Paraneseuthia morobensis, Jałoszyński, 2019

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2019, Four new Australo-Oriental species of Paraneseuthia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 59 (2), pp. 491-498 : 496

Paraneseuthia morobensis sp. nov.

( Figs 4 , 11–12 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♂, PAPUA NEW GUINEA: MOROBE PROVINCE: two labels: ʻPAPUA NG: Morobe / Mt.Mission,Bitoi Rd / 1350m, 2.V.1992 / G. Cuccodoro #6A’ [white, printed], ʻ PARANESEUTHIA / morobensis / det. P. Jałoszyński, 2019 / HOLOTYPUS’ [red, printed] ( MHNG). PARATYPES: 3 ♀♀, same data as for holotype ( MHNG, cPJ).

Diagnosis. Body strongly convex; in male frons between eyes with pair of indistinct, tiny and shallow punctures with diffuse margins separated by space much wider than their diameters; pronotum lacking transverse antebasal groove; punctures on elytra superficial, inconspicuous; aedeagus with median lobe broadest between base and middle, with pair of broad and relatively short lateral apical projections, each with its apical portion strongly curved mesad, so that apices overlap at middle; endophallus lacking elongate sclerites; parameres slender, each bent near middle at an obtuse angle and with one apical seta.

Description. Male. Body ( Fig. 4 ) suboval, strongly convex; BL 1.09 mm; cuticle glossy, brown, appendages indistinctly lighter, setae light brown.

Head broadest at eyes, HL 0.14 mm, HW 0.25 mm; vertex and frons confluent; frons between eyes with pair of indistinct, shallow and barely noticeable punctures with diffuse margins, each puncture slightly closer to the other one than to eye, distance between pits much wider than their diameters; elongate median area between pits indistinctly more convex than sides of frons; vertex transverse, weakly convex. Supraantennal tubercles weakly elevated. Punctures on frons and vertex fine, inconspicuous, cuticle glossy; setae short, suberect, sparse. Eyes large, only slightly bean-shaped, strongly convex. Antennae short, AnL 0.48 mm; antennomeres 1–2 each elongate, 3 slightly elongate, 4–8 each about as long as broad, 9 and 10 indistinctly transverse, 11 much broader than 10, about 1.7× as long as broad.

Pronotum in dorsal view semi-oval, broadest near middle, PL 0.30 mm, PW 0.41 mm; anterior margin broadly rounded and confluent with lateral margins; sides strongly rounded in posterior third, weakly so in posterior half, weakly convergent posterad in posterior third; posterior pronotal corners obtuse-angled and blunt; posterior margin in front of scutellar base straight, at each side indistinctly concave and slightly bent anterad; lateral antebasal impressions developed as well-defined, deep and weakly elongate pits, each accompanied by tiny distinct pit closer to lateral margin than to middle, pits not connected by transverse groove. Punctures on pronotal disc very fine, inconspicuous, cuticle glossy; setae short, sparse, nearly recumbent or only slightly suberect.

Elytra together oval, broadest near anterior third, EL 0.65 mm, EW 0.50 mm, EI 1.30; humeral calli small, elongate, elytral apices separately, broadly rounded. Punctures much larger than those on pronotum but superficial and with diffuse margins, inconspicuous; setae sparse, short, nearly recumbent or only slightly suberect.

Legs moderately long and slender; unmodified, protibiae nearly straight.

Aedeagus ( Figs 11–12 ) drop-shaped, moderately stout, AeL 0.20 mm, median lobe in ventral view broadest between base and middle, strongly narrowing distad, with pair of short and broad lateral apical projections, each with distal region strongly curved mesad, their apices overlap at middle; endophallus lacking darkly sclerotized components; parameres slender, in lateral view each recurved, each with one apical seta.

Female. Externally very similar to male, lacking pair of punctures on frons and with slightly stouter elytra. BL 0.99–1.06 mm (mean 1.03 mm); HL 0.11–0.14 mm (mean 0.13 mm), HW 0.23 mm, AnL 0.45 mm; PL 0.28–0.33 mm (mean 0.30 mm), PW 0.38–0.41 mm (mean 0.40 mm); EL 0.60 mm, EW 0.48–0.50 mm (mean 0.49 mm), EI 1.20–1.26.

Etymology. After the Morobe Province; adjective.

Distribution. Papua New Guinea, east-central area of Morobe Province.

Remarks. Paraneseuthia morobensis is another unremarkable species that can be unambiguously identified only by examination of the male genitalia. The aedeagus, which is remotely similar to those of the sympatric P. levigata Jałoszyński, 2010 and the geographically distant P. quadrifoveata Jałoszyński, 2010 of Borneo, Sabah, has a pair of broad apical lobes curved mesad and with slightly overlapping apices; this character is not known in any other species of Paraneseuthia . The remaining known New Guinean species, P. devia Jałoszyński, 2008 and P. guineana Jałoszyński, 2009 , have conspicuously slender and asymmetrical aedeagi, strongly differing from the stout and symmetrical copulatory organ of P. morobensis .

Figures

Figs 1–4. Dorsal habitus of male holotypes. 1 – Paraneseuthia luzonica sp. nov.; 2 – P. kaibesariana sp. nov.; 3 – P. tanimbariana sp. nov.; 4 – P. morobensis sp. nov.

Figs 5–12. Aedeagus in ventral (5, 7, 9, 11) and lateral (6, 8, 10, 12) views. 5–6 – Paraneseuthia luzonica sp. nov.; 7–8 – P. kaibesariana sp. nov.; 9–10 – P. tanimbariana sp. nov.; 11–12 – P. morobensis sp. nov.