Micranops brachycerus (Fauvel) (Figs 98–100) Scopaeus brachycerus Fauvel, 1900: 70. Geoscopaeus brachycerus (Fauvel, 1900); Fagel 1973: 21–23. Micranops brachycerus (Fauvel, 1900); Frisch & Herman 2014: 69. Type specimen examined: Lectotype ♂, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kinshasa (ISNB); labelled “Kinchassa / Congo 10, 11” (handwritten), “brachycerus / Fvl.” (handwritten), “Ex-Typis” (printed with red letters), “Coll. et det. A. Fauvel / Scopaeus / brachycerus Fvl / R. I. Sc. N. B. 17479” (printed label, genus name and epithet handwritten); “G. Fagel det. 1970 / Geoscopaeus / brachycerus Fvl. ” (printed, epithet handwritten), “LECTOTYPE / Scopaeus brachycerus / FAUVEL, 1900 / des. J. Frisch, 2025 ” (printed, red); here designated. Fauvel (1900: 70) based the description of Scopaeus brachycerus on specimens from “Haut-Sénégal: Badumbé; Congo: Kinchassa, 10, 11”. Fagel (1973: 23) designated a lectotype for Scopaeus brachycerus, because he (Fagel 1973: 24) identified a syntype from Badumbé, which I have not seen, as a new species he described as Geoscopaeus brachyceroides (see below). However, this lectotype designation is based on a non-syntype and therefore invalid (ICZN 1999, Article 74.2). IborrowedfourconspecificspecimensfromtheFauvel collection at ISNB, all from Kinchasa, which are labelled “Ex-Typis” and identified as Geoscopaeus brachycerus by Fagel, among them the specimen that Fagel (1973: 23) designated as the lectotype. The small series contains a specimen with the locality label “ Kinchassa / Congo 10, 11” that is congruent with the type specimen information in Fauvel (1900: 70). However, the lectotype is labelled “Kinchassa / Waelbroeck / 20Oct 1896”. Another specimen of this series is labelled “Kinchassa / Congo 3” and not mentioned in the original description as well. This proves that Fauvel (1900: 70) gave the exact label data of the syntypes, that of the four specimens from Kinshasa only the specimen with the label “Kinchassa / Congo 10, 11” is a type, and that the designation of the lectotype is therefore not based on a type specimen. Beside the male that he designated as the syntype, Fagel (1973: 23) mentioned two female syntypes from Kinchasa in the Fauvel collection at ISNB. Indeed, two specimens of the historical series, among them the only true syntype, bear a printed, subsequent label “♀”. I dissected them and the syntype turned out to be a male. So Fagel obviously selected the male non-syntype as the lectotype because he thought it is the only available male. A lectotype designation is necessary to stabilize the name S. brachycerus (ICZN 1999, Article 74.1.), because the syntypes are not conspecific (see Fagel 1973: 23, 24). I therefore replace the invalid lectotype and designate as the new lectotype the specimen labeled “Kinshassa / Congo 10, 11”, because it is the only available syntype that corresponds to Fagel’s (1973: 21–23) interpretation of S. brachycerus. Its handwritten locality and identification. labels are moreover consistent with the label example of Fauvel in Horn et al. (1990: 481). Redescription: Macrophthalmous species with palisade fringe of abdominal tergite VII; examined specimens macropterous with elytral sutural length about as long as pronotum and functional metathoracic wings. Body color light orange brown to medium brown; appendages light brown. Body surface subnitid with extremely fine, dense, setose punctation. Head about 1.2 times longer than wide, with parallel or slightly convex temples and straight posterior margin. Eyes 0.48–0.58 times as long as temples.Nuchal groove 0.21 times as wide as greatest head width. Trichobothrial cavity guttiform, with tapered anterior end connected to dorsoposterior margin of eye. Antenna from subquadrate or very slightly elongate antennomeres 2–4 slightly widened toward weakly transverse penultimate antennomeres; antennomere 10 about 0.8–0.9 times, antennomere 11 about 1.5–1.6 times as long as wide. Total body length 2.1–2.2 mm; forebody length 1.2 mm. Male: Protarsomeres 1–4 dilated, approximately twice as wide as long. Abdominal sternite VII without diagnostic characters. Abdominal sternite VIII with subbasal ridge straight and posterior margin triangularly incised to approximately 0.15 of sternite length; lateral setae long, up to 0.3 times as long as sternite length (cf. Fig. 167). Aedeagus with large lobe-bearing apical portion occupying about 0.4 of aedeagal length (Fig. 98), in dorsal view narrow, about 3.5 times as long as wide measured without ventral process (Fig. 100); phallobase somewhat extended beyond base of ventral process (Fig. 98). Apical lobes by forming dorsoproximal curve moderately bent ventrad, then straight toward convex apical end; each apical lobe with ventral, subtriangular extension reaching between dorsad curved lateral margins of ventral process (Fig. 98); dissection shows that ventral extensions of apical lobes connect to form ventromedial lobe; ventromedial lobe longitudinally oblong in lateral view with subacute apex weakly protruding over distal margin of ventral extensions of apical lobes (Fig. 98). Dorsal lobe long, somewhat shifted ventrad, in lateral view with dorsal margin notably concave in distal half and membranous, subacute apex (Fig. 98), and irregularly shaped in dorsal view (Fig.100).Ventral lobe and ventromedial endophallic lobe absent. Endophallic sclerites seemingly asymmetrical (Figs 98, 100). Ventral process robust, slightly protruding over tip of dorsal lobe, in lateral view with proximal half directed distoventrad and apparently narrow due to broad, hyaline, barely visible dorsolateral margins, then bent distad with strongly thickened median portion, then evenly tapered toward ventrad curved, acute end (Fig. 98); in ventral and dorsal view, ventral process broad, parallel, moderately protruding over contour of aedeagus for its entire length, in distal half moderately narrowed toward round apical end (Figs 99, 100); basal portion of ventral process in ventral view with fine, longitudinal lines almost reaching postforamen (Fig. 99). Dorsomidlongitudinal split including dorsodistal opening occupying most of length of phallobase (Fig. 100); latter therefore collapsed in dry specimens (Fig. 98). Postforamen not projecting ventrad (Fig. 98). Circoforamen almost three times as long as median foramen (Fig. 99). Length of aedeagus 0.31–0.33 mm. Female: Protarsomeres 1–4 somewhat dilated, less than twice as wide as long. Distribution: Micranops brachycerus is known only from the type locality Kinchasa in the Congo Basin, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The record for Angola (Cameron 1951: 27) must be confirmed by examination of the underlying specimen(s). The record for Mali (Fauvel 1900: 70) refers to M. brachyceroides (see following species chapter). These unconfirmed or incorrect records were adopted by Frisch & Herman (2014: 69).

Published as part of Frisch, Johannes, 2025, Micranops Cameron, 1913 in the Old World. New species, redescriptions, and new records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), pp. 500-562 in Megataxa 17 (2) on pages 537-539, DOI: 10.11646/megataxa.17.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/18485817