Scydmaenus (Choleropsis) kurandae Franz 1975
Creators: name: Jałoszyński, Paweł
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Scydmaenus
Scydmaenus kurandae

description: Scydmaenus (Choleropsis) kurandae Franz
Scydmaenus (Scydmaenus) kurandae Franz, 1975: 295.
(Figs 30–34, 54, 62–63, 72, 192)
Type material studied. Holotype (AUSTRALIA: QUEENSLAND): ♂, labels illustrated in Fig. 192: “Kuranda, / N. Queensland. / G. E. Bryant. / I. III. 09” [brownish, with red line below middle, printed and handwritten], “ G. Bryant Coll. / 1919—147” [brownish, printed], “ Scydmaenus / kurandae m. / det. H.Franz m.” [white, handwritten and printed], “Typus” [red, handwritten], “Holo- / type” [white circle with red margin, printed] (BNHM). Paratypes (3 exx.). 3 ♂♂ (one with damaged abdomen and elytra and aedeagus missing), same data as for holotype except yellow-margined circles with “Para- / type” and yellow identification labels with “ PARATYPUS ” (BNHM).
Additional material studied (33 exx.): QUEENSLAND: 1 ♂, Yungaburra State Forest, 04.12.1990, under bark of dead tree, leg. T. Gush (ANIC); 1 ♂, Lannercost State Forest, 01.12.1990, under bark of dead fallen tree, leg. T. Gush (ANIC); 5 ♂♂, 1 ♀ {but identity of female uncertain}, Longlands Gap, 07.1950, “RD. GR.”, J.G. Brooks Bequest, 1976 (ANIC); 2 ♂♂, Ravenshoe, 27.12.1937, J.G. Brooks Bequest, 1976 (ANIC); 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ {but identity of female uncertain}, Julatten, 10.1940, J.G. Brooks Bequest, 1976 (ANIC); 2 ♂♂, Windsor Tableland, 5.7 km past barracks, 1260 m, 08.02.1998, pyrethrum, rainforest, tree bases and logs, leg. G.B. Monteith (QM); 1 ♂, Windsor Tableland, 1160 m, 27.12.1988, pyrethrum, leg. E. Schmidt & ANZSES (QM); 2 ♂♂, Danbulla Scient. Res., 02.11.1995 and 09.12.1995, pyrethrum, trees & logs, leg. G. Monteith (QM); 3 ♂♂, Peeramon Scrub, 750 m, 09.12.1995, pyrethrum, trees, leg. G. Monteith (cPJ, QM); 3 ♂♂, Gadgarra Rd., 700 m, 5 km E Lake Eacham, 09.12.1989, pyrethrum, logs and trees, leg. Monteith, Thompson, Janetski (QM); 1 ♂, Gadgarra State Forest, 10 km E Lake Eacham, 700 m, 9- 31.12.1989, pitfall & flight intercept traps, leg. Monteith, Thompson, Janetski (QM); 4 ♂♂, Upper Mulgrave Rd., Kearneys Falls, 100 m, 10.12.1988, pyrethrum, logs & trees, leg. Monteith & Thompson (cPJ, QM); 1 ♂, Wongabel State Forest, 5 km S Atherton, 800 m, 05.12.1988, pyrethrum, logs & trees, leg. Monteith & Thompson (QM); 1 ♂, Boonjie, 13 km ESE Malanda, 700 m, 08.12.1988, pyrethrum, trees & logs, leg. Monteith & Thompson (QM); 1 ♂ Palmerston N.P., E margin, 09.12.1995, pyrethrum, trees & logs, leg. G. Monteith (QM); 1 ♂, Graham Range, 550 m, 8- 9.12.1995, pyrethrum, logs, leg. Monteith, Thompson & Cook (QM).
Revised diagnosis (based on males). Antennomere 9 slightly narrower and distinctly shorter than 10, asymmetrical but not bent and without deep cavity (Fig. 62); antennomere 10 only slightly longer than broad, massive, with shallow transverse impression (Fig. 62); aedeagus in dorsal view (Figs 31, 34) with apical margin straight and slightly wider than half of total width of median lobe, lateral subapical lobes vestigial, developed as minute subtriangular projections; in lateral view (Figs 32, 34) distal region of median lobe weakly broadened, with dorsal margin broadly rounded in proximal half and weakly concave in distal half; metaventrite (Fig. 72) with deep median impression about as broad as half width of metaventrite and filled with setae shorter than those on lateral regions.
Redescription. Body of male (Fig. 30) slightly flattened, elongate and slender, BL 1.63–1.80 mm; pigmentation uniformly light to moderately dark brown, appendages indistinctly lighter (difference best visible in darkest specimens); cuticle moderately glossy, covered with vestiture of yellowish setae.
Head (Fig. 30) in dorsal view transversely subrectangular, broadest at eyes, HL 0.30–0.35 mm, HW 0.30–0.35 mm; vertex and frons confluent and weakly convex, posterior margin of vertex distinctly concave, arcuate; tempora twice as long as eye in dorsal view; supraantennal tubercles indistinct; frons over antennal fossae broadly subtrapezoidal and with straight anterior margin. Eyes small, nearly semicircular in shape, indistinctly emarginate posteriorly and oblique in relation to long axis of head. Punctures on frons and vertex fine, inconspicuous; setae short, sparse, suberect, those on tempora as sparse as those on head dorsum. Genae as sparsely setose as frons and vertex. Anterior (exposed) region of head capsule demarcated from neck region by narrow abrupt impression around occipital constriction, anterior margin of gular plate on neck region accentuated by minute rounded anteriorly-directed projection. Antennae (Figs 30, 54, 62–63) long and slender, AnL 1.00– 1.05 mm; three terminal antennomeres forming sharply delimited massive club; scape about 3 times as long as broad, distinctly broadening distally; pedicel twice as long as broad; antennomeres 3–4 each nearly 1.5 × as long as broad, 5 twice as long as broad, 6 asymmetrical, about 1.6 × as long as broad, 7 and 8 each distinctly transverse and strongly asymmetrical, 9 strongly asymmetrical, about as long as broad, 10 distinctly broader and longer than 9, strongly asymmetrical, with transverse lateral impression; 11 only about as long as 10, about 1.8 × as long as broad, slightly asymmetrical.
