Pseudolathra atroflava, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, A revision of Palaearctic, Oriental, and New Guinean Pseudolathra. VI. Four new species, two new syonymies, and additional records (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 53 (1), pp. 451-463 : 456-461

Pseudolathra atroflava nov.sp. (Figs 7-9, 17-18)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♁: " WEST PAPUA: Foja Mountains , cloud forest, 1000 m, leaf litter, sifting between rocks, 2°27'47.34''S, 138°45'47.56''E, leg. T. Mainda 01.06.2019 / Holotypus ♁ Pseudolathra atroflava sp. n., det. V. Assing 2021" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective composed of the Latin adjectives atra (black) and flava (yellow). It alludes to the bicoloured elytra.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 6.2 mm; length of forebody 3.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 7. Colouration: body blackish with the anterior two-thirds of the elytra reddishyellow; legs blackish-brown with brown tarsi; antennae basally blackish, gradually becoming paler towards apex, apical antennomeres brown.

Figs 1-6: Pseudolathra brevalata (1-3) and P. maindai (4-6): (1, 4) habitus; (2, 5) forebody; (3, 6) aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-2, 4-5: 1.0 mm; 3, 6: 0.2 mm.

Figs 7-12: Pseudolathra atroflava (7-9) and P. brevirimata (10-12): (7, 10) habitus; (8, 11) forebody; (9, 12) aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 7-8, 10-11: 1.0 mm; 9, 12: 0.2 mm.

Figs 13-18: Pseudolathra brevalata (13-14), P. maindai (15-16), and P. atroflava (17-18): (13, 15, 17) male sternite VII; (14, 16, 18) male sternite VIII. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Head (Fig. 8) transverse, 1.22 times as broad as long; dorsal surface weakly convex in cross-section, with few coarse punctures near eyes and with two pairs of coarse punctures between eyes, otherwise impunctate; microsculpture absent. Eyes large and bulging, approximately four times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 2.7 mm long.

Pronotum (Fig. 8) transverse, 1.07 times as broad as long and as broad as head, broadest in anterior half, and depressed; lateral margins weakly converging posteriorly; disc with a dorsal series of five coarse punctures on either side of middle and few coarse punctures laterally, otherwise impunctate; microsculpture absent.

Elytra (Fig. 8) 1.1 times as long as pronotum; disc dorsally with two series of coarse and three series of fine punctures; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings not examined, but probably present.

Abdomen with fine and sparse punctation; interstices with distinct microsculpture composed of a mix of transverse striae and transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♁: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated; sternite VII (Fig. 17) strongly transverse, with very sparse pubescence and broadly concave posterior margin, the latter with a short series of modified stout black setae on either side; sternite VIII (Fig. 18) with narrow and deep posterior excision reaching middle of sternite; aedeagus 0.83 mm long and shaped as in Fig. 9.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Like P. maindai , P. atroflava belongs to the P. nigerrima group. The new spccies differs from other New Guinean representatives of this group particularly by the colouration of the elytra and the male sexual characters. For illustrations of other Pseulolathra species recorded from New Guinea see ASSING (2014) and ROUGEMONT (2015).

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 Foja Mountains in northern Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia. The holotype was sifted from leaf litter between rocks in a cloud forest at an altitude of 1000 m.