Pomphopsilla punctata Jałoszyński 2021, sp. n.
Creators: name: Jałoszyński, Paweł
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Pomphopsilla
Pomphopsilla punctata

description: Pomphopsilla punctata sp. n.
(Figs 1, 5, 9–10, 17)
Type material. Holotype: Rwanda (Western Province): ♂, two labels: “ Afrika / Rwanda / Bez. Cyangugu / Urw. v.Nyakabuye / 1700-1900m / 14.- 27.2.1985 / leg. V.u. C.Brachat ” [white, printed]; “ POMPHOPSILLA / punctata m. / P. Jałoszyński, ‘21 / HOLOTYPUS ” [red, printed] (MNHW). Paratypes (10 exx): 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, same data as for holotype; 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ (one disarticulated in Canada balsam), “Afrika/Rwanda / Prov.Cyangugu / Urw.v.Nyakabuya / 9.6.1985 / leg. Mühle ”, and standard yellow “ PARATYPUS ” label (cPJ, MNHW).
Diagnosis. Pronotum in both sexes densely and evenly covered with small but relatively deep and distinct punctures, distances between punctures shorter than their diameters; head with distinct punctures,but less conspicuous than those on pronotum; elytra with dense but very shallow and diffuse superficial and unremarkable punctures; aedeagus in ventral view with triangular and pointed apex and darkly sclerotized cylindrical median component of endophallus composed of two elongate lateral structures; apices of parameres not exceeding apex of aedeagus.
Description. Body of male (Fig. 1) elongate, strongly convex, brown with slightly lighter setae. BL 0.84–0.93 mm (mean 0.89 mm).
Head broadest at large, strongly convex and coarsely faceted eyes, HL 0.11–0.13 mm (mean 0.12 mm), HW 0.21–0.23 mm (mean 0.22 mm); vertex strongly transverse, weakly convex, anteriorly confluent with subtriangular and similarly weakly convex frons; supraantennal tubercles small but distinct; punctures on frons and vertex small but sharply marked and dense, unevenly distributed, those on median area between eyes sparser, separated by spaces about as wide as diameters of punctures, those on sides denser, separated by spaces slightly shorter than diameters of punctures; setae very short and sparse, recumbent; frontal glands present, each situated behind supraantennal tubercle and near mesal margin of eye, about twice as wide as single ommatidium. Antenna moderately long, with abruptly broadened club composed of two antennomeres, AnL 0.40–0.43 mm (mean 0.41 mm), antennomeres 1 and 2 elongate, 3–10 each about as long as broad, 11 slightly broader and longer than 10, indistinctly elongate.
Pronotum subrectangular with broadly rounded anterior corners, broadest near anterior third; PL 0.25–0.28 mm (mean 0.26 mm), PW 0.33–0.35 mm (mean 0.33 mm). Anterior margin strongly rounded; anterior corners in strictly dorsal view not visible; sides indistinctly rounded in posterior half, weakly convergent posterad, distinctly microserrate; posterior corners obtuse-angled; posterior margin with narrow and rounded emargination in front of mesoscutellum, sides of posterior margin barely noticeably concave and weakly converging posterad; pronotal base with two pairs of deep, distinct pits, distance between inner pair much wider than between each inner and outer pit. Punctures on pronotal disc very dense but small, sharply marked and evenly distributed, denser than those on median region of frons, separated by spaces shorter than their diameters; setae moderately dense, very short, recumbent; those on lateral margins slightly longer and suberect.
Elytra oval, broadest between middle and anterior third; EL 0.48–0.53 mm (mean 0.50 mm), EW 0.40–0.43 mm (mean 0.42 mm), EI 1.15–1.25 (mean 1.21); humeral calli small but strongly convex, slightly elongate. Punctures very dense but much smaller and shallower than those on pronotum, with diffuse margins; setae moderately dense, short, nearly recumbent. Hind wings well developed.
Legs moderately long and slender, unmodified.
Aedeagus (Figs 9–10) stout, drop-shaped, AeL 0.20 mm; median lobe in ventral view with large diaphragm in sub-basal region, its shape is variable among studied specimens, from nearly perfectly circular to oval or slightly trapezoidal; apex of ventral wall truncate and nearly straight, apex of dorsal wall triangular and pointed; endophallus with median cylindrical or bell-shaped structure composed of pair of lateral elongate elements, endophallic structures situated in distal region variable among studied specimens, weakly sclerotized, with groups of needle-like sclerites; parameres slender, their apices not reaching apex of aedeagus, each with long apical and short subapical setae.
Female. Externally similar to male but with indistinctly shorter antennae in relation to body length and slightly smaller eyes. BL 0.86–0.91 mm (mean 0.89 mm); HL 0.10–0.13 mm (mean 0.11 mm), HW 0.21–0.23 mm (mean 0.22 mm), AnL 0.36–0.38 mm (mean 0.37 mm); PL 0.26–0.30 mm (mean 0.28 mm), PW 0.33–0.35 mm (mean 0.34 mm); EL 0.48–0.53 mm (mean 0.50 mm), EW 0.40–0.43 mm (mean 0.41 mm), EI 1.18–1.31 (mean 1.22). Internal pronotal ‘cavities’ (Fig. 5; ic) drop-shaped, much longer than procoxal cavities.
Distribution. South-western part of Rwanda (Fig. 17).
Etymology. The specific epithet punctata refers to the conspicuously punctate pronotum.
Remarks. This species is unique in the dense and distinct pronotal punctures; this character alone is sufficient to distinguish P. punctata from the remaining congeners.
description: Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2021, Four new species of Pomphopsilla Jałoszyński in Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), pp. 574-581 in Zootaxa 4985 (4) on pages 575-576, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4985.4.10, http://zenodo.org/record/4963997