Scopaeus velutinus Motschulsky, 1858

2. Scopaeus velutinus Motschulsky View in CoL

(Figs 26, 63–70)

Scopaeus velutinus Motschulsky, 1858: 642 View in CoL , 643.

Scopaeus (s.str.) velutinus View in CoL ; Coiffait (1984: 183).

Type specimens examined: Lectotype ♂, “Indes Orientales”; labeled “Zan or” (?, handwritten), “ Scopaeus / velutinus / Motch / Ind. or.” (handwritten, yellow label); “ Lectotype / Scopaeus velutinus / Motschulsky, 1858 / des. J. Frisch, 2025”; here designated.

A lectotype designation is necessary to stabilize the name Scopaeus velutinus Motschulsky, 1858 according to ICZN 1999, Article 74.1, because Motschulsky (1858: 642, 643) did not state the number of specimens on the basis of which he described S. velutinus . The possible number of syntypes is also unclear, as doublets from Motschulsky′s collection, which is stored at MZMC, were spread over different museum′s collections such as MFNB, SDEI, Riga, and St. Petersburg ( Horn et al. 1990: 270). I hereby designate as the lectotype of S. velutinus a historical specimen from the Motschulsky collection at MZMC that is labeled “ Scopaeus velutinus Motch. Ind. or.”. Though this label does not clearly match the examples of Motschulsky′s handwritten labels in Horn et al. (1990: 497, 507) and could be a collection label added later, I consider this specimen a syntype as it is from the Motschulsky collection, as I could not locate other possible syntypes, and as it′s characters do not contradict the brief, insufficient original description of S. velutinus [“About the same size and shape as S. pumilus Heer , but with broader pronotum and elytra and an opaque, velvety hue over the entire body surface. Color brownish, with parts of the mouth, anterior part of pronotum, base and tip of elytra, edges of abdominal segments, legs, tarsi, palps, and last segment of antennae rust brown” ( Motschulsky 1858: 642, 643)].

Redescription: Macrophthalmous, macropterous species with palisade fringe of abdominal tergite VIII ( Fig. 63 View FIGURES 63–67 ).

Body coloration multicolored, relatively rich in contrast; head except for reddish medium brown clypeus and antennal humps, pronotum except for reddish medium brown anterior and posterior margins, and a wide, transverse band in about posterior half of light, reddish medium brown elytra black brown; elytral band of each elytron directed obliquely posteriorly to suture, almost reaching posterior elytral margin; abdomen dark medium brown with posterior half of segment VIII gradually and genital segments light brown; antennae, mouthparts, and legs medium brown; femora moderately darker than tibiae.

Exoskeleton coarsely microsculptured, without clear microreticulation; head matt with dense, compressed, almost rugulose punctation with narrow, more or less carinate puncture interstices ( Fig. 64 View FIGURES 63–67 ); pronotum subnitid with punctation moderately finer than cephalic and elytral punctation, and with puncture interstices usually smaller than puncture diameters, but not carinate ( Fig. 65 View FIGURES 63–67 ); punctation of subnitid elytra umbilicate with puncture interstices usually smaller than puncture diameters ( Fig. 66 View FIGURES 63–67 ); abdomen with dense, setiferous, posteriad extended, irregular granules ( Fig. 67 View FIGURES 63–67 ).

Head 1.03 times as long as wide, widest across eyes, with parallel tempora and moderately concave posterior margin; eyes about 0.6 times as long as tempora; pronotum 1.06 times as long as wide and as wide as head, widest across unusually strongly pronounced anterior angles; elytral sutural length as long as pronotal length; labral denticulation not visible due to sticking dirt; penultimate antennal segments quadrate; mesotibia slender, 5.6 times as long as wide.

Stridulum and metakatepisternal processes of single type specimen not examined.

Total body length 3.3 mm, forebody length 1.66 mm.

Male: Protarsomeres 1–4 dilated, about three times as wide as long.

Abdominal sternite VII without diagnostic characters.

