Iniocyphus Raffray 1912
Creators: name: Kurbatov, Sergey A.
name: Cuccodoro, Giulio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Iniocyphus

description: Iniocyphus Raffray, 1912
(Figs. 1–23)
Iniocyphus Raffray, 1912: 435; 1924: 144. Park 1942: 277; Newton & Chandler 1989: 50; Löbl, 1994: 692. Chandler 2001: 375.
Type species. Iniocyphus iheringi Raffray, 1912, by monotypy.
Description. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Head with eyes well-developped (at least in male, female unknown), temples long, moderately convex; vertexal foveae very small, opening near upper eye margins (Figs. 3, 5: vf); postantennal notches narrow; ocular-mandibular carinae present; ventral surface covered with pointed microtubercles; gular area depressed at middle, with two gular foveae (Fig. 4: gf). Antennae (Fig. 7) with eleven antennomeres, much longer than combined length of head and pronotum; club consisting of antennomeres IX–XI, with antennomeres IX wider than III–VIII, and X much longer than wide. Mouthparts as in Figs. 18–21, 23; maxillary palpi (Fig. 23) with article 3 distinctly quandrangular, with mesal margin long, almost as long as external margin; no trichome at the outside of the article 4 (see Nomura, 1991: 40).
Pronotum fairly hexagonal, sides slightly sinuate posteriorly; median antebasal fovea present (Fig. 3: maf); antebasal sulcus present (Fig. 3: as), joining the lateral foveae (Fig. 3: laf); areas posterior to antebasal sulcus and near most protruding portion of lateral edges covered with pointed microtubercles. Prosternum lacking prosternal foveae; paranotal carinae present, entire (Fig 4: pc); center covered with pointed microtubercles. Elytra very long, longer than their maximal width combined, and two times longer than abdomen in dorsal view, without foveae, sulci or carinae; with small concavity at posterolateral angles (as one of locking devices sensu Nomura, 1991: 16, Figs. 28–29). Wings well-developped. Mesoventrite with pairs of median mesoventral foveae (Fig. 6: mmvf), lateral mesoventral foveae (Fig. 6: lmvf), longitudinal anapleural carinae (sensu Nomura, 1991: 12, fig. 18a; Fig. 6: lapc). Metaventrite apparently with pair of small lateral mesocoxal foveae (not clearly visible without preparation); posterior edge between metacoxae in dorsal view evenly concave. Legs (Figs. 12–13) rather long; pro- and mesocoxae conical, contiguous, oblique (Fig. 15); metacoxae moderately distants (Fig. 15); tarsomeres 1 very short, tarsomeres 2 slightly shorter than 3, latter with 1 claw (Fig. 17).
Abdomen with five visibles tergites (IV–VIII) and six visibles sternites (III–VIII); tergites IV–VI each with pair of small basolateral foveae (Fig. 9: blfIV, blfV and blfVI); sternite III with apical margin visible on entire length, including posteriorly metacoxae; sternite IV with pair of basolateral foveae; sternite VIII (Fig. 22) with mediobasal gland.
Upper part of head and mesotrochanters apparently sexually modified. Aedeagus membranous, with 2 parameres fused at base and affixed slightly asymetrically to median lobe.
Comments. With respect to the various genera currently assigned to Iniocyphini, Proterini, and Brachyglutini, the genus Iniocyphus is characterized by the following unique features: 1) Presence of pointed microtubercles on pronotum, prosternum and ventral surface of head; 2) Elytra unusually long, longer than their maximal width combined; 3) Mesocoxae conical and oblique. Within these three tribes the presence of markedly elongate antennomeres X is quite rare and occurs only here and there, such as for example in Simplicorfa Chandler, 2001 (Inyociphini: Natypleurina), and males of Exoterus Cuccodoro & Kurbatov, 2006 (Proterini). Also notable and potentially of high significance in further reassessments of phylogenetic position of the genus in the system are the quandrangular shape of the third segment of the maxillary palpi, the lack of trichome at the outside of the fourth segment of the maxillary palpi, and the apical margin of abdominal sternite III visible on its entire length.
description: Published as part of Kurbatov, Sergey A. & Cuccodoro, Giulio, 2019, Notes on Iniocyphus iheringi Raffray, 1912 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), pp. 171-179 in Zootaxa 4586 (1) on pages 172-177, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4586.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/2642621