Himaloconnus Franz 1979
Creators: name: Jałoszyński, Paweł
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Himaloconnus

description: Himaloconnus Franz
Himaloconnus Franz, 1979: 244 (as subgenus of Euconnus). Type species: Euconnus shutjensis Franz, 1979 (des. orig.). Elevated to genus by Jałoszyński (2016b).
Himalayaconnus Franz, 1979: 247. Alternate original spelling for Himaloconnus; presumably lapsus calami. Himalayoconnus Franz, 1981b: 48. Subsequent incorrect spelling.
Composition and distribution. Nine nominal species are known (in alphabetical order): Himaloconnus alishanensis (Franz, 1985) (Taiwan); Himaloconnus hindu (Franz, 1981a) (Nepal); Himaloconnus klapperichianus (Franz, 1985) (Taiwan); Himaloconnus nagarkotensis (Franz, 1979) (Nepal); Himaloconnus pokharanus (Franz, 1981b) (Nepal); Himaloconnus ramamensis (Franz, 1979) (India: Sikkim /Darjiling); Himaloconnus reductipenisides (Newton, 2017) (Thailand); Himaloconnus shutjensis (Franz, 1979) (Nepal); and Himaloconnus topali (Franz, 1979) (India: Sikkim /Darjiling). Many undescribed species occur in Southeast and East Asia (pers. obs.).
Remarks. Morphological structures were illustrated and emended diagnosis was given by Jałoszyński (2016b). The diagnosis of Himaloconnus was based on structures of the type species, Euconnus shutjensis, known to occur in Nepal (Jałoszyński 2016b), and included the following characters: head with long tempora; pronotum subtrapezoidal, broadest near base and strongly narrowing anteriorly; head and pronotum with thick bristles; antenna with distinct trimerous club; hypostomal ridges extending to the level of posterior tentorial pits; mouthparts with “rounded lateral lobes flanking prementum, which are presumably associated with hypopharynx” (see remarks below); pronotum with one pair of small lateral pits, lacking sublateral carinae; hypomeral ridges incomplete, obliterated anteriorly and posteriorly; prosternum with rudimentary prosternal carina; mesoventral intercoxal process carinate, T-shaped in cross-section, broad and strongly elevated, broadening posteriorly, anteriorly not connected to anterior ridge of mesoventrite; metaventral intercoxal process narrowly separating metacoxae, with a pair of posteriorly directed, pointed spines adjacent at middle; each elytron with two distinct but small and setose basal foveae; aedeagus with free parameres.
Characters found in the Japanese species (illustrated in Figs 1 –43) largely agree with those given above, with few notable differences. The hypostomal ridges are nearly complete, obliterated slightly in front of posterior tentorial pits (Fig. 12); the pronotum lacks antebasal pits; the hypomeral ridges are complete, although indeed more distinct near middle and less so in their anterior and posterior portions (Fig. 18); the prosternal carina (Figs 18–19) is entirely lacking; the mesoventral intercoxal process (Figs 22–23) is parallel-sided between mesocoxae; and the basal elytral foveae are asetose (Fig. 25). Examination of a disarticulated specimen of a Himaloconnus from Ishigakijima allowed for identifying the “rounded lateral lobes flanking prementum, which are presumably associated with hypopharynx” clearly as lateral lobes of hypopharynx (Figs 12, 17), which are unique in being strongly expanded laterally and forming large lateral ‘flaps’, in Figs 12 and 17 oriented in such a way that only their dorsal margins are visible and their anterior surface is directed anterad; in fig. 14 of Jałoszyński (2016b), this structure was annotated with a question mark and is visible at each side of the prementum as an oval lobe, but it is clear that the lobe is flexible and can bend, as the left and right lobe are in different orientations. This hypertrophied lateral hypopharyngeal lobe seems unique for Himaloconnus and should be included in the diagnosis. Similarly, the U-shaped impression on the submentum found in Himaloconnus shutjensis (Jałoszyński 2016b; figs 14–15) covered with numerous pores and what seems to be remains of a secretion, was found in all (male and female) specimens collected in Japan. This median impression (Fig. 12) can also be added to the genus diagnosis, especially that it is well-visible also under a stereomicroscope. The complete or slightly incomplete hypostomal ridges seem a variable character, and while they are incomplete in specimens from the Yaeyama Archipelago, they are complete in H. shutjensis and in specimens from Amami-Ôshima. The prosternal process or carina in H. shutjensis is vestigial, barely discernable, so its lack in some species of the genus is not surprising. The number and arrangement of antebasal pronotal pits may vary among species within a genus, and the lack of pits in the Japanese specimens (as well as in H. klapperichianus found in geographically close Taiwan) is not a character of great taxonomic value. The shape of the mesoventral carina (parallel-sided vs. slightly broadening posterad) is another character clearly variable within genus. The basal elytral foveae in H. shutjensis (Jałoszyński 2016b; fig. 13) are filled with a few setae only (in contrast to many genera of Stenichnini that have densely setose foveae, with numerous ‘wooly’ setae on their circumference directed toward the center), and again, reduction of this character is not of great taxonomic value. This variability, however, must be included in an emended diagnosis, given below.
