J. New York Entomol. Soc. 99(2):248-250, 1991 MALES OF TACHIONA DEPLANATA SHARP AND NITIDA ASHE (COLEOPTERA: STAPHYLINIDAE) J. WITH NOTES ON THE HABITAT OF THESE SPECIES James Ashe S. Snow Entomological Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 — Abstract. Males of Tachiona deplanata Sharp and T. nitida Ashe are described and illus- trated. Specimens ofTachionawere collectedfrom the inside oflarval excavationsofHepialidae (Lepidoptera) in Buddleja parviflora. Four species of the unusual Central American staphylinid genus Tachiona Sharp have been described (Ashe and Wheeler, 1988; Ashe, in press). Two ofthese species are known only from females. Tachiona deplanata Sharp was known only from the original type series ofthree females. These were collected from Cordoba in the state ofVeracruz, Mexico, and were described in the Biologia Centrali Americana (Sharp, 1883-1887). To my knowledge the species had not subsequently been collected until this past summer. T. nitida Ashe was described from a single female specimen collected in 1987 near Maltrata, at 1,900 meters, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, by J. K. Liebherr and D. A. Millman (Ashe and Wheeler, 1988). Recently I collected 75 specimens, including males and females, of T. deplanata and a single male of T. W nitida in the state ofVeracruz, Mexico, 10.6 km Mendoza, hwy 150, 1,860 meters, 18 July 1990. This collection provided the opportunity to describe and provide illustrations of the taxonomically important male characteristics and to briefly de- scribe the habitat of these two species. Males of Tachiona deplanata Sharp. Similar to females (see Ashe and Wheeler, 1988) with the following secondary sexual characteristics. Tergum VII without medial carina or longitudinal ridge. Tergum VIII produced posteriorly as a broad more or less truncate lobe, apical margin oflobe serrate (Fig. 1); surface ofterga VII and VIII with numerous large, posteriorly directed asperities. Median lobe of aedeagus as in Figures 3, 4. Paramere as in Figure 2. Males of Tachiona nitida Ashe. Similar to female (see Ashe and Wheeler, 1988) with the following secondary sexual characteristics. Tergum VII with small but dis- tinct spinose carina on each side of midline and numerous scattered posteriorly directed asperities. Tergum VIII produced posteriorly as broad lobe, posterior margin oflobe deeply incised near each lateral border to produce a prominent spine on each side, medial portion of lobe broadly rounded and finely crenulate medially, surface Figs. 1-4. Tachiona deplanata Sharp, male features. 1. Tergum VIII. 2. Paramere of ae- deagus, external aspect. 3. Median lobe of aedeagus, lateral aspect. 4. Detail, apical lobe of aedeagus. Figs. 5-8. Tachiona nitida Ashe, male features. 5. Tergum VIII. 6. Paramere of aedeagus, external aspect. 7. Median lobe ofaedeagus, lateral aspect. 8. Detail, apical lobe of aedeagus. (Scale line = 0. 1 mm.) 1991 TACHIONA MALES 249 7 8 250 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Vol. 99(2) oftergum with a low spine on each side ofmidline and numerous, posteriorly directed asperities (Fig. 5). Median lobe of aedeagus as in Figures 7, 8. Paramere as in Fig- ure 6. Habitat notes. The vegetation at 1,860 meters where these beetles were collected is primarily a somewhat xeric oak forest with a moderately dense understory of shrubs and small trees. A few pines are present, but these become more common at slightly higher elevations. All specimens of Tachiona were collected from the insides ofwebs covering hepialid moth burrows in Buddlejaparviflora H.B.K. At this locality, B. parviflora is an abundant understory small tree. It is characterized by knarled or contorted multiple trunks, stringy bark, and silvery, opposite leaves. It is quite dif- ferent in appearance from the smooth-barked Trema trees which served as the hosts of hepialid larvae in Costa Rica, the webs of which also contained numerous spec- imens of Tachiona (Ashe, in press). Hepialid burrows were abundant in trunks ofB. parviflora, especially near the base of the tree. Specimens of Tachiona were found inside the webs ofall burrowswhich containedan active hepialid larva. Webscovering burrows from which hepialids had emerged, even if very recently, did not contain either adults or larvae of Tachiona. At the date ofthis collection, most hepialids had already emerged, and consequently only about 1 in 10 ofthe webs contained Tach- iona. Tachiona deplanata was by far the most abundant of the two species, and Tachiona larvae were associated with adults of this species in several webs. These larvae are very similar to those of T. latipennis Ashe and T. nitida described by Ashe and Wheeler (1988). The single T. nitida adult was collected from a web which also contained several adults of T. deplanata. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank Drs. Ralph Brooks, Meredith Lane, and Ronald McGregor of the University of Kansas Herbarium for their special efforts at making an initial identification ofBuddleja from a few twigs with attached dried leaves. Dr. Eliane M. Norman, Department ofBotany, Stetson University, Deland, Florida, provided the specific identification. This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Research Grant BSR-8415660. This is contribution number 302 from the Department ofEntomology, University ofKansas, Lawrence. 1 LITERATURE CITED Ashe, J. S. In press. New species, phylogeny and natural history of Tachiona Sharp 1883 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). Trop. Zool. Ashe, J. S. and Q. D. Wheeler. 1988. Revision ofTachiona Sharp (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description ofthe larva ofT. latipennis, new species, and a prelim- inary assessment ofgeneric relationships. Jour. New York Entomol. Soc. 96(2):176-199. Sharp, D. 1883-1887. Biologia Centrali-Americana: Insecta, Coleoptera. Vol. 1, Part 2, Staph- ylinidae, pp. 145-824. London. Received 18 September 1990; accepted November 1990. 1