenozila macrosticta in South Australia remains unknown, but judging from the distribution in the Australian Capital Territory and in Tasmania (where it is known from scattered localities from nearly entire island), this species may occur in SE part of South Australia and possibly also in Victoria.
description: Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2014, ' The curse of Horaeomorphus ': taxonomy of misplaced Australian Cyrtoscydmini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), pp. 1-76 in Zootaxa 3828 (1) on pages 28-30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3828.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/286513