Abdominal sternite VIII with posterior margin shortly, triangularly emarginate in about 0.15 of sternite length.

Aedeagus ( Figs 68–70 View FIGURES 68–70 ) with stout phallobase; apical lobes occupying about apical third of aedeagal length. Apical lobes dorsally angular projecting from phallobase, then straight, but evenly curved ventrad toward narrow apical end; apical lobes ventrally strongly, convexly enlarged in proximal half, subapically almost semicircularly emarginate towards narrow end ( Fig. 68 View FIGURES 68–70 ); in dorsal and ventral view, apical lobes moderately convex in proximal third, after that moderately concave, then strongly widened to subtriangular, lateral extensions, and gradually tapered toward subacute apical ends ( Figs 69, 70 View FIGURES 68–70 ); in ventral view, ventral margins of apical lobes at about midlength close to each other, but proximally opening to form longitudinally aligned oval ( Fig. 69 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Dorsal lobe in lateral view subtriangular with moderately convex dorsal and ventral margins and round apical end, somewhat directed dorsad ( Fig. 68 View FIGURES 68–70 ), in dorsal view with broad, semicircular apical end seemingly divided by longitudinal suture ( Fig. 70 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Flagellum shorter than dorsal lobe ( Fig. 69 View FIGURES 68–70 ), not projecting from apical lobes ventrally ( Fig. 68 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Ventral lobe absent ( Fig. 68 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Lateral lobes shortly convex, not much projecting laterally, asetose ( Figs 69, 70 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Phallobase small, not much enlarged proximally, thus median foramen situated close to proximal end of aedeagus ( Fig. 69 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Postforamen and circoforamen weakly sclerotized ( Fig. 69 View FIGURES 68–70 ). Length of aedeagus 0.41 mm.

Female unknown.

Distribution: Neither type locality nor distribution of Scopaeus velutinus are known. Motschulsky (1858: 643) published the insufficient provenance East India, a term that was used at that time for entire South-East Asia. Scopaeus velutinus belongs to a clearly defined, as yet undescribed group of species, of which I have seven species from Bhutan, Laos, Nepal, and Thailand. One of these species from Chanthaburi, Thailand, strongly resembles the lectotype of S. velutinus . It has a slightly different aedeagus, but could nevertheless be conspecific.

Taxonomic history: Literature records of Scopaeus velutinus without exception refer to other species that are, however, impossible to identify without examination of the reference specimens and thus have to be rejected. In a publication on the Staphylinidae of northern India and Myanmar, Fauvel (1905: 53) erroneously placed S. decipiens in synonymy of the clearly different S. velutinus without justifying his decision. This synonymy was adopted by e.g. Bernhauer & Schubert (1912: 252), Cameron (1931: 178), Coiffait (1984: 183), and Schülke & Smetana (2015: 997). Since Kraatz (1859: 131) had described the characteristic diagnostic features of the abdominal sternites VII and VIII of S. decipiens , some subsequent authors published records of the four species of the S. decipiens group treated herein, two of which had not yet been described at that time, under the name S. decipiens . For this reason, one might think that records of S. velutinus could be assigned to the members of the S. decipiens group according to the allopatric distribution of these species. However, S. velutinus had also been confused with the speciose S. limbatus species group (see Frisch 2005: 77), the members of which strongly resemble the S. decipiens group in external morphology and are distributed throughout the Oriental Region as well. For example, Coiffait (1984: 183) misinterpreted S. limbatus Kraatz, 1859 as S. velutinus as clearly proven by the illustration of the aedeagus ( Coiffait 1984: 157). Indeed, old identification labels prove that records under the name S. velutinus are usually based on members of both the S. decipiens and S. limbatus species groups, which is why some authors, e.g. Hammond (1984: 204), reported S. velutinus as widespread in the Oriental Region. The record of S. velutinus from the Seychelles ( Bernhauer 1922b: 175; Scott 1922: 192) probably goes back to S. janaki Frisch, 2005 , a representative of the S. limbatus group.