Male description and generic review of Agyrtolasia Szymczakowski, with key to genera of Agyrtodini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Camiarinae: Agyrtodini)
Author
Seago, Ainsley E.
text
Zootaxa
2005
1103
1103
1
15
journal article
11755334
EF93AF8C-1B31-4E7B-AF34-C90E4235E544
Agyrtolasia calliptera
Szymczakowski, 1973
Holotype
:
female. Type locality:
Australia
,
South
Queensland
:
Lamington National Park
, bark and decayed wood with fungi,
3.IX.1966
, leg.
R
.
A. Crowson
.
Holotype
(as of 1973) deposited in Crowson Collection, Glasgow University (
Szymczakowski 1973
).
Material examined:
Australia
:
2♂♂
,
3♀♀
,
Upper Tallebudgera Ck
below
Springbrook
, SEQ.
8 Jan. 1984
,
G. B. Monteith
,
550 m
,
Pyrethrum
,
Rainforest
(
QMBA
)
;
♂
,
♀
,
Mt. Superbus
summit, SEQ,
8–9 Feb. 1990
1300 m
,
Monteith
,
Thompson
,
Janetzki. Pyrethrum
, trees & logs (
QMBA
)
;
♂
,
2♀♀
,
28.29S
152.23E
NSW,
Tooloom Scrub Floral Res.
, rest area,
755 m
,
Beaury
SF,
23 km
W of Urbenville
,
16 June 1993
,
D. S. Chandler
(
ANIC
)
;
♂
,
2♀♀
, NSW;
Dorrigo Dorrigo
N. P.,
700 m
, S. & J.
Peck
,
10–14.VII.1978
, rainforest / fungi with logs & litter (
FMNH
)
;
2♀♀
, NSW
Kyogle Wiangarie
S. F.
Brindle Ck.
,
800 m
,
21 Jun. 1978
, temperate forest
S. & J. Peck
, rotted bark and litter (
FMNH
). (
Holotype
not examined)
Diagnosis:
Agyrtolasia calliptera
is easily recognized by its combination of dense dorsal vestiture with upright hairs and a distinctive tricolor pattern on the elytra (
Fig. 1
). The only other Australian agyrtodines with such a conspicuous color pattern are
Agyrtodes variegatus
Jeannel, 1936
and
Agyrtodes decoratus
Zwick, 1979
, both of which have bicolor patterns of dark brown chevrons or checkerboardlike maculations on lighter brown cuticle.
Description: Body
(
Figs. 1
,
11
): Length
1.5–1.7 mm
(n=6, measured from front of clypeus to elytral apices); width 1.0–
1.1 mm
(n=6, measured at widest point across elytra). No apparent size dimorphism within or between sexes.
FIGURE 1.
Agyrtolasia calliptera
, dorsal habitus (male).
Head, pronotum, and elytra clothed with dense vestiture of recumbent, golden hairs as in
Agyrtode
s. Convex, but not hemispherical or contractile as in many
Leiodinae
(
e.g.
,
Agathidium
Panzer, 1797
). Pronotum relatively short for
Agyrtodini
, <0.3x elytral length in dorsal view. Conspicuous color pattern on elytra, longitudinal dark brown markings along disk overlaid with basal and discal rows of rounded ivorycolored patches. Paler brown along suture, lateral margins, and elytral apex. Venter uniformly pale brown. Pronotum lighter reddishbrown than elytra; darker brown at disc and at lateral margins.
Head
(
Figs. 1–4
,
7
): Head approximately 0.3x greatest width of pronotum; vertex and frons with scattered shallow punctures bearing short, slender, golden hairs. Long, stiff setae (as on elytra) absent from head. Antennomeres I–IV slender, scape and pedicel wider than subsequent three segments. Antennomere 6 rounded and apically flattened. Antennomere 7 roughly 2.5x as long as 6. Antennomere 8 reduced, near spherical and less than 0.5x the apical width of adjacent antennomeres. Antennomeres 9 and 10 subquadrate; antennomere 11 roughly quadrate with blunt apical papilla. Antennal club distinct but loose (not compact as in
Colon
Herbst 1797
). Epistomal suture absent. No ocelli. Compound eyes large and globular, not reduced (as in some other small agyrtodines).
