Lathrobium sufflatum, Assing, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, Six new species and additional records of Lathrobium from the Palaearctic region, Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (1), pp. 247-266 : 260-263

Lathrobium sufflatum nov.sp.

( Figs 30-37 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " CHINA: Yunnan, Nujiang Lisu Pref., Gaoligong Shan , "Cloud Pass", 21 km NW Liuku, 3150 m, 25°58'21''N, 98°41'01''E, shrubs & bamboo, litter sifted, 3.IX.2009, leg. M. Schülke [CH09-22a] / Holotypus ♂ Lathrobium sufflatum sp.n., det. V. Assing 2013" ( cSch) . Paratypes: 2♂♂, 4♀♀ [1♀ teneral]: same data as holotype ( cSch, cAss) ; 1♀: same data as holotype, but " 2.IX.2009 ... [ CH 09-22]" ( cSch) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb sufflare (to inflate, to swell) and alludes to the large dorsal portion of the aedeagus.

Description: Small species; body length 4.8-6.0 mm; length of forebody 2.4-2.7 mm. Coloration: body reddish; legs and antennae yellowish-red.

Head ( Fig. 30 ) approximately 1.05 times as long as broad; punctation rather coarse and rather sparse, even sparser in postero-median dorsal portion; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Eyes weakly projecting from lateral contours of head, approximately 1/4 the length of postocular region in dorsal view and composed of approximately 25 ommatidia. Antenna 1.3-1.4 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 30 ) 1.25-1.30 times as long as broad and 1.05-1.10 times as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head; impunctate midline moderately broad; interstices without microsculpture, broader than diameter of punctures.

Elytra ( Fig. 30 ) short, approximately 0.53 times as long as pronotum; humeral angles weakly marked; punctation shallow, fine, and not very dense; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsomeres I-IV with pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen broader than elytra; punctation fine and very dense on tergites III-VI, sparser on tergites VII and VIII; interstices with distinct microsculpture, nearly matt; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII without sexual dimorphism, weakly convex to indistinctly pointed in the middle.

♂: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated; sternite VII ( Fig. 31 ) moderately transverse, posteriorly with small median impression, this impression with weakly modified dark setae and in the middle without setae, posterior margin distinctly concave in the middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 32 ) weakly oblong, with oblong median impression posteriorly, postero-median portion of this impression without setae, posterior excision distinct and almost U-shaped; aedeagus ( Figs 33-35 ) approximately 0.9 mm long, with large dorsal portion apically distinctly extending beyond apex of ventral process; ventral process nearly straight, slender both in lateral and in ventral view, apically hooked in lateral view; dorsal plate with relatively large, strongly sclerotized, and apically narrowly produced (dorsal view) apical portion, basal portion very short and weakly sclerotized; internal sac with long tube with numerous small and weakly sclerotized spines, basally with two asymmetric sclerotized structures, and subapically with cluster of thin dark spines.

♀: protarsomeres I-IV moderately dilated, distinctly less so than in male; sternite VIII ( Fig. 36 ) oblong and with strongly convex posterior margin; tergite IX with short anteromedian portion with suture; tergite X long, more than three times as long as anteromedian portion of tergite IX, in cross-section weakly convex anteriorly and strongly convex posteriorly ( Fig. 37 ).

Comparative notes: The only other species from Yunnan with a similarly large dorsal portion of the aedeagus is L. bihamulatum ASSING in press (Yunnan: Ertaipo Shan), whose female sexual characters are unknown and which is distinguished from L. sufflatum as follows: body distinctly larger (body length 8.5 mm; length of forebody 3.8 mm) and darker (brown); eyes larger (composed of approximately 50 ommatidia); male sternite VII of different chaetotaxy and with strongly concave excision in the middle of the posterior margin; male sternite VIII transverse and with asymmetrically bisinuate posterior margin, without distinct median excision; aedeagus with curved ventral process, with much longer and differently shaped dorsal plate, and with internal structures of completely different shape. Based on external characters (small size, reddish coloration, reduced size), the male sexual characters (sternite VIII with distinct posterior excision; dorsal plate of aedeagus apically extended into slender process, with strongly sclerotized apical portion and shorter basal portion; internal sac with asymmetric dark sclerotized structures), and also the female secondary sexual characters (antero-median portion of tergite IX short and with median suture; tergite X strongly convex in cross-section posteriorly and much longer than antero-median portion of tergite IX), L. sufflatum is most similar to the species of the L. fortehamatum subgroup of the L. daliense group (see ASSING in press b). This subgroup previously included three species (L. fortehamatum ASSING in press, L. tricuspidatum ASSING in press, and L. fortespinosum ASSING in press) from the environs of Zhongdian and from the Haba Shan in Yunnan. The new species is readily distinguished from these species by larger eyes (other species: composed of approximately 10 ommatidia), shorter elytra, the male sexual characters (other species: posterior margin of sternite VII without distinct concavity in the middle; sternite VIII with slightly asymmetric and rather V-shaped posterior excision; aedeagus with much less developed dorsal portion and with differently shaped ventral process; dorsal plate of aedeagus with much longer basal portion; internal sac with conspicuously long and massive spines), and the shape of the female sternite VIII (other species: not oblong, posterior margin not strongly convex). For characters distinguishing L. sufflatum from the syntopic L. sexocellatum see the comparative notes in the following section.

Comment: This species is identical to Lathrobium sp. 10 in ASSING (in press b).

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in the Gaoligong Shan in western Yunnan, close to the border with Myanmar. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter in vegetation composed of shrubs and bamboo at an altitude of 3150 m, together with the holotype of L. sexocellatum . One of the female paratypes is teneral.

Figures

Figs 30-37: Lathrobium sufflatum nov.sp.: (30) forebody; (31) male sternite VII; (32) male sternite VIII; (33-35) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (36) female sternite VIII; (37) female tergites IX-X. Scale bars: 30: 1.0 mm; 31-37: 0.5 mm.