Anthobium ampliatum, 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 : 61-63

Anthobium ampliatum sp. nov.

( Figs 15 , 23, 24 , 26 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ ( Fig. 15 ; dissected): NEPAL: ‘NEPAL, Khand- | bari District’ <printed>, ‘For[est]. NE Kuwapani | 2500m, 28.III.82 | A. & Z. Smetana’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Anthobium | ampliatum sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ <red, printed> ( CNC).

Description. Measurements: HL: 0.45; HW: 0.72; AL: 1.58; OL: 0.22; LT: 0.06; PL: 0.60; PW: 1.05; ESL: 1.83; EW: 1.58; MTbL: 0.87; MTrL: 0.42 (MTrL 1–4: 0.25; MTrL 5: 0.17); AedL: 0.47; BL: 3.10.

Habitus as in Fig. 15 . Body reddish-brown, with distinctly paler lateral portions of pronotum; antennomeres 3–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–2, legs and apical part of abdomen yellowish. Forebody without microsculpture except of clypeus with fine transverse meshes; abdominal tergites with fine transverse sculpture. Head with sparse and fine punctation, slightly larger on infraorbital portions; neck with sparse and fine punctation; pronotum with sparse punctation, distinctly larger than that in head, larger and deeper in lateral and basal portion, finer and sparser in middle; scutellum without visible punctures; punctation of elytra distinctly larger and denser than that in pronotum, finer in middle, each elytron bearing six tangled and vague longitudinal rows of punctures.

Head with somewhat flattened middle, 1.6 times as broad as long, anteriomedian depression narrow and moderately deep, reaching about level of middle length of eyes; median portion between posterior parts of eyes slightly depressed; anteocellar foveae long and relatively deep, slightly convergent anteriad and reaching level of middle length of eyes; postocular ridges obtuse. Ocelli located at level of posterior margins of eyes.Apical palpomere slightly more than twice as long as preapical segment. Antennomere 3 distinctly longer than 2, 4 significantly shorter and slightly broader than 3, 5–6 slightly longer and broader than 4, 7–8 slightly longer and broader than 6, 9–10 distinctly shorter than 8, apical antennomere 1.3 times as long as 10, from preapical third strongly narrowed toward obtuse apex.

Pronotum evenly elevated in middle, 1.7 times as broad as long, from widest middle slightly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; posterior angles obtuse; anterior angles widely rounded, slightly protruded anteriad; anterior margin slightly rounded; mediobasal part with deep semicircular depression; lateral portions widely impressed, each with deep oval pit in middle; lateral edges with fine irregular crenulation.

Elytra convex, 1.1 times as long as broad, strongly broadened posteriad, long, reaching apex of abdominal tergite VIII; mediobasal and middle parts with irregular fine elevations between punctures; latero-apical edges with small acute crenulation.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII slightly sinuate. Aedeagus narrow, with moderately wide median lobe with truncate apex; parameres slightly longer than apex of median lobe, significantly broadened in preapical portions and strongly narrowