Paraphlosotiba zingiberiphila, Shavrin, 2024

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2024, New species and records of Paraphloeostiba Steel, 1960 and Xanthonomus Bernhauer, 1926 from the eastern Palaearctic, Oriental and Papuan regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae), Zootaxa 5514 (6), pp. 589-597 : 594-595

Paraphlosotiba zingiberiphila sp. nov.

( Figs 9–15 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ (dissected): ‘ SABAH: 250ft, [underlined by yellow] | 30mls. Sandakan | - Keningau Rd , | 19.x.1977 ’ <printed>, ‘ginger | flowers’ <printed>, ‘ M.E. Bacchus | B.M. 1978-48’ <printed>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Paraphloeostiba | zingiberiphila sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2024’ <red, printed> ( BMNH) .

Paratypes: 3 ♀♀ (one specimen dissected; one specimen without left antennomeres 8–11): same data as the holotype, with additional red printed label: ‘PARATYPE | Paraphloeostiba | zingiberiphila sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2024’ ( BMNH).

Description. Measurements (n=4): HW: 0.29–0.33; HL: 0.16–0.17; OL: 0.08–0.10; AL (averaged): 0.41; PL: 0.22–0.30; PWmax: 0.36–0.42; PWmin: 0.31–0.37; ESL: 0.30–0.35; EW: 0.43–0.45; MTbL (holotype): 0.22; MTrL (holotype): 0.10 (MTrL 1–4: 0.03; MTrL 5: 0.07); AW: 0.45–0.48; AedL: 0.37; BL: 1.42–1.60 (holotype: 1.47).

Body reddish-brown, with slightly paler elytra and intersegmental membranes of abdomen; antennomeres 6–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–5 and legs yellowish. Head with sparse and fine punctation, slightly denser in middle; punctation of pronotum indistinct, sparse and fine; punctation of elytra moderately dense, large and deep, finer around scutellum, finer and sparser along suture; abdomen with indistinct, fine and sparse punctation. Head with fine transverse microreticulation; pronotum with dense and relatively coarse isodiametric microsculpture; scutellum with dense isodiametric meshes; elytra with dense sculpture, transverse around scutellum and isodiametric in middle and apical portions.

Head with slightly elevated infraorbital portions, 1.8–1.9 times as broad as long; postocular carina indistinct, acute. Ocelli located about level of posterior margins of eyes; distance between ocelli 1.3–1.5 times as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eyes. Antenna reaching basal part of pronotum when reclined, with distinctly transverse antennomeres 6–10; antennomere 3 about as long as and about twice narrower than antennomere 2, 4 small, twice shorter than 3, 5 about as wide as long, short, but slightly longer and broader than 4, 6 distinctly longer and broader than 5, 7 indistinctly broader than 6, 8–10 slightly longer and distinctly broader than 7, apical antennomere about twice longer than 10.

Pronotum 1.4–1.6 times as broad as long, 1.3–1.6 times as broad as head, widest in middle, more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; middle portion with two wide and shallow depressions; lateral margins indistinctly crenulate.

Elytra slightly convex, 1.2–1.4 times as broad as long, 1.1–1.3 times as long as pronotum.

Abdomen distinctly broader than elytra.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate ( Fig. 11 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely concave ( Fig. 12 ). Aedeagus with wide basal part, gradually narrowed toward small rounded apex; parameres moderately narrow, with slightly broadened apical portions, not reaching apex of median lobe, with two short apical and three preapical setae, and several additional short setae along inner margin of each paramere; internal sac moderately wide and long, with three elongate teeth in about middle and narrow elongate sclerotized structure in basal portion ( Fig. 9 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 10 .

Female. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight ( Fig. 13 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII rounded ( Fig. 14 ). Accessory sclerite not recognized. Spermatheca as in Fig. 15 .

Comparative notes. Regarding the shape of the small body, shortened elytra and similar shape of the aedeagus, P. zingiberiphila sp. nov. is more similar to P. brevicula sp. nov. (see above), from which can be distinguished by the finer punctation of the head and the pronotum, narrower median lobe and different structure of the internal sac. Besides that, based on the presence of two wide longitudinal impressions, similar shape of the aedeagus and the presence of setation on inner margin of each paramere, P. zingiberiphila sp. nov. is similar to P. brancuccii , P. iriana and P. okapensis . It can be distinguished from these species by the following features:

from P. brancuccii by the slightly darker body, finer microsculpture of the forebody, slightly broader elytra and narrower parameres;

from P. iriana by the paler body, sparser punctation of the head and the pronotum, broader median lobe of the shorter aedeagus and broader apical portions of the parameres;

from P. okapensis by the darker body, sparser punctation of the head and the pronotum, broader median lobe, longer parameres with broader apical portion, and shorter parameral setation.

From all these species it can be distinguished by finer punctation of the head and the pronotum, the shorter elytra and details of the external and internal morphology of the aedeagus.

Distribution. Paraphloeostiba zingiberiphila sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Sabah, Malaysia.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from the fact that the beetles were collected from ginger flowers ( Zingiber officinale ).

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at low elevation about 76 m a.s.l. in ginger flowers.

Figures

FIGURES 9–15. Paraphloeostiba zingiberiphila: 9—aedeagus, parameral view, 10—aedeagus, lateral view, 11—male abdominal tergite VIII, 12—male abdominal sternite VIII, 13—female abdominal tergite VIII, 14—female abdominal sternite VIII, 15—spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.