Zyras (Zyras) latilobatus, Assing, 2017

Assing, Volker, 2017, On Zyras sensu strictu in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions, with a focus on the faunas of the Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sulawesi (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Lomechusini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (1), pp. 117-192 : 140-141

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.21248/contrib.entomol.67.1.117-192
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FD33C1AE-F7D9-4E3A-A053-A2CAA7261CFE
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5888467
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AD282BC4-9922-4004-97DE-0E84F5B8634F
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:AD282BC4-9922-4004-97DE-0E84F5B8634F
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Zyras (Zyras) latilobatus
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Zyras (Zyras) latilobatus View in CoL spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AD282BC4-9922-4004-97DE-0E84F5B8634F

( Figs 19 View Figs 1–41 , 57 View Figs 55–67 , 92 View Figs 82–99 , 161–165 View Figs 156–173 , Map 7 View Map 7 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ INDIA: Kerala, Ponmudi hill resort , 30 km NE of Trivandrum, 77°06'E; 8°46"N [sic], 1400 m, 28–39. vi.99 [sic], Kejval & Tryzna lgt. / Holotypus ♂ Zyras latilobatus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2016” ( NMP) . Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀: same data as holotype ( NMP, cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is a composed adjective and alludes to the broad (latus) ventral process of the aedeagus.

Description: Body length 4.3–5.0 mm; length of forebody 1.9–2.2 mm. Coloration ( Figs 19 View Figs 1–41 , 57 View Figs 55–67 , 92 View Figs 82–99 ): head black; pronotum pale-reddish; elytra reddish-yellow with the postero-lateral portion more or less extensively blackish (sometimes leaving only the scutellum and its vicinity, the anterior margin, and the humeral angles reddish-yellow); abdomen bicoloured with tergites II–V pale-reddish, tergite VI pale-reddish with the middle and the posterior portion extensively blackish, tergite VII black with the anterior margin and the antero-lateral portions reddish, segment VIII black, and segments IX–X yellowish; legs yellowish; antennae reddish to brown with the basal and apical antennomeres more or less extensively palereddish; maxillary palpi yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 57 View Figs 55–67 ) moderately transverse, median portion extensively impunctate; punctures in lateral portions rather sparse and fine. Eyes large, much longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 19 View Figs 1–41 ) conspicuously slender, approximately 1.9 mm long; antennomeres IV distinctly oblong, V–VIII decreasingly oblong, IX–X approximately as long as broad or weakly oblong, and XI elongate, approximately three times as long as broad and as long as the combined length of VIII–X, or nearly so.

Pronotum ( Fig. 57 View Figs 55–67 ) slender, 1.04–1.07 times as broad as long and 1.1 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles; lateral margins straight (dorsal view); punctation not very coarse, rather dense, and regularly distributed, even along midline (i.e., median impunctate band absent). Elytra ( Fig. 57 View Figs 55–67 ) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum; punctation rather fine and dense, and regularly distributed, only slightly less dense posteriorly than anteriorly. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II–IV.

Abdomen ( Fig. 92 View Figs 82–99 ) slightly narrower than elytra, with moderately deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; anterior impressions of tergites III–V each with a transverse row of very coarse non-setiferous punctures; tergites III–IV with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with four setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite V with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergites VI without non-setiferous punctation anteriorly, with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VII without non-setiferous punctation anteriorly, with two transverse series of fine setiferous punctures posteriorly, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII ( Fig. 164 View Figs 156–173 ) with setiferous punctures in posterior third, posterior margin smoothly convex, without median concavity.

♂: sternite VIII ( Fig. 165 View Figs 156–173 ) with convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 161–162 View Figs 156–173 ) of compact shape, approximately 0.45 mm long; ventral process of distinctive shape, short, basally broad, apically acute in ventral view, and apically truncate in lateral view; paramere ( Fig. 163 View Figs 156–173 ) slightly shorter than median lobe, with very short and apically truncate apical lobe.

Comparative notes: Zyras latilobatus differs from other species of similar coloration by numerous characters, particularly the conspicuously slender and pale-coloured antennae, a slender pronotum without an impunctate median band, the presence of rather coarse non-setiferous punctation in the anterior impressions of tergites III–V, but absence of such punctation in the anterior portions of tergites VI–VII, a smoothly convex posterior margin of tergite VIII (without median concavity), and particularly the distinctive shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus. It is readily distinguished from the similarly coloured Z. hastatus , whose male sexual characters are unknown, by smaller size and especially by much more slender antennae.

Distribution: This species is currently known only from the type locality in Kerala, South India ( Map 7 View Map 7 ).