Awas gigas, Yin, Zi-Wei, Shen, Jia-Wei & Li, Li-Zhen, 2015

Yin, Zi-Wei, Shen, Jia-Wei & Li, Li-Zhen, 2015, A remarkable new Awas Loebl from southern China (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae), ZooKeys 522, pp. 153-158 : 154-157

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Awas gigas sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 3

Type material

(3 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀). Holotype (in SNUC): CHINA: ♂, labeled 'China: Guangxi, Jinxiu Hsien (金秀县), Dayao Shan N. R. (大瑶山自然保护区), 16 km (16公里), 24°08'11"N, 110°14'28"E, Fagus forest, rotten woods, colony of Pachycondyla ant, 1100 m, 17.vii.2014, leg. Z. Peng’. Paratypes (in SNUC): CHINA: 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, same label data as the holotype; 1 ♀, same locality, '16 km, 24°08'25"N, 110°15'38"E, 960 m, colony of Pachycondyla ants, 01.vi.2015, leg. J.-W. Shen & Z. Peng’; 1 ♂ (antennomeres VII–VIII closely conjoint, deformed status), 11 ♀♀, also Dayao Shan N. R., 'Laoshan Station (老山林场), 24°07'02"N, 110°11'51"E, 950 m, Pachycondyla ant, 31.v.2015, leg. J.-W. Shen & Z. Peng’.

Diagnosis.

Body large-sized, length 4.79-5.12 mm; head with a greatly elongate postocular region; pronotum relatively stout, basolateral margins moderately incised at level of antebasal sulcus, lacking distinct setal tufts; elytra lacking basal fovea. Female has a relatively larger abdomen than male.

Description.

Male (Fig. 1A). BL 4.79-4.96 mm; body reddish-brown, mouth parts and tarsi lighter. Head (Fig. 2 B–C) strongly elongate, HL 1.24-1.35 mm, HW 0.59-0.61 mm, densely punctate and roughly sculptured; pubescence directed anteriorly; anterior frontal margin roundly protruding medially; postocular margins gradually narrowed toward occipital constriction; gula slightly depressed, foveae in longitu dinal slit; eyes prominent, situated anterior head mid-length, each eye composed of about 95 facets; maxillary palpi with palpomeres I short, II elongate, slightly expanded apically, III nearly triangular, IV oval, with long, membranous apical palpal cone; AnL 2.13 mm, antennomeres IX–XI (Fig. 2A) wider than previous ones. Pronotum (Fig. 2D) longer than wide, PL 0.91-0.94 mm, PW 0.74-0.78 mm; finely punctate, with T-shaped antebasal sulcus; posterior margin with band of transverse microsculpture. Prosternum with dense admesal pubescence, pubescence on lateral margins sparser. Elytra slightly longer than wide, EL 1.50-1.54 mm, EW 1.35-1.41 mm, widest at basal two-fifths, rounded laterally, narrowed basally and apically, lacking basal fovea (Fig. 2E), with complete sutural striae, densely setose. Legs slender, profemora with indistinct preapical denticle. Abdomen about as long as wide, AL 0.96-1.31 mm, AW 1.18-1.20 mm; tergite IV largest, basolateral margins densely setose. Aedeagus (Fig. 2 F–H) symmetric, length 0.66-0.67 mm; median lobe truncate apically; endophallus with hair-like structure; with ventrally curved hook-like parameres.

Female (Fig. 1B). Similar to male in general, size larger; with relatively larger abdomen; each eye composed of about 75 facets. Measurements: BL 4.89-5.12 mm, HL 1.26-1.28 mm, HW 0.56-0.57 mm, AnL 2.03-2.13 mm, PL 0.92-0.93 mm, PW 0.76-0.77 mm, EL 1.54-1.61 mm, EW 1.37-1.39 mm, AL 1.17-1.30 mm, AW 1.27-1.28 mm.

Comparative notes.

At first glance Awas gigas is very distinct from other species in the genus by possessing a large body size. It shares with Awas giraffa and Awas rajah the lack of two pairs of setose tufts on the basolateral margins of the pronotum, and lack of a distinct basal elytral fovea, but can be separated from both by the relatively stouter pronotum. Awas kayan also lacks distinct pronotal setose tufts, but has each elytron possessing a well-defined basal fovea, and the elytra are broader at basal third.

Biology.

All individuals of Awas gigas were collected from colonies of a Pachycondyla ant nesting inside or under decomposing woods in broad-leaved forests (Fig. 3).

Distribution.

Southern China: Guangxi.

Etymology.

The specific epithet indicates the large body size of the new species.