Mouthparts
(
Figs. 2–4
): Labrum roughly quadrate, not transverse; labral margin complete. Mandible (
Fig. 2
) with small mola, lacking any medial or subapical teeth. Prostheca present but slight. Maxilla (
Fig. 3
) with slender, 4segmented palp, with terminal segment roughly 1.5x length of 3
rd
palpomere but not otherwise expanded. Galea and lacinia slender. Galea apically crowned with short spines; lacinia with apical, articulated “sporebrush” (
sensu
Newton 1998
) covered with dense array of short, scalelike rasping teeth. Labial palpi short, threesegmented, with minute apical sensilla (
Fig. 4
).
Thorax:
Faint, shallow punctures only, no conspicuous striae or punctures on pronotum.
Each elytron with nine longitudinal rows of punctures bearing stiff, semirecumbent setae. Puncture rows abutting suture and lateral margins much more deeplyimpressed and conspicuous; punctures become increasingly shallow at disc. Evenlyspaced, comblike array of long, spinelike setae along medial and lateral margins of elytra; unusually long, erect hairs scattered across elytron, not as densely distributed as finer, recumbent setae (
Fig. 11
). Lateral striae evanescent, much less conspicuous than those of most agyrtodines.
Prosternum not carinate. Mesosternum with prominent median carina, slightly more pronounced anteriorly and triangular in profile. Metasternum broad, glabrous, with scattered shallow impressions; no carina.
Legs and Wings
(Figs. 5–6): Pro and mesocoxae globular; metacoxae transverse, tapering distally. Procoxae nearly contiguous; procoxal cavities closed internally. Protarsi sexually dimorphic (Figs. 5–6): in males, tarsomeres 1 and 2 expanded, tarsomeres 1–3 bearing tenent setae ventrally; tarsomeres 1–5 bear long, stiff hairs dorsally. Females without protarsal expansion or long dorsal hairs. Meso and metatarsi not expanded in either sex. Tarsal claws simple, straight with slight curve at apex. Femora sparsely clothed with slender hairs; tibiae densely setose, with cluster of stout apical spines.
Wings present, fullsized but with venation much reduced (as in most leiodids). Wing with two proximal struts extending from basal articulation to median chord flexion line. No evident costa or other veins in distal half of wing.
FIGURES 2–4.
Agyrtolasia calliptera
, mouthparts. 2—left mandible, dorsal view; 3—right maxilla, ventral view; 4—labium, ventral view.
FIGURES 5–6.
Agyrtolasia calliptera
, protarsi. 5—male protarsus; 6—female protarsus.
Abdomen:
Abdominal segments VIII and IX enclosing aedeagus (in males); sternite
IX with elongate, flared, internal apophysis in both sexes (
Fig. 8
).
FIGURES 7–10.
Agyrtolasia calliptera
, antenna and male genitalia. 7—antenna; 8—male genital capsule; 9—aedeagus, parameres, and endophallus (inverted); 10—endophallus, removed from median lobe.
\
Genitalia
(
Figs. 8–10
): Aedeagus (comprising median lobe, parameres, and endophallus) fits inside telescoping, nested abdominal segments VIII and IX (
Fig. 8
). Parameres elongate (extending well past apex of median lobe), flattened and bladelike in form, curved symmetrically around median lobe (
Fig. 9
). Parameres lack conspicuous setae or setal rows on inner face. Median lobe simple, tapering distally with slight flare at apex. Endophallus (
Fig. 10
) armed with two distinct sizes of slender internal spines, as well as one large, roughly triangular sclerotized process (
Fig. 10
,
scl
).
Female genitalia incompletely sclerotized: no complete spermatheca visible after clearing, although some weakly sclerotized portions of copulatory apparatus remain. External terminalia of female limited to paired, articulated styli, apparently 1segmented, with 3–4 short apical setae.
Habitat/Ecology:
No published records exist for
Agyrtolasia
adult or larval feeding preferences. Label data (as well as mouthpart morphology) suggest that
Agyrtolasia
has a fungivore/detritivore lifestyle similar to that of
Agyrtodes
: the maxilla of
Agyrtolasia
possesses a dense, articulated lacinial ''sporebrush'' of the kind seen in
Agyrtodes
,
Cholevomorpha
,
and
New Zealand
agyrtodines exclusive of
Chelagyrtodes
(
Newton 1998
)
.
Agyrtolasia calliptera
has been collected with pyrethrum ''knockdown'' spraying of fungusy logs, and by Berlese extraction from rotten wood and leaf litter in subtropical closedcanopy forest areas. Based on label data for material examined in this study, the minimum range of
A. calliptera
extends from Southeast Queensland to Northeastern New South Wales, and is concentrated in lessdisturbed rainforest habitat.