Aleochara (Xenochara) digitulata, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some Palaearctic Aleochara species of the subgenera Xenochara M & R and Rheochara M & R (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 59 (1), pp. 33-101 : 94-96

Aleochara (Xenochara) digitulata nov. sp. ( Figs 213-222)

Type material:

Holotype ♂: " China: Gansu province, Xiahe (= Labrang ) env., 35°11.5'N, 102°30.6'E, 2940 m ( GPS), 19.-22.VI.2005, J. Hájek, D. Král & J. Ružička leg. [CH 1] / individually collected, grasslands, close valley with loess loam near the stream, in burrows and on excrements of Marmota himalayana / Holotypus ♂ Aleochara digitulata sp. n., det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 5 exs.: same data as holotype (cSch, cAss) ; 1 ex.: " China: Gansu province, Sangke env., 35°06.7'N, 102°25.1'E, 3057 m ( GPS), 21.VI.2005, J. Hájek, D. Král & J. Ružička leg. [CH 3] / individually collected, grasslands, on dog carrion and under stones near the stream; in cow and sheep excrements on pasture" (cSch) .

Description:

Body length: 3.8-6.1 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 213. Coloration: whole body, including antennae, blackish; legs dark-brown to blackish-brown.

Head approximately 1.1 times as long as wide ( Fig. 214); punctation relatively coarse and moderately dense; interstices on average only slightly wider than diameter of punctures and without microsculpture; eyes moderately convex, slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna moderately slender; antennomere IV approximately as long as wide or weakly transverse; V distinctly broader than IV; V-X of similar shape, very weakly increasing in width, X only slightly broader than V; X approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; XI approximately as long as the combined length of IX and X ( Fig. 215).

Pronotum 1.25 times as wide as long and approximately 1.45-1.60 times as wide as head, widest in or slightly behind the middle; posterior angles broadly rounded, very weakly marked ( Fig. 214); punctation similar to that of head, but slightly denser; interstices on average approximately as wide as diameter of punctures or slightly narrower, without microsculpture.

Elytra approximately 0.85 times as long as pronotum; posterior margin near posterior angles obliquely truncate, not sinuate ( Fig. 214); punctation coarse and conspicuously dense; interstices much narrower than diameter of punctures, without microsculpture. Legs moderately long and slender; metatarsus 0.8-0.9 times as long as metatibia; metatarsomere I elongate, longer than the combined length of II and III, but shorter than the combined length of II-IV.

Abdomen with segments III-VI of subequal width; tergites III-V with moderately deep, densely and distinctly punctate anterior impressions, punctures similar to those of pronotum or somewhat coarser; punctation of remainder of dorsal surface distinct, much denser on anterior than on posterior tergites; interstices without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly concave ( Fig. 216).

♂: posterior margin sternite VIII distinctly produced, apex forming a right angle; median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs 217-218.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; spermatheca as in Fig. 219.

Etymology:

The name (Latin: adjective) is derived from the diminutive digitulus (small finger) and refers to the shape of the apical internal structures of the aedeagus.

Comparative notes:

Based on the morphology of the primary and secondary sexual characters, A. digitulata refers to the A. sparsa group. Among the species of this group, the new species is characterised particularly by the relatively slender head (in relation to the pronotum), the densely punctate elytra, and the shape and the internal structures of the median lobe of the aedeagus. The morphology of the aedeagus and the shape of the spermatheca are somewhat similar to those of A. villosa MANNERHEIM, 1830 , A. sanguinea , and A. kaszabi . The internal structures of the aedeagus are most similar to those of A. kaszabi , from which A. digitulata is distinguished by the much more distinct and denser punctation of the forebody, the glossy appearance (interstices without apparent microsculpture), and the different shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. For illustrations of the male primary sexual characters of A. kaszabi see Figs 184-186.

Distribution and bionomics:

The species is known only from two localities in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, China. With one exception, all the type specimens were collected from burrows and dung of Marmota himalayana at an altitude of approximately 3000 m .