Pronotum in dorsal view (Fig. 30) elongate, broadest near anterior third, PL 0.43–0.50 mm, PW 0.38–0.43 mm; anterior and lateral margins confluent and rounded; posterior corners obtuse-angled and blunt; posterior margin nearly straight; base with narrow but distinct posterior marginal carina and with two pairs of small, distinct, sharply marked and relatively deep antebasal pits, each distinctly transverse. Pronotal disc covered with fine and inconspicuous punctures; setae similar to those on frons and vertex, short, moderately dense, suberect. Ventrally prothorax with nearly asetose and impunctate hypomera; basisternal region sparsely covered with short recumbent setae.
Elytra (Fig. 30) oval, broadest slightly in front of middle, EL 0.90–0.95 mm, EW 0.63–0.68 mm, EI 1.41–1.44. Humeral calli weakly elevated; basal impression on each elytron barely marked; basal elytral foveae lacking; apices separately rounded. Punctures fine and inconspicuous; setae similar to those on pronotum. Hind wings not studied.
Metaventrite (Fig. 72) with deep median impression about as broad as half width of metaventrite and filled with setae shorter than those on lateral regions.
Legs (Fig. 30) long and slender; unmodified, except for distal penicillus on mesotibiae and weakly broadened protarsomere 1 and ventral tenent setae distributed on protarsomeres 1–3; protarsi short, tarsomeres 1–4 each about 1.5 × as long as broad, tarsomere 5 3.5 × as long as broad and slightly shorter than tarsomeres 2–4 combined; mesotarsi long, tarsomere 1 nearly 5 × as long as broad and subequal in length to tarsomeres 2–4 combined, tarsomeres 2–4 each about 1.5 × as long as broad, tarsomere 5 nearly 3.5 × as long as broad, subequal in length to tarsomeres 3–4 combined; metatarsi as long as mesotarsi, tarsomere 1 about 3.5 × as long as broad, tarsomeres 2–4 each elongate but decreasing in length distally, tarsomere 5 3.5 × as long as broad, subequal in length to tarsomeres 3–4 combined.
Aedeagus (Figs 31–34) elongate but not very slender, AeL 0.43 mm, in dorsal view median lobe broadest near subapical third, but weakly narrowing proximally, apical region subtrapezoidal, strongly tapering and with straight apical margin as slightly wider than half of total width of median lobe; lateral subapical lobes vestigial, developed as minute subtriangular projections; ostium situated in subapical third of median lobe, flagellum with abruptly broadened and asymmetrical vesicular structure; median lobe in lateral view with slender distal portion delimited by deep submedian constriction, its dorsal surface strongly rounded in proximal half and weakly concave in distal half.
Female. Unknown (or impossible to distinguish from similar species by external characters).
Distribution. NE Australia: N Queensland (collected between Cairns and Cape Palmerston).
Remarks. Scydmaenus kurandae undoubtfully belongs in Choleropsis, as it shows all diagnostic characters of this subgenus (including those originally listed by Franz (1975), although erroneously attributed to S. gracilis): the asymmetrically modified antennal club in males, the antebasal pronotal pits, the long and curved setal penicillus on the mesotibiae in males, and the impressed metaventrite in males. The placement of this species in Scydmaenus s. str. by Franz (1975: 295) is unexplainable. Franz (1975) described all these characters for S. kurandae, and stated that “on the basis of the structure of the male antenna this species belongs in the subgenus Scydmaenus s. str. and in the subgenus Choleropsis, where, however, does not belong because of the normal structure of the abdomen”. This explanation is completely detached from anything written by Franz in the Scydmaenus section of his Australian monograph, where no abdominal modifications in Choleropsis are mentioned, and it does not agree with the characters given in his key to the subgenera of Scydmaenus (Franz 1975: 273), where Scydmaenus s. str. is distinguished by having unmodified antennae in males, and Choleropsis by the antennae and metaventrite in males modified. This is another example of the chaotic structure of this large work, and a source of many taxonomic problems. Scydmaenus kurandae is here transferred from Scydmaenus s. str. to Choleropsis.
Externally, males of Scydmaenus kurandae are most similar to those of S. geniculatus; remarks on differences in the structure of antennal clubs are given at the latter species. The aedeagus of S. kurandae is unique among all Choleropsis species in having greatly reduced lateral subapical lobes of the median lobe, which are vestigial and visible as a pair of minute subtriangular projections flanking the apex of the median lobe.
description: Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2023, Scydmaenus Latreille of Australia: Revision of species in subgenera Choleropsis Franz, Kingius Franz, Mascarensia Franz, Parallomicrus Franz, Scottiscydmaenus Franz, and description of Ascydmaenus subgen. n. (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), pp. 1-75 in Zootaxa 5371 (1) on pages 19-21, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5371.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10144644