Neosclerus biaculeatus, Assing, 2014

Assing, V., 2014, A revision of Neosclerus CAMERON IV. Two new species and additional records from Taiwan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 46 (2), pp. 1097-1101 : 1099-1101

Neosclerus biaculeatus nov.sp. ( Figs 5 -18)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Taiwan, Nantou, Maimu , litter, 1600 m, 30.iii.2002, leg. Hiroshi Sugaya / Holotypus Neosclerus biaculeatus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2014" ( MNHUB) . Paratypes: 66 exs.: same data as holotype ( MNHUB, cAss) ; 3 exs.: " Taiwan, Nantou, Nanshanchi , 800 m, 27.x.2000, leg. H. Sugaya " ( MNHUB, cAss) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) refers to the pair of needleshaped structures in the internal sac of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.2-4.3 mm; length of forebody 1.7-2.0 mm. Coloration: head blackish; pronotum brown to blackish-brown; elytra brown to dark-brown, often with the margins dark-reddish; abdomen blackish-brown, usually with reddishbrown apex; legs yellowish; antennae reddish. External characters as in other micropterous representatives of the N. hlavaci group from Taiwan.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 8 ) weakly transverse and with dense pubescence, posterior margin weakly concave in the middle, near this concavity with ill-defined cluster of dense and weakly modified short setae ( Fig. 9 ); sternite VIII ( Figs 10-11 ) weakly transverse, anteri- orly with pair of relatively broadly separated carinae, median portion extensively without setae, posterior excision moderately deep, moderately broad, and nearly V-shaped; aedeagus ( Figs 12-15 ) approximately 0.7 mm long and with ventral process of distinctive shape; internal sac with pair of long, semi-transparent needle-shaped structures.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Among the Taiwanese representatives of the N. hlavaci group, the secondary sexual characters of N. biaculeatus most resemble those of N. atsushii SHIBATA, 1992 , from which the new species is readily distinguished particularly by the completely different shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus. For illustrations of N. atsushii see ASSING (2011).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The species was found in two localities, Maimu (not identified) and Nanshanchi (= Nan-shan-hsi; 24°00'N, 121°04'E) in Nantou Hsien at altitudes of 800 and 1600 m. At least the specimens from the type locality were collected from leaf litter .

Figures

Figs 1-7: Neosclerus brevispinosus nov.sp.: (1) forebody; (2) male sternite VII; (3) postero-median portion of male sternite VII; (4) male sternite VIII in ventral view; (5) male sternite VIII in lateral view; (6) aedeagus in lateral view; (7) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2, 4-7: 0.2 mm; 3: 0.1 mm.

Figs 8-15: Neosclerus biaculeatus nov.sp.: (8) male sternite VII; (9) postero-median portion of male sternite VII; (10) male sternite VIII in ventral view; (11) male sternite VIII in lateral view; (12-13) aedeagus in lateral view (12: Maimu; 13: Nanshanchi); (14-15) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view (14: Maimu; 15: Nanshanchi). Scale bars: 8, 10-15: 0.2 mm; 9: 0.1 mm.