Neuraphes (Pararaphes) sichuanus, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2015, Three new species of Neuraphes in eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 3972 (2), pp. 291-300 : 292-293

Neuraphes (Pararaphes) sichuanus sp. n.

( Figs 1 , 5–7 , 17 )

Holotype: CHINA (Sichuan): ♂, two labels: " CHINA: N-Sichuan [ CH 12-19] / 47 km N Songpan, road S 301 km 118, / N Gongangling pass, 33º03'15''N, / 103º43'36''E, 3390 m, spruce forest / with shrubs, litter, moss & mushrooms / sifted, 9.VIII.2012, leg. M. Schülke" [white, printed], " NEURAPHES / ( PARARAPHES ) / sichuanus m. / det. P. Jałoszyński '15 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] ( PCMS). Paratype: ♂, same data as holotype, except yellow " PARATYPUS " label (cPJ).

Diagnosis. Small species, 1.60 mm in length, bicolorous: head and pronotum dark brown, elytra and appendages lighter brown; head with barely noticeable pair of impressions; pronotum with median longitudinal carina slightly longer than 1/3 PL; each elytron with distinct apical drop-shaped and elongate convexity well demarcated from surrounding surface and located closer to suture than to posterior elytral margin; ventral plate of aedeagus with sides nearly parallel in distal half.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) strongly convex and elongate, with long appendages, BL 1.60 mm; head and pronotum dark brown, nearly black, elytra, legs except tarsi and antennae lighter brown, maxillary palps and tarsi nearly yellowish; vestiture lighter than cuticle.

Head subtriangular, broadest at eyes, HL 0.23 mm, HW 0.30; tempora very short and strongly bent mesally; vertex convex; frons with posteromedian flattening bearing indistinct traces of lateral pair of shallow impressions; supraantennal tubercles distinct; eyes large, strongly expanding laterally, coarsely faceted, in lateral view oval and vertically elongate. Punctures on vertex fine and inconspicuous, median flattening on frons with several shallow and diffused but large punctures so that surface of cuticle appears uneven; setae on vertex and frons sparse, long and erect. Antennae slender, AnL 0.78–0.80 mm, only antennomeres I, II and XI elongate, antennomeres III–VI slightly transverse and VII–IX distinctly transverse, antennomere XI slightly shorter than IX–X together, about 1.6 times as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view subtrapezoidal, broadest near anterior third but indistinctly narrowing posteriorly, PL 0.40–0.43 mm, PW 0.40–0.43 mm; anterior margin and sides in anterior third rounded, lateral margin in posterior half nearly straight, posterior corners obtuse-angled and with acute tips, posterior margin arcuate; base with distinct transverse impression connected at each side to large subtriangular lateral impression and interrupted at middle by distinct median longitudinal carina slightly longer than 1/3 of PL. Punctures on pronotal disc fine, moderately sharply marked, unevenly distributed, separated by spaces 0.5–3 times as wide as diameters of punctures. Setae on pronotal disc long, sparse and suberect.

Elytra suboval, broadest near anterior third, EL 0.95–0.98 mm, EW 0.65–0.68 mm, EI 1.41–1.50; each elytron in anterior fourth with small adsutural flattening and apical drop-shaped protuberance which is distinctly elongate and located closer to elytral suture than to posterior elytral margin, protuberance is distinctly demarcated from surrounding cuticle; basal elytral fovea located much closer to scutellum than to humerus; humeral calli moderately distinct, developed as elongate protuberances. Punctures on elytra larger than those on pronotum, shallow and with diffused margins, separated by spaces subequal to diameters of punctures; setae short, sparse and suberect. Hind wings well-developed, twice as long as elytra.

Legs long and slender; unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 5–7 ) relatively stout, AeL 0.20 mm, in ventral view gradually broadening from base to subapical region; ventral plate broad, with sharply demarcated lateral and apical margin and base indistinguishably fused with surrounding membranes, sides nearly parallel in apical half and gradually narrowing in basal half; lateral plates in lateral view with subapical constriction demarcating round apical 'head', in ventral view apical parts of lateral plates bent laterally; parameres wit broadly rounded apices.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. China, Sichuan ( Fig. 17 j).

Etymology. After the Sichuan Province.

Remarks. Among Himalayan and eastern Tibetan species of Neuraphes , several have the lateral plates of the aedeagus distinctly bent, with their apical portions projecting laterally in ventral or dorsal view. Besides N. sichuanus , also N. tuyuhun sp. n., N. taksangensis and N. pseudojumlanus have this feature. The shape of the ventral plate is the most important genital character to distinguish these species. In N. sichuanus and N. tuyuhun the ventral plate is less than twice as long as broad and basally fused with surrounding membranes, so that there is no clear basal margin, moreover it is distinctly broadening toward apex. In N. taksangensis and N. pseudojumlanus the ventral plate is more than twice as long as broad, with sharply marked basal margin and the width of apical part is not larger than near base. Neuraphes sichuanus and N. tuyuhun differ in the shape of the ventral plate, which in the former species is broad and nearly parallel-sided in apical half, while in the latter species the plate is relatively smaller and gradually broadening from base to apex. In the only known male of N. jumlanus , apices of lateral plates are broken off, but the ventral plate is parallel-sided and more than twice as long as broad.

Figures

FIGURE 17. Distribution of nominal species of Neuraphes in mountain ranges that surround Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Neuraphes aruensis Franz (a), N. jumlanus Franz (b), N. taksangensis Franz (c), N. himalayanus Franz (d), N. khumbuanus Jałoszyński (e), N. mephistopheles Jałoszyński (f), N. hengduanus Jałoszyński (g), N. tibetanus Jałoszyński (h), N. pseudojumlanus Jałoszyński (i), N. sichuanus sp. n. (j), N. tuyuhun sp. n. (k), N. miniqinghaiensis sp. n. (l), N. cf. qinghaiensis (m), N. qinghaiensis Jałoszyński (n).

FIGURES 1 – 4. Neuraphes, habitus of males: N. sichuanus sp. n. (1), N. tuyuhun sp. n. (2), N. miniqinghaiensis sp. n. (3), and N. cf. qinghaiensis (4).

FIGURES 5 – 10. Aedeagi in dorsal (5, 8), ventral (6, 9) and lateral (7, 10) views. Neuraphes sichuanus sp. n. (5 – 7), N. tuyuhun sp. n. (8 – 10).