Elytrobium qinlinganum, Assing, 2013

Assing, Volker, 2013, Two new genera of Lathrobiina from the East Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 63 (2), pp. 219-239 : 225-227

Elytrobium qinlinganum sp. n.

( Figs 14-21 , Map 1 )

Type material:

Holotype : “ CHINA (S-Shaanxi) Qinling Shan , pass on rd. Zhouzhi-Foping, 105 km SW Xi’an, N-slope, 1990 m, 33°44'N, 107°59'E (small creek vall., mix. decid. for., bamboo, small meadows) 2.& 4.VII.2001 Wrase [01] / Holotypus  Elytrobium qinlinganum sp. n., det. V. Assing 2013” (cAss).

Etymology:

The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the name of the mountain range where this species was discovered.

Description:

Body length 6.8 mm; length of forebody 3.8 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 14 . Coloration: body black; legs blackish-brown with reddish tarsi; antennae reddish-brown with slightly darker antennomere I.

Head ( Fig. 15 ) 1.05 times as long as broad, broadest across eyes, and distinctly tapering behind eyes; posterior angles broadly rounded, indistinct; punctation coarse and dense, slightly sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices narrower than diameter of punctures (except in median dorsal portion), with distinct microreticulation, and subdued shine. Eyes moderately large and composed of numerous fine ommatidia, approximately half as long as postocular region from posterior margin of eye to neck in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 16 ) 1.9 mm long; antennomeres IV-X barely noticeably oblong. Maxillary palpi with palpomere III moderately slender, approximately 3 times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 15 ) rather slender, 1.2 times as long as broad and 1.08 times as broad as head, moderately convex in cross-section, broadest slightly behind middle; lateral margins nearly straight in dorsal view; punctation slightly coarser and sparser than that of head; interstices glossy, without microreticulation; impunctate median band narrow.

Elytra ( Fig. 15 ) very long and large, 1.18 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense, distinct, as coarse as that of pronotum, and indistinctly seriate; interstices without microreticulation, glossy. Hind wings fully developed. Protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as II.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra, segments III-VI of subequal width; punctation dense and rather coarse on anterior tergites, gradually becoming finer and sparser towards the abdominal apex; interstices with distinct microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 17 ) moderately transverse and with very weakly concave posterior margin, pubescence unmodified; sternite VIII ( Fig. 18 ) distinctly oblong, nearly 1.2 times as long as broad, posterior excision shallow and with noticeable angle in the middle, pubescence unmodified; sternite IX ( Fig. 19 ) symmetric and apically acute; aedeagus larger than in other species of the genus, nearly 0.9 mm long, shaped as in Figs 20-21 .

Comparative notes:

From the other species of similar size, E. gongganum and E. monilicorne , E. qinlinganum is distinguished by the more slender pronotum with straight lateral margins, the absence of microsculpture on the pronotum, the relatively longer and larger elytra, the distinctly oblong male sternite VIII, and the larger and differently shaped aedeagus. It additionally differs from E. gongganum by the different coloration of the antennae and the more glossy and much more coarsely punctate elytra, and from E. monilicorne by somewhat larger size, more slender maxillary palpomeres III, more slender antennae, and the angled posterior excision of the male sternite VIII.

Distribution and natural history:

The type locality is situated in the Qinling Shan in southern Shaanxi ( Map 1 ). The holotype was collected in a stream valley with mixed deciduous forest and bamboo at an altitude of 1990 m .

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Elytrobium gen. n. in the southeastern East Palaearctic region: E. gongganum sp. n. (open circle); E. qinlinganum sp. n. (open triangle); E. scindens sp. n. (filled diamonds); E. seminitidum sp. n. (open diamond); E. alesianum sp. n. (filled circles); E. monilicorne (SHARP) (filled triangle).

Figs 14-29: Elytrobium qinlinganum sp. n. (14-21) and E. seminitidum sp. n. (22-29): habitus (14, 22); forebody (15, 23); antenna (16, 24); male sternite VII (17, 25); male sternite VIII (18, 26); male sternite IX (19, 27); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (20-21, 28-29). Scale bars: 14-15, 22-23: 1.0 mm; 16-18, 24-26: 0.5 mm; 19-21, 27-29: 0.2 mm.