Thoracostrongylus birmanus ( Fauvel, 1895 )

Yang, Zhuo, Zhou, Hong-Zhang & Schillhammer, Harald, 2011, Taxonomy of the genus Thoracostrongylus Bernhauer (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) with descriptions of five new species from China, Journal of Natural History 45 (7 - 8), pp. 407-433 : 422-424

Thoracostrongylus birmanus ( Fauvel, 1895)

( Figures 1F , 7 A–G)

Leistotrophus birmanus Fauvel, 1895: 246 (type locality: Bírmanie, Carin Cheba , 900 – 1100 m; Carin Asciuii Ghécu, 1400–1500 m).

Bernhauer and Schubert, 1914: 392 ( Ontholestes ; catalogue); Gridelli, 1924: 207, 208 ( Ontholestes ; subgenus Thoracostrongylus ; characters; Burma); Cameron, 1932: 214 ( Thoracostrongylus ; characters; Burma; India); Scheerpeltz, 1933: 1406 ( Thoracostrongylus ; catalogue); Smetana and Davies, 2000: 39 ( Thoracostrongylus ; checklist); Herman, 2001: 3556 ( Thoracostrongylus ; catalogue); Smetana, 2004: 686 ( Thoracostrongylus ; catalogue of Palaearctic region).

Material

Male, CHINA: Hainan, Jianfeng Range [18 ◦ 44’N, 108 ◦ 51’E], 620 m, 2008.XI.25, Zongyi Zhao coll. (IZCAS); 2 males, CHINA: Hainan, Jianfeng Range [18 ◦ 44’N, 108 ◦ 51’E], 700 m, window trap, 2004.VII.24, Jie Wu and Yongjie Chen coll. (IZCAS) ; 3 females, Hainan, Jianfeng Range [18 ◦ 44’N, 108 ◦ 51’E], 800 m, window trap, 2004.VII.24, Jie Wu and Yongjie Chen coll. (IZCAS) ; 1 female, Hainan, Jianfeng Range [18 ◦ 44’N, 108 ◦ 51’E], 930 m, Beating , 2007.XII.16, Zhuo Yang coll. (IZCAS) ; 1 male, Hainan, Baisha County, Hongxin village [19 ◦ 04’N, 109 ◦ 31’E], 450 m, light trap, 2008.XI.16, Zongyi Zhao coll. (IZCAS) ; 1 female, Hainan, Yingge Range [18 ◦ 44’N, 108 ◦ 51’E], 450 m, 2007.XII.5, Zhuo Yang coll. (IZCAS) ; 1 male, Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Menglun [21 ◦ 50’N, 100 ◦ 23’E], 750 m, 1958.VI.4, Zhizi Chen coll. (IZCAS) ; 2 males, MYANMAR: Shan State ca. 35 km N Aungban , sifted 20 ◦ 55.20’N 96 ◦ 33.60’E, 31.5– 8.6.2002, ca. 1320 m, Schillhammer and Myint Hlajng (81D) (NMW) .

Description

Measurements. Body length: 9.2 – 11.6 mm. ♂ (mean, n = 5): HL: 1.57; HW: 2.12; CL: 1.01; PO: 0.30; PL: 1.95; PW: 1.63; EL: 2.23; EW: 2.28; ELS: 1.15. ♀ (mean, n = 5): HL: 1.46; HW: 2.14; CL: 0.99; PO: 0.21; PL: 1.87; PW: 1.65; EL: 2.22; EW: 2.30; ELS: 1.14.

Male. Head and pronotum bronze with brassy lustre; mandibles black, maxillary palpi, labial palpi and antennae brown; elytra brassy, mixed with grey pubescence, shoulders reddish; 3 – 7th abdominal tergites brown; legs yellow, femora (with black ring) at midlength and distal end.

Head large, transversely oval, distinctly wider than pronotum; eyes large and prominent, their longitudinal diameter nearly three times as long as temporal region; vertex with a short and narrow, rather indistinct, impunctate midline; surface densely and regularly covered with umbilicate punctures, bearing exceedingly short setae, mixed with grey pubescence on frons. Antennae with 1st segment longest, 2nd narrower and almost one-third as long as 1st, 3rd narrower and almost twice as long as 2nd, 4th longer than wide, 5 – 10th gradually increasing in breadth, longer than wide, last segment nearly twice as long as wide and subacuminate towards tip.

Pronotum oblong, dorsal surface well convex, moderately longer than wide, and much narrower than elytra; widest at level of large lateral seta, slightly narrowed towards rounded anterior angles, distinctly concavely narrowed towards base; anterior margin almost straight, posterior margin moderately convex, hind angles broadly rounded; punctation and pubescence similar to that on head. Scutellum triangular, with dense, black, velvety pubescence, with a small longitudinal spot of golden pubescence in middle.

Elytra subquadrate, distinctly dilated posteriorly; surface densely, regularly, finely punctate, with brassy pubescence, mixed with spots of grey pubescence.

Abdomen gradually narrowed towards apex, finely and densely punctate; 3 – 7th tergites brown, 6 – 7th tergites with a patch of golden pubescence; posterior margin of 8th sternite ( Figure 7A ) very deeply and broadly excised medially, densely covered with long golden pubescence near and at apical margin; 10th tergite ( Figure 6B ) distinctly wider than long, posterior margin broadly rounded with dense, long golden pubescence in apical third; 9th sternite ( Figure 7C ) with slightly emarginate apex, surface bearing moderately long yellow pubescence.

Male genitalia ( Figures 7 F–G) moderately sclerotized, median lobe short and stout; in ventral view symmetrical, median lobe almost parallel-sided, apex triangularly constricted; in lateral view, apical half bent ventrad at about one-ninth from apex, with a small process projecting dorsad; paramere very broad, flat, apex truncate, with eight fine setae.

Female. First four segments of front tarsus similar to those of male. Genital segment with second gonocoxite ( Figure 7E ) with minute stylus bearing one long apical seta; 10th tergite ( Figure 7D ) wider than long, posterior margin shallowly concave, with numerous long black setae in apical fourth.

Remarks

In general appearance, the species is similar to Th. diaoluoensis sp. nov., but can be distinguished from the latter by the impunctate midline on the head and the unique shape of the male genitalia.

Distribution

China (Hainan, Yunnan); Myanmar; India.

Figures

Figure 1. (A) Thoracostrongylus acerosus sp. nov.; (B) Thoracostrongylus aduncatus sp. nov.; (C) Thoracostrongylus baoxingensis sp. nov.; (D) Thoracostrongylus diaoluoensis sp. nov.; (E) Thoracostrongylus fujianensis sp. nov.; (F) Thoracostrongylus birmanus, (Fauvel, 1895).

Figure 6. Thoracostrongylus fujianensis sp. nov., holotype, male from Fujian, China. (A) 8th sternite, male; (B) 10th tergite, male; (C) 10th tergite, female; (D) 9th sternite, male; (E) aedeagus, ventral view; (F) aedeagus, lateral view; (G) genital segment with second gonocoxite, female; Scale bar 1 mm.

Figure 7. Thoracostrongylus birmanus, (Fauvel, 1895), male and female from Hainan and Yunnan, China. (A) 8th sternite, male; (B) 10th tergite, male; (C) 9th sternite, male; (D) 10th tergite, female; (E) genital segment with second gonocoxite, female; (F) aedeagus, ventral view; (G) aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar 1 mm.