In addition to previously known characters, a more detailed examination of disarticulated specimens allowed for a better characterization of Himaloconnus. The following structures, poorly visible in the unique holotype of H. shutjensis and studied only by scanning electron microscopy, are well-visible in transparent slides: labrum (Fig. 15) transverse, with slightly concave anterior margin and sparse, nearly symmetrical dorsal setae; mandibles (Fig. 16) symmetrical, each with broad base, distinct setose prostheca and a small preapical tooth; prementum (Fig. 17) with a small papillate ligula (Figs 12, 17; lig) bearing a pair of small setae, and with labial palps with palpomere I (Fig. 17; lp1) short, ring-like, palpomere II (Fig. 17; lp2) elongate, subcylindrical, and palpomere III (Fig. 17; lp3) narrow, elongate, tapering distad and slightly curved; tentorium (Figs 11, 14) with small corporatentorium (Figs 11, 14; ct), bisinuate tentorial bridge (Figs 11, 14; tb) with anteromedian projection, long gular ridges (Figs 11, 14; gr; with membranous ventral portions and sclerotized dorsal portions, the latter visible in lateral and dorsal view as long ‘arms’), short dorsal tentorial arms (Fig. 14; dta) not reaching vertex, short and stout posterior tentorial arms (Fig. 14; pta), and long, slender anterior tentorial arms (Figs 11, 14; ata); mesonotum (Fig. 20) with mesoscutum (Fig. 20; sc2) and mesoscutellum (Fig. 20; scl2) demarcated by scutoscutellar suture (Fig. 20; sss); metanotum (Fig. 21, postnotum omitted) developed as in all winged Stenichnini; deep dorsolateral foveae of mesothorax (Figs 22–24; dlf); pleural meso- and metaventral structures largely fused together (Fig. 24); and elongate, thin-walled spermatheca (Fig. 26; sp).
Emended diagnosis of Himaloconnus. Head with long tempora (i.e., eyes situated anteriorly); pronotum subtrapezoidal, broadest near base and strongly narrowing anteriorly; head and pronotum with thick bristles; antennal fossae narrowly separated at middle; antenna with distinct trimerous club; hypostomal ridges complete or almost complete (i.e., posteriorly reaching or almost reaching the level of posterior tentorial pits); lateral lobes of hypopharynx conspicuously large, forming oval flexible ‘flaps’; submentum with deep U-shaped impression with sharply marked lateral and posterior margins; pronotum with one pair of lateral pits or lacking pits, lacking sublateral carinae; notosternal sutures obliterated; hypomeral ridges complete or partly obliterated; prosternal process lacking or vestigial; mesoventral intercoxal process carinate, broad and strongly elevated, anteriorly not connected to anterior ridge of mesoventrite; metaventral intercoxal process narrowly separating metacoxae, composed of a pair of pointed spines adjacent at middle; each elytron with two distinct but small basal foveae (asetose or filled with sparse setae); aedeagus with free parameres; spermatheca elongate.
description: Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2020, Himaloconnus Franz and Nogunius gen. n. of Japan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae Scydmaeninae), pp. 334-360 in Zootaxa 4822 (3) on pages 335-336, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4822.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/4401617