Lathrobium hebes, Assing, 2014

Assing, Volker, 2014, New species and records of Lathrobium from the Palaearctic region, primarily from Nepal (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 64 (1), pp. 1-28 : 20-21

Lathrobium hebes sp. n.

( Figs 106–114 , Map 2 )

Type material: Holotype  [teneral]: “ NEPAL SW Dhaulagiri, E Jaljala 3000 m, 24.IX.12 lg. J. Schmidt, 28°30'49"N, 83°15'18"E / Holotypus  Lathrobium hebes sp. n., det. V. Assing 2013” ( NME).

Paratypes: 1 : same data as holotype ( NME); 1 : “ NEPAL SW Dhaulagiri, E Jatiala[sic] 3000 m, 28°30'49"N, 83°15'18"E, 24.IX.2012 leg. J. Schmidt ” (cAss) .

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

Description: Body length 4.8–5.5 mm; length of forebody 2.4–2.8 mm; male somewhat larger than females. Habitus as in Fig. 106 . Coloration: forebody reddish; abdomen dark-brown to blackish-brown; legs and antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 107 ) weakly oblong, 1.02–1.04 times as long as broad; punctation moderately dense and moderately coarse, sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices with distinct microreticulation. Eyes small, composed of approximately 10 ommatidia, approximately one-sixth as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 1.2–1.5 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 107 ) approximately 1.25 times as long as broad and about as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head; midline broadly impunctate; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 107 ) approximately 0.6 times as long as pronotum; punctation shallow; interstices without distinct microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsomeres I–IV with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism; metatibia weakly compressed in apical twothirds in both sexes. Metafemora without distinct sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen slightly broader than elytra; punctation distinct and moderately dense; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII with convex posterior margin.

: protarsomeres I–IV strongly dilated; sternite VII ( Fig. 108 ) distinctly transverse, in postero-median portion with transverse cluster of long and stout black setae, posterior margin with broad, bisinuate, and shallow posterior excision, margin of this excision with a comb of approximately 30 long palisade setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 109 ) 1.1 times as broad as long, in median portion extensively without pubescence, posterior excision moderately deep, moderately broad, and anteriorly rounded, lateral margins of this excision with a row of dense short setae; aedeagus ( Figs 110–111 ) 0.9 mm long and symmetric; ventral process basally broad and apically extending into a straight, spine-shaped, and apically truncate process in ventral view ( Fig. 112 ); dorsal plate broad and very short; internal sac without appreciable structures.

: protarsomeres I–IV moderately dilated; sternite VIII ( Fig. 113 ) 1.2 times as long as broad, posteriorly convexly produced; tergite IX ( Fig. 114 ) with antero-median portion undivided in the middle and with short posterolateral processes; tergite X ( Fig. 114 ) flattened and of oval shape, approximately 1.5 times as long as antero-median portion of tergite IX.

Comparative notes: Among the species of the L. pectinatum group, L. hebes is characterized particularly by the

distinctive shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus and additionally by the shapes and chaetotaxy of the male sternites VII and VIII.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in the southwestern Dhaulagiri range, Central Nepal ( Map 2 ), at an altitude of 3000 m. The holotype is distinctly teneral.

Figures

Map 2:Distributions of Lathrobium species inNepal:L. flexaculeatum (white square),L. rectaculeatum (blackstar),L. curvaculeatum (white star), L. hebes (black square), L. imberbe (black triangle), L. plicatum (black diamond), L. calcaratum (circles; white circles: new records; black circle: type locality), L. fodens (white triangles), L. aculeatum (white diamonds).

Figs 97–114: Lathrobium curvaculeatum sp. n. (97–105) and L. hebes sp. n. (106–114): habitus (97, 106); forebody (98, 107); male metatibia (99); male sternite VII (100, 108); male sternite VIII (101, 109); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (102–103, 110–111); female sternite VIII (104, 113); female tergites IX–X (105, 114); apical portion of ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (112). Scale bars: 97–98, 106–107: 1.0 mm; 99–105, 108–111, 113–114: 0.5 mm; 112: 0.2 mm.