Nazeris constrictus, Assing, 2014

Assing, Volker, 2014, A revision of Nazeris. VI. On the fauna of East Yunnan, China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 64 (2), pp. 355-373 : 361

Nazeris constrictus sp. n.

( Figs 14–19 , 32 , Map 2 )

Type material: Holotype ♂ [slightly teneral]: “ CHINA [13] – Yunnan, mt. SE Gejiu, graveyard with pine, 23°18'27"N, 103°11'41"E, 2400 m, 20.VIII.2014, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Nazeris constrictus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2014” (cAss).

Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ [both teneral]: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 1 ♂ [teneral]: same data as holotype, but leg. M. Schülke (cSch) ; 2 ♀♀ [both teneral]: “ CHINA [17] – Yunnan, S Gejiu, 23°17'14"N, 103°08'41"E, 1860 m, road margin with shrubs, 21. VIII.2014, V. Assing” (cAss) ; 1 ♀ [teneral], same data, but leg. M. Schülke (cSch) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) alludes to the subapically constricted ventral process of the aedeagus.

Description: Moderately large species; body length 5.6–6.7 mm; length of forebody 3.1–3.5 mm. Coloration: body blackish; legs and antennae yellowish, with antennomere I somewhat darker.

Head ( Fig. 14 ) moderately oblong, 1.04–1.08 times as long as broad; lateral contours behind eyes smoothly and weakly curving towards posterior constriction in dorsal view, posterior angles obsolete; punctation very dense, not very coarse, and distinctly umbilicate; interstices forming narrow ridges, without microsculpture. Eyes approximately one-third as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction in dorsal view. Antenna approximately 1.8 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 14 ) approximately 1.2 times as long as broad and 0.90–0.95 times as broad as head; punctation very dense and much coarser than that of head; midline posteriorly with short and narrow impunctate glossy elevation; lateral portions without distinct impressions or elevations; interstices without microsculpture and glossy. Elytra ( Fig. 14 ) approximately 0.55 times as long as pronotum; humeral angles obsolete; punctation approximately as coarse and as dense as that of pronotum; interstices without microsculpture and glossy. Hind wings completely reduced. Metatarsomere I elongated, nearly as long as the combined length of II–V.

Abdomen 1.20–1.25 times as broad as elytra; punctation coarse and very dense on tergites III–VI, slightly finer and slightly sparser on tergites VII and VIII; interstices without microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII strongly convex.

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 15 ) approximately 1.6 times as broad as long, with shallow postero-median impression, this impression with moderately stout black setae, posterior margin with shallow median concavity, this concavity with a lateral cluster of long black setae on either side ( Fig. 16 ); sternite VIII ( Fig. 17 ) oblong, nearly 1.1 times as long as broad and with moderately convex anterior margin, posterior excision narrow and anteriorly acute, approximately one-third as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 18–19 ) 1.65 mm long; ventral process very long and subapically constricted in ventral view, apico-ventrally deeply incised in the middle, on either side of this incision with pronounced carina, basally without a short and acute projection on either side; dorso-lateral apophyses weakly sclerotized, very short, not reaching middle of ventral process, weakly curved, apically strongly dilated and obliquely truncate ( Fig. 32 ).

Comparative notes: Based on the similarly derived morphology of the aedeagus, as well as on the conspicuous modifications of the male sternite VII, N. constrictus is closely related to N. brevilobatus and especially to N. virilis . It differs from both species by slightly larger body size, the modified dark setae in the postero-median impression of the male sternite VII, the oblong and posteriorly much more deeply incised male sternite VIII, and by the subapically constricted ventral process of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The known distribution is confined to two localities to the south and southeast of Gejiu, southeastern Yunnan ( Map 2 ). The more or less distinctly teneral specimens were sifted from leaf litter, herb roots, and moss in a graveyard with scattered pine trees and on a grassy slope with shrubs near a road at altitudes of 2400 and 1860 m, respectively.

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of the named species of Nazeris brevilobatus group in eastern Yunnan: N. brevilobatus sp. n. (white circle); N. virilis sp. n. (black circles); N. claviger sp. n. (black diamond); N. constrictus sp. n. (white triangles), N. discissus sp. n. (black square).

Figs 14–25: Nazeris constrictus sp. n. (14–19) and N. claviger sp. n. (20–25): forebody (14, 20); male sternite VII (15, 21); posteromedian portion of male sternite VII (16, 22); male sternite VIII (17, 23); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (18–19, 24–25). Scale bars: 14, 20: 1.0 mm; 15, 17–19, 21, 23–25: 0.5 mm; 16, 22: 0.2 mm.

Figs 26–33: Nazeris discissus sp. n. (26–31), N. constrictus sp. n. (32), and N. claviger sp. n. (33): forebody (26); male sternite VII (27); postero-median portion of male sternite VII (28); male sternite VIII (29); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (30–31); median portion of aedeagus in ventral view (32–33). Scale bars: 26: 1.0 mm; 27, 29–31: 0.5 mm; 28, 32–33: 0.2 mm.