Domene sagittata, Assing & Feldmann, 2014

Assing, V. & Feldmann, B., 2014, On Domene scabripennis ROUGEMONT and its close relatives (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 46 (1), pp. 499-514 : 509-510

Domene sagittata nov.sp.

( Figs 27-34 , Map 1 )

Type material Holotype: " VIETNAM Lao Cai, ca 40 km SE Sapa, 1400 m, 15- 16.II.05, G. de Rougemont leg. / Holotypus Domene sagittata sp.n., det. V. Assing 2013" ( cRou).

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun sagitta (arrow) and refers to the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus (ventral view), which somewhat resembles an arrowhead.

Description: Body length 10.5 mm; length of forebody 6.0 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 27 . Coloration: body black; legs blackish, with slightly paler tarsi; antennae blackish-brown.

Head ( Fig. 28 ) approximately as long as broad, widest across eyes, and convexly tapering behind eyes in dorsal view; frons somewhat domed and glossy in the middle; punctation ( Fig. 29 ) relatively fine, weakly umbilicate, and very dense, interstices forming narrow ridges. Antenna 3.9 mm long; antennomere X nearly twice as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 28 ) 1.23 times as long as broad and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head, widest at anterior angles and distinctly tapering posteriad; lateral margins nearly straight in the middle in dorsal view; punctation similar to that of head; midline with rudiment of a fine glossy line.

Elytra ( Fig. 28 ) long, approximately as long as pronotum, each elytron with irregular longitudinal, narrowly elevated ridges; suture elevated in posterior three fourths; macropunctation ( Fig. 30 ) moderately coarse and partly somewhat seriate; interstices with irregular micropunctation, otherwise not microsculptured. Hind wings probably present. Protarsomeres I-IV rather weakly dilated.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra; anterior impressions of tergites III-VI not very coarsely sculptured; punctation extremely fine and extremely dense on tergites III-VIII; interstices with distinct microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VIII with convex posterior margin.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 31 ) with weakly modified pubescence, in postero-median portion with some darker setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 32 ) with shallow median impression with unmodified pubescence and with rather shallow posterior excision, on either side of posterior excision with cluster of short dark setae; aedeagus ( Figs 33-34 ) approximately 1.15 mm long; ventral process slender and weakly curved in lateral view, and somewhat shaped like an arrowhead in ventral view; dorsal plate lamellate and moderately sclerotized, with long apical and practically obsolete basal portion.

: unknown

Comparative notes: The similar chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII and the slender ventral process of the aedeagus suggest that D. sagittata is closely related to the lineage D. immarginata + ( D. scabripennis + D. alesiana ). It is readily distinguished from these species by the finer punctation of the head and the pronotum, the different shape of the frons, the much longer elytra, the shallower posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, and by the different shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in North Vietnam ( Map 1 ), not far from the border with Yunnan, to the southeast of Sapa [= Sa Pa]. The holotype was collected at an altitude of 1400 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of the species of the Domene scabripennis group: D. immarginata (white circles), D. sagittata (black diamond), D. scabripennis (black triangle), D. alesiana (white triangle), and D. firmicornis (black circle).

Figs 27-35: Domene sagittata nov.sp. (27-34) and D. immarginata nov.sp. (35): (27) habitus; (28) forebody; (29) median dorsal portion of head; (30) sutural portion of elytra; (31) male sternite VII; (32) male sternite VIII; (33) aedeagus in lateral view; (34) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view; (35) female tergites IX-X. Scale bars: 27-28: 1.0 mm; 31-35: 0.5 mm; 29-30: 0.2 mm.