Medon alesi, Assing, 2014

Assing, V., 2014, Three new species and a new species group of Medon from China and Taiwan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 46 (1), pp. 515-523 : 520-522

Medon alesi nov.sp. ( Figs 14-19 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " TAIWAN, Pingtung Hsien, Peitawushan trail at 1500 m, 1.V.1992, A. Smetana [ T110 ] / Holotypus Medon alesi sp. n. det. V. Assing 2013 " (cSme). Paratypes: 2, 1: same data as holotype (cSme, cAss); 1: " TAIWAN, Pingtung Hsien, Pietawushan [sic] Trail at 2000 m 23.V.1991, A. Smetana [ T91 ]" (cSme); 1: " TAIWAN, Taichung Hsien, Anmashan, 2225 m 11.V.1992, A. Smetana [ T123 ]" (cSme, cAss); 1: " TAIWAN, Taichung Hsien, Anmashan, 2225 m, 14. V.92, A. Smetana [ T130 ]" (cSme); 2, 4: " TAIWAN, Taichung Hsien, Anmashan, 2230 m, 1. V.90, A. Smetana [ T33 ]" (cSme, cAss); 4: " TAIWAN, Taichung Hsien, Anmashan, 2230 m, 12. V.92, A. Smetana [ T127 ]" (cSme, cAss); 1: " TAIWAN, Taichung Hsien, Anmashan, 2230 m 4.V.1990, A. Smetana [ T43 ]" (cAss); 4: " TAIWAN, Nantou Hsien, Nenkaoshan trail, 2050-2150 m, 8.V.1992, A. Smetana [ T120 ]" (cSme); 1: " TAIWAN, Nantou Hsien, Shanlinchi, 1650 m 19.V.1991, A. Smetana [ T87 ]" (cSme); 1, 2: TAIWAN - Chiayi Co., Alishan, Nat. Scen. Area, Road 18, km 84, 2100 m, decaying stump, 8.I.2009, leg. Vít [14]" cAss ).

E t y m o l o g y: The species is dedicated to Aleš Smetana (Ottawa), who collected nearly all the type specimens.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 4.9-5.8 mm; length of forebody 2.7-3.3 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 14 . Coloration: head blackish; pronotum and abdomen dark-brown; elytra brown; legs dark-yellowish; antennae brown to dark-brown.

Head ( Fig. 15 ) as broad as long or weakly oblong; punctation fine and dense; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Eyes moderately large and rather weakly convex, approximately 0.7 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 1.7-1.8 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 15 ) approximately 1.05 times as broad as long and as broad as head; anterior and posterior margins concave in the middle; punctation dense, fine, and granulose; midline without impunctate longitudinal band.

Elytra ( Fig. 15 ) long and broad, approximately 1.15-1.18 times as long as pronotum; punctation finely granulose and very dense. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I distinctly longer than II.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; punctation extremely fine and dense; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 16 ) with moderately deep posterior excision, margin of this excision furnished with a distinct comb of numerous long palisade setae and with an additional row of long black setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 17 ) small in relation to sternite VII, transverse, without median impression, median portion with fine pubescence and with some longer black setae, posterior excision deep and broad, margins of this excision without pubescence; aedeagus ( Figs 18-19 ) approximately 0.9 mm long; ventral process basally abruptly curved in lateral view, apically with pair of long ventral carinae; internal sac with numerous dark structures.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Medon alesi differs from the two other species of the M. profundus group by slightly smaller eyes, slightly shorter elytra, the shape of the posterior excision of the male sternite VII (similar to that of M. yunnanicus ), the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII, and by the differently shaped ventral process of the aedeagus (basally abruptly curved, not distinctly angled in lateral view).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The known distribution is confined to several localities in Taiwan ( Map 1 ). Most specimens were sifted from leaf litter in primary broadleaved, evergreen, and mixed forests (SMETANA pers. comm.), three from a decaying stump, at altitudes of 1500-2230 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of the species of the Medon profundus group in China and Taiwan: Medon profundus nov.sp. (circles), M. yunnanicus nov.sp. (triangle), and M. alesi nov.sp. (diamonds).

Figs 14-19: Medon alesi nov.sp.: (14) habitus; (15) forebody; (16) male sternite VII; (17) male sternite VIII; (18-19) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 14-15: 1.0 mm; 16-19: 0.2 mm.