Anthobium brunkei, Shavrin, 2025

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2025, A revision of eastern Palaearctic Anthobium Leach, 1819 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini). IX. Thirteen new species and records from China and the Himalayan Region, Zootaxa 5728 (1), pp. 47-78 : 49-51

Anthobium brunkei sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 7, 8 , 13 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ ( Fig. 1 ): NEPAL: ‘NEPAL Khandbari | Distr. Ridge NE Mang- | maya 2800m 7. IV. 84 | Smetana & Löbl’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Anthobium | brunkei sp. nov. ’ <red, printed> ( CNC).

Paratypes: 9 ♂♂ ( three specimens dissected), 7 ♀♀: same data as the holotype ( 7 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: CNC; 1 ♂, 1 ♀: cSh; 1 ♂, 1 ♀: NMW); 1 ♂: ‘ NEPAL Khandbari | Distr. Induwa Khola | Valley | 2850m 15.IV. | 84 Smetana & Löbl’ <printed> ( CNC). All paratypes with additional red printed label: ‘ PARATYPE | Anthobium | brunkei sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’.

Description. Measurements (n=18): HL: 0.42–0.52; HW: 0.65–0.72; AL: 1.43 ( holotype); OL: 0.20–0.22; LT: 0.05–0.06; PL: 0.53–0.64; PW: 1.02–1.32; ESL: 1.30–1.50; EW: 1.45–1.55; AW: 1.15–1.18; MTbL: 0.77 ( holotype); MTrL ( holotype): 0.28 (MTrL 1–4: 0.18; MTrL 5: 0.10); AedL: 0.42–0.50; BL: 2.60–3.45 ( holotype).

Body short, with convex and broad pronotum and elytra ( Fig. 1 ). Forebody glossy; body yellow-brown to reddish-brown, with distinctly darker head and paler lateral portions of pronotum and elytra; antennomeres 3–11 or 4–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–2 or 1–3 and legs yellowish. Head with indistinct microsculpture, transverse on frontal and diagonal in middle and on infraorbital portions; neck without distinct meshes in middle; pronotum, scutellum and elytra without meshes; abdominal tergites with fine transverse microsculpture. Head with sparse punctation, finer and sparser in frontal portion, irregular, larger and deeper in middle part and on infraorbital portions (several paratypes without visible punctures in frontal part), punctures usually located at sides of anteocellar foveae and between them; neck with sparse and fine punctures, indistinct or invisible in middle; punctation of pronotum denser, larger and deeper than that in middle of head, denser in medioapical part, finer and sparser in middle or mediobasal portions, several paratypes with impunctate mediobasal part; visible part of scutellum with several fine punctures or without them; punctation of elytra moderately dense, larger and deeper in middle, finer, denser and coarser around scutellum, usually finer and sparser along suture, each elytron bearing six to seven very tangled and vague longitudinal rows of punctures; abdominal tergites without visible punctures.

Head with slightly elevated middle potion, 1.3–1.5 times as broad as long; anteriomedian depressions moderately deep and wide; anteocellar foveae narrow and relatively deep, slightly convergent anteriad toward level of middle length of eyes or slightly longer; postocular ridges distinct, obtuse, with interspaces between posterior margin of eyes and ridge about as long as diameters of two nearest ommatidia; each anterior portion between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with wide semicircular notch. Ocelli large, located at level of posterior margins of eyes. Eyes large and convex. Maxillary palpomeres elongate, with long apical palpomere, about four times as long as preceding segment, from middle gradually narrowed toward subacute apex. Antenna reaching basal third of elytra when reclined; basal antennomere about three times as long as broad, antennomere 2 distinctly narrower and shorter than basal antennomere, 3 slightly shorter and narrower than 2, 4 distinctly shorter and slightly broader than 3, 5 slightly longer than 4, 6–7 slightly broader than 5, 8–10 slightly shorter and broader than 7, apical antennomere about twice as long as and slightly broader than 10, from middle gradually narrowed toward obtuse or subacute apex.

