Atheta (Microdota) minica, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, New species, synonymies, combinations, and records of micropterous Athetini from China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 71 (1), pp. 87-101 : 98-99

Atheta (Microdota) minica spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E325AF25-C1DD-441C-B7D5-AB2ACF109581

(Figs 8, 39–46)

Type material: Holotype : “ CHINA [22] – N-Sichuan, pass ENE Songpan , 4080 m, 32°44'54"N, 103°43'43"E, sifted, 10.VIII.2012, V. Assing / Holotypus  Atheta minica sp. n., det. V. Assing 2020 ” (cAss) . Paratypes: 2 , 1 : same data as holotype (cAss); 18 exs : same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB, cAss); 1 : “ CHINA: N-Sichuan [CH12-19], 47 km N Songpan , road S 301 km 118, N Gongangling pass, 33°03'15"N, 103°43'36"E, 3390 m, spruce forest with shrubs, litter, moss, & mushrooms sifted, 9. VIII .2012, leg. M. Schülke ” ( MNB); 1 : “ CHINA: N-Sichuan [CH12-24], 35 km NNW Songpan , 32°55'32"N, 103°25'56"E, 3600 m, moist N-slope with Salix and other shrubs, litter, grass roots & moss sifted, 11. VIII .2012, leg. M. Schülke ” ( MNB).

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Min Shan, the mountain where the type locality is situated.

Description: Body length 1.7–2.4 mm; length of forebody 0.8–1.0 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 8. Colouration: head blackish-brown to black; pronotum and elytra brown to dark-brown; abdomen black with segments III–IV reddish to brown and the apex (segments VIII–X) yellowish; legs yellow; antennae dark-brown to blackish-brown with the basal three antennomeres dark-yellow.

Head weakly transverse; punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable in the pronounced microreticulation. Eyes small and flat, composed of approximately ten ommatidia. Antennae moderately incrassate; antennomeres IV transverse, V–X of increasing width and increasingly transverse, X approximately twice as broad as long.

Pronotum approximately 1.2 times as broad as long and 1.2 times as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head, but somewhat denser; interstices with pronounced microreticulation; pubescence directed anteriad along midline.

Elytra approximately half as long as pronotum; punctation less fine than that of head; interstices with microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen broader than elytra; punctation very fine, moderately dense on anterior tergites and sparser on posterior tergites; interstices with microreticulation composed of predominantly transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII ( Fig. 43 ) without evident sexual dimorphism, posterior margin weakly convex.

: sternite VIII ( Fig. 42 ) weakly transverse, posterior margin strongly convex; median lobe of aedeagus 0.25– 0.27 mm long and shaped as in Figs 39–41 .

: posterior margin of sternite VIII with pronounced, V-shaped median incision and with moderately modified setae ( Fig. 44 ); spermatheca ( Figs 48–49 ) with long and slender proximal portion.

Comparative notes: Atheta minica is distinguished from other Microdota species by the primary and secondary sexual characters. For illustrations of micropterous consubgeners reported from China see ASSING (2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011) and PACE (1995, 1999, 2004).

Distribution and natural history: The species was found in three localities to the north and northwest of Songpan, Northwest Sichuan. The specimens were sifted from litter, moss, and grass roots in a slope with scree and shrubs, in a moist slope with willow and other shrubs, and in a spruce forest with shrubs at high altitudes (3390–4080 m).

Figures

Figs 33–46: Atheta clarata (33–38) and A. minica (39–46). 33–34, 39–41 – median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; 35 – male tergite VIII; 36, 42 – male sternite VIII; 37, 44 – female sternite VIII; 38, 45–46 – spermatheca; 43 – female tergite VIII. Scale bars: 35–37, 42–44: 0.2 mm; 33–34, 38–41, 45–46: 0.1 mm.

Figs 47–60: Atheta qinlingica (47–51) and A. biformis (52–60). 47–48, 52–54 – median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (54: nanistic morph); 49, 56 – male sternite VIII; 50 – female sternite VIII; 51, 59–60 – spermatheca; 55 – male tergite VIII; 57 – female tergite VIII; 58 – posterior portion of female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 49–50, 55–58: 0.2 mm; 47–48, 51–54, 59–60: 0.1 mm.