Lathrobium liuae Peng and Li

Peng, Zhong, Li, Li-Zhen & Zhao, Mei-Jun, 2014, Seventeen new species and additional records of Lathrobium (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) from mainland China, Zootaxa 3780 (1), pp. 1-35 : 2-4

Lathrobium liuae Peng and Li , new species

( Figs 1 A, 2)

Type material (1 ♂, 3♀♀). HOLOTYPE: ♂, labeled ‘ CHINA: Heilongjiang Prov., Huma County, near Hongwei Town, 51°57'N 123°42'E, 15.vii.2009 alt. 580 m, Li & Liu leg.’ ( SNUC). Paratypes: 3 ♀♀, same label data as holotype ( SNUC).

Description. Measurements (in mm) and ratios: BL 4.45–5.50, FL 2.00–2.22, HL 0.60–0.65, HW 0.61–0.65, AnL 1.18–1.24, PL 0.74–0.76, PW 0.61–0.63, EL 0.59–0.61, AL 0.91, HL/HW 0.98–1.00, HW/PW 1.00–1.03, HL/PL 0.81–0.86, PL/PW 1.20–1.21, EL/PL 0.79–0.80.

Habitus as in Fig. 1 A. Body light brown, legs yellowish brown, antennae light brown.

Head approximately as long as broad, distinctly dilated posteriorly; punctation moderately coarse and rather sparse, and slightly sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Eyes 0.26–0.30 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view and composed of approximately 30 ommatidia.

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

Elytra moderately short; punctation sparse, shallow, and often weakly defined. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsi without appreciable sexual dimorphism, moderately dilated in both sexes.

Abdomen with moderately fine and moderately dense punctation, that of tergite VII somewhat sparser than that of anterior tergites; interstices with fine and shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII without sexual dimorphism, posterior margin ( Fig. 2 A) indistinctly pointed in the middle in both sexes.

Male. Sternites III–VI unmodified; sternite VII ( Fig. 2 D) moderately transverse, in posterior median portion with relatively sparse and weakly modified dark setae, posterior margin weakly concave; sternite VIII ( Fig. 2 E) weakly transverse, with shallow postero-median impression, this impression without pubescence in the middle, posterior excision weakly asymmetric and in slightly asymmetric position, 0.13 times as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 2 F, G) moderately slender, and asymmetric in basal half; ventral process apically distinctly bifid, asymmetrically V-shaped; dorsal plate reduced; internal sac without appreciable structures, aside from a membranous ring-shaped structure.

Female. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 2 B) longer than tergite VIII, posterior margin convexly produced; tergite IX ( Fig. 2 C) with moderately long postero-lateral processes, antero-median portion with suture; tergite X 2.0 times as long as antero-median portion of tergite IX ( Fig. 2 C).

Comparative notes. Based on the morphology of the aedeagus and the male secondary sexual characters, L. liuae is closely related to L. rubicundulum Ryvkin, 2007 and allied species, which are distributed in the Far East, and which were attributed to the L. sibiricum group by Ryvkin (2007). Lathrobium liuae is distinguished from L. rubicundulum Ryvkin, 2007 by the slender habitus, lighter coloration and a differently shaped ventral process of the aedeagus. For illustrations of the male and female sexual characters of other species the L. sibiricum group see Ryvkin (2007) and Assing (in press).

Distribution and biological notes. The type locality is situated near Hongwei to the west of Huma, northwestern Heilongjiang. The specimens were collected by sifting leaf litter from the floor of a birch forest at an altitude of 580 m (Liu, pers. comm.).

Etymology. The species is named after Tian-Tian Liu, who collected some of the type specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus of Lathrobium spp., A — L. liuae; B — L. ningxiaense; C — L. baiyunense. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 2. Lathrobium liuae. 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. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.