Pronotum with strongly elevated middle, about twice as broad as long, widest in middle, gradually narrowed both anteriad and posteriad; posterior angles obtuse or somewhat acute, with slightly concave laterobasal margins; apical angles slightly or strongly protruded anteriad, widely rounded; anterior margin widely rounded, distinctly protruded anteriad, shorter than rounded posterior margin; middle portion with wide impression in mediobasal third, indistinct in two paratypes, three paratypes with additional indistinct and narrow impression in middle; lateral portions widely impressed and distinctly explanate, each lateral edge without or with fine crenulation; each lateral parts with wide and deep oval pit in middle.

Elytra strongly elevated, distinctly broader than long, strongly broadened posteriad, more than twice as long as pronotum, with widely rounded apical angles, reaching abdominal tergites V–VII; mediobasal and middle half of each elytron with irregular diagonal and longitudinal elevations between punctures; lateral portions relatively narrow, sightly explanate; lateral margins with distinct crenulation, denser and more acute in laterobasal parts, more flattened and reduced about middle. Hind wings fully developed.

Legs moderately long and slender, with dense and long spines on outer and inner margins of tibiae, larger and denser on pro- and mesotibiae; metatarsi distinctly more than twice shorter than metatibia.

Abdomen convex, distinctly narrower than elytra, with a pair of indistinct transverse tomentose spots in middle of abdominal tergite V (invisible in some paratypes), with narrow palisade fringe on margin of abdominal tergite VII.

Male. Protarsomeres 1–4 slightly broadened. Posterior margins of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII slightly sinuate. Aedeagus with wide basal part, gradually narrowed toward truncate apex; parameres slightly exceeding apex of median lobe, with broadened preapical portion, each narrowed toward rounded apex, with two short apical and two preapical setae; internal sac narrow and long, spirally folded in basal portion ( Fig. 7 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 8 .

Female. Protarsomeres 1–4 narrow. Posterior margins of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII truncate.

Comparative notes. Based on the general shape and the length of the body, and the presence of indistinct crenulation on lateral edges of the pronotum, A. brunkei sp. nov. is similar to Chinese A. auritum Shavrin, 2020 and A. kabaki Shavrin, 2020 . It can be distinguished from A. auritum by the sparser punctation of the pronotum and the elytra, the slightly broader pronotum, more widely rounded anteriad, and significantly narrower apical parts of the parameres. It differs from A. kabaki by the paler coloration and the narrower forebody, larger and sparser punctation of the pronotum and the elytra, slightly longer antennomeres 8–10, narrower apical part of the median lobe, and broader apical parts of the parameres. From both species, A. brunkei sp. nov. can be distinguished by details of external and internal morphology of the aedeagus.

Distribution. Anthobium brunkei sp. nov. is known from two localities in Koshi, Nepal ( Fig. 13 ).

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevations from 2800 to 2850 m a.s.l. The detailed bionomical data are unknown.

Etymology. Patronymic, the species is named to honour my colleague Adam Brunke (Ottawa) for making Omaliinae material from CNC available for the present study.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Distribution of Anthobium brunkei (circles), A. cribrarium (square), A. fortecarinatum (triangles) and A. sculpturatum (diamonds) in Nepal.

FIGURES 1–6. Habitus of Anthobium: 1—A. brunkei (holotype), 2—A. cribrarium (holotype), 3—A. flaviculum (holotype), 4—A. fortericarinatum (holotype), 5—A. gracilipalpe (Nepal: Mere Dara), 6—A. sculpturatum (holotype). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 7–12. Aedeagus of Anthobium (Figs 7–8—A. brunkei (paratype), Figs 9–10—A. cribrarium (paratype), 11–12—A. flaviculum (paratype)): 7, 9, 11—aedeagus, parameral view, 8, 10, 12—aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.