Leptusa (Aphaireleptusa) gonggana, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, New species and additional records of Leptusa from the Palaearctic region, with a focus on the faunas of China and the Caucasus region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 71 (1), pp. 103-126 : 115-116

Leptusa (Aphaireleptusa) gonggana spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:063A3FD3-32D8-4F48-AABA-5AB12CF1A686

( Figs 4 , 14 , 30, 33–38)

Type material: Holotype : “P. R. CHINA, Sichuan, NE slope Gongga Shan, N 29°50'05" E 102°02'53", 11.vi.2011, 3019 m, sift15, V. Grebennikov / Holotypus  Leptusa gonggana sp. n. det. V . Assing 2020” ( CAS). Paratypes: 2 exs.: same data as holotype ( CNC, cAss) ; 1 ex.: “P. R. CHINA, Sichuan, NE slope Gongga Shan, N 29°53'23" E 102°01'31", 8.vi.2011, 3886 m, sift13, V . Grebennikov ” ( CNC) ; 1 ex.: “P. R. CHINA, Sichuan, NE slope Gongga Shan, N 29°52'10" E 102°02'01", 12.vi.2011, 3620 m, sift16, V . Grebennikov ” ( CNC) ; 1 ex.: “P. R. CHINA, Sichuan, NE slope Gongga Shan, N 29°47'49" E 102°03'46", 14.vi.2011, 2684 m, sift18, V . Grebennikov ” (cAss) ; 1 ex.: “P. R. CHINA, Sichuan, NE slope Gongga Shan, N 29°50'50" E 102°02'28", 18.vi.2011, 3170 m, sift21, V . Grebennikov ” (cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the name of the mountain where the species was discovered.

Description: Body length 2.5–2.9 mm; length of forebody 1.2–1.3 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 17 . Colouration: body black; legs reddish; antennae blackish-brown with the basal three antennomeres reddish.

Head ( Fig. 18 ) transverse; punctation moderately coarse, dense, moderately umbilicate; interstices narrower than diameter of punctures, with microsculpture. Eyes at least as long as postocular region in lateral view. Antenna slen- der, gradually and weakly incrassate apically, preapical antennomeres approximately 1.5 times as broad as long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 18 ) 1.20–1.25 times as broad as long and approximately 1.25 times as broad as head; maximal width in anterior half; lateral margins sinuate in posterior half; posterior angles angularly marked; punctation dense, moderately coarse, and somewhat asperate, weakly defined; interstices with microreticulation.

Elytra ( Fig. 18 ) approximately 0.9 times as long as pronotum; punctation coarse, rather dense, and defined; interstices with very shallow microreticulation. Hind wings present or reduced to short stubs.

Abdomen slightly broader than elytra; punctation fine and moderately dense, coarse and dense in anterior impressions of tergites III–VI; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VII without sexual dimorphism.

: tergite VIII (Fig. 19) with weakly concave posterior margin; sternite VII posteriorly broadly and distinctly concave, with long marginal setae; posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely angled in the middle (Fig. 20); median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.35 mm long, shaped as in Figs 21–22; apical lobe of paramere of similar shape as in L. chinensis .

: tergite VIII (Fig. 23) with truncate posterior margin; posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly, obtusely angled in the middle (Fig. 24); spermatheca ( Fig. 16 ) not distinctive.

Comparative notes: Leptusa gonggana is reliably distinguished from the similar L. gansuensis only by a smaller aedeagus of different shape ( L. gansuensis : median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.45 mm long). For illustrations of L. gansuensis see PACE (1997).

Distribution and natural history: The specimens were sifted in several close localities in Gongga Shan, West Sichuan, at altitudes of 2680–3890 m.

Figures

Figs 1–8: Male habitusof Leptusaspp.1 – L.excisa; 2 – L.grandipennis; 3– L.auriculata; 4– L.gonggana; 5– L.emeiana; 6 – L. jizuica;

Figs 9–18: Male habitus (9–11) and forebody (12–18) of Leptusa spp. 9, 15 – L. habana; 10 – L. monscangi; 11 – L. pathibarana; 12 – L. excisa; 13 – L. grandipennis; 14 – L. gonggana; 16 – L. auriculata; 17 – L. jizuica; 18 – L. desculpens. Scale bars:9–16: 1.0 mm; 17–18: 0.5 mm.