Lathrobium zhusha, Lin & Peng, 2022

Lin, Xiao-Bin, Tan, Fei & Peng, Zhong, 2022, New data on the genus Lathrobium Gravenhorst (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) of Guangxi, South China, Zootaxa 5099 (5), pp. 593-600 : 599-600

Lathrobium zhusha X.-B. Lin and Peng, new species

( Figs 1C , 4 )

Type material ( 1 ♂). Holotype ♂: “ China: Guangxi, Huanjiang, Jiuwanshan N. R., Yangmeiao , 25°12’22.15’’N, 108°40’32.01’’E, 1250 m, 25.IV.2021, Tang, Peng, Cai & Song leg.” ( SNUC).

Description. Measurements (in mm) and ratios: BL 7.51, FL 2.96, HL 0.96, HW 0.91, AnL 2.08, PL 1.32, PW 1.03, EL 0.68, AL 1.26, HL/HW 1.05, HW/PW 0.88, HL/PL 0.72, PL/PW 1.28, EL/PL 0.52.

Habitus as in Fig. 2C . Body reddish brown, legs yellowish brown, antennae reddish brown to yellowish brown.

Head punctation moderately fine and sparse, somewhat sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices with shallow microsculpture. Eyes small and composed of approximately 40 ommatidia.

Pronotum nearly parallel-sided; punctation similar to that of head; impunctate midline broad; interstices glossy and without microsculpture.

Elytral punctation moderately sparse and shallow. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsomeres I–IV with weak sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen with fine and dense punctation, punctation of tergite VII slightly less dense than that of anterior tergites; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Male. Sternite VII ( Fig. 4A ) with apical margin broadly concave, setae unmodified; sternite VIII ( Fig. 4B ) with V–shaped posterior excision, with numerous distinctly modified; aedeagus as in Figs 4C, D ; ventral process weakly hooked apically in lateral view; dorsal plate with long apical portion and very short basal portion; internal sac with one sclerotized spine.

Female. Unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on the morphology of the aedeagus, this species may be allied to L. hujiayaoi , from which it is distinguished by somewhat smaller body size, the lighter coloration of the body, the chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII and the nearly straight ventral process of the aedeagus. Lathrobium zhusha is distinguished from the syntopic L. jinxiuense by smaller body size, reddish coloration of the body, the broadly V–shaped posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, by the shape of ventral process and dorsal plate of the aedeagus, as well as the shape of the female tergite VIII. For illustrations of L. hujiayaoi see Peng et al. (2013: figures 2B, 4C–G). For illustrations of L. jinxiuense see Peng et al. (2015: figures 4A, 5).

Etymology. The specific name is the Chinese noun “zhusha” (cinnabar) in apposition. It refers to the characteristic color of the body in comparison to the other species known from the Jiuwanshan Nature Reserve.

Distribution and natural history. The type locality is situated in the Jiuwanshan Nature Reserve to the north of Huanjiang, northern Guangxi. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter and grass roots in shrub habitats at an altitude of 1250 m.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Male habitus of Lathrobium spp., A L. caiyujiei B L. jiuwanshanense C L. zhusha. Scales: 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 2. Lathrobium caiyujiei. A female tergite VIII B female sternite VIII C female tergites IX–X. D male sternite VII E male sternite VIII F aedeagus in ventral view G aedeagus in lateral view. Scales: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Lathrobium zhusha. A male sternite VII B male sternite VIII C aedeagus in ventral view D aedeagus in lateral view. Scales: 0.5 mm.