Paederus (Harpopaederus) cultellatus, Assing, 2015

Assing, Volker, 2015, On the Harpopaederus fauna of China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (1), pp. 163-190 : 177-180

Paederus (Harpopaederus) cultellatus nov.sp. ( Figs 55-62 , Map 3 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " CHINA (border Shaanxi-Sichuan [today Chongqing]), Daba Shan, 20 km SSE Zhenping 1700-1800 m, 31°44'N, 109°35'E (small creek vall., young mixed forest, leaf litt., moss-, 9./ 12.VII.2001 Wrase [07] / Paederus gracilacutus Li & Zhou , det. Willers 9.08 / Paederus brevior Li & al., det. M. Schülke 2015 / Holotypus 3 Paederus cultellatus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2015" (cAss). Paratypes: 333: same data as holotype (cSch, cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun cultellus (small knife) and alludes to the shape of the apical internal structure of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 10.0- 11.5 mm; length of forebody 5.0- 5.2 mm. Coloration: head black; pronotum bright to dark reddish; elytra metallic-blue; scutellum reddish; abdomen bicoloured with segments III-VI pale-reddish and segments VII-X black; legs dark-yellowish, with the apical halves of the femora blackish; antennae and maxillary palpi dark-yellowish; labial palpi uniformly yellowish or with the basal palpomeres brown.

Head ( Fig. 55 ) transverse, approximately 1.15 times as broad as long; punctation rather fine and sparse in median and anterior dorsal portions, slightly less sparse and with interspersed coarser punctures in lateral and posterior dorsal portions; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes slightly more than half as long as postocular region from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna 3.1-3.2 mm long; antennomere IV approximately twice as long as broad; antennomere X approximately 1.5 times as long as broad. Anterior margin of labrum in the middle with broadly U-shaped excision, on either side of this incision with a more or less distinct tooth ( Fig. 56 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 55 ) approximately 1.1 times as long as broad and as broad as head, strongly convex in cross-section; dorsal series each composed of approximately 10 punctures; lateral portions with sparse and fine punctation.

Elytra ( Fig. 55 ) approximately 0.7 times as long as pronotum; punctation moderately coarse and dense; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen approximately 1.1 times as broad as elytra; punctation moderately fine and moderately dense; pubescence rather short and brownish; interstices with fine and transverse microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated; tergite VIII strongly convex posteriorly; posterior margin of sternite VII not distinctly concave in the middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 57 ) about as broad as long, posterior excision nearly 0.6 times as deep as length of sternite, posterior margin on either side of this incision strongly oblique; aedeagus ( Figs 58-62 ) approximately 2.4 mm long; ventral process very weakly sclerotized; dorsal plate long, basally rather broad, gradually tapering apicad, and with long and slender apical portion, apically weakly curved dorsad and reaching far beyond apices of parameres, dorsally with two rows of 2-6 denticles; internal sac with a basal clip-shaped structure and a long (ca. 0.85 mm) dagger-shaped, apically acute, and moderately sclerotized apical structure ( Fig. 62 ).

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the similar morphology of the aedeagus, P. cultellatus is closely allied to P. agnatus and particularly to P. konfuzius , suggesting that the unknown female secondary sexual characters are similar, too. It differs from both species by the longer aedeagus with a longer narrow apical portion of the dorsal plate, and additionally as follows:

from P. konfuzius (aedeagus 2.0- 2.1 mm long) by the yellowish tibiae, on average slightly smaller eyes, the apex of the dorsal plate of the aedeagus reaching much farther beyond the apices of the parameres, and by the larger and longer apical internal structure of the aedeagus ( P. konfuzius : internal structure 0.65-0.70 mm long and more slender);

from P. agnatus (aedeagus approximately 1.9 mm long) by the deeper posterior incision of the male sternite VIII, the apex of the dorsal plate extending slightly farther beyond the apices of the parameres, and particularly by the much more strongly sclerotized and differently shaped apical internal structure of the aedeagus.

The new species is distinguished from the rather widespread P. gracilacutus (aedeagus of similar length) by slightly smaller eyes, by the deeper posterior incision of the male sternite VIII, by the less slender and apically less acute dorsal plate ( P. gracilacutus : apex of dorsal plate extending even farther beyond the apices of the parameres), and by the much more strongly sclerotized and differently shaped apical internal structure of the aedeagus. For illustrations of P. agnatus , P. konfuzius , and P. gracilacutus see Figs 1-29 , 54 and PENG et al. (2015), respectively.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The type locality is situated in the border region between the provinces Shaanxi, Hubei, and Chongqing ( Map 3 ). The specimens were sifted from leaf litter and moss in a young mixed forest at an altitude of 1700-1800 m.

Figures

Map 3: Distributions of Harpopaederus species in the Qinling Shan and the Daba Shan in Shaanxi, Hubei, North Sichuan, and Chongqing (some doubtful female-based literature records omitted): Paederus xui (filled diamonds); P. konfuzius (open stars); P. brevior (triangles); P. lineodenticulatus (open circles); P. cultellatus (filled triangle); P. apfelsinicus (filled circles); P. multidenticulatus (open triangle).

Figs 55-62: Paederus cultellatus nov.sp.: (55) forebody; (56) head; (57) male sternite VIII; (58-60) aedeagus in lateral, ventral, and dorsal view; (61) apical portion of aedeagus in lateral view; (62) internal structures of aedeagus in dorsal view. Scale bars: 55: 1.0 mm; 56-62: 0.5 mm.

Figs 1-12: Paederus agnatus EPPELSHEIM: aedeagus of males from the Chengxian region (1-3), the region to the southwest of Longnan (4-9), and from the region to the northwest of Longnan (10-12) in lateral (1, 4, 7, 10), ventral (2, 5, 8, 11), and in dorsal view (3, 6, 9, 12). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

Figs 13-23: Paederus agnatus from the Chengxian (13, 15, 17, 20, 22) and Longnan regions (14, 16, 18-19, 21, 23): (13-14) male sternite VIII; (15-16) apex of aedeagus in lateral view; (17-19) internal structure of aedeagus in dorsal view (dorsal plate removed in 17-18); (20) female tergite VIII; (21) apex of female tergite VIII; (22-23) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 13-14, 20-23: 1.0 mm; 15-19: 0.5 mm.

Figs 24-29: Paederus agnatus from Shaanxi: (24) aedeagus in ventral view; (25) aedeagus in lateral view; (26) aedeagus in dorsal view; (27) aedeagus without dorsal plate and internal structures in ventral view; (28) dorsal plate in dorsal view; (27) internal structures of aedeagus. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Figs 46-54: Paederus minicus nov.sp. (46-53) and P. agnatus from Shaanxi (54): (46) forebody; (47) head; (48, 54) male sternite VIII; (49-51) aedeagus in lateral, ventral, and dorsal view; (52) apical portion of aedeagus in dorsal view; (53) apical portion of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 46: 1.0 mm; 47-54: 0.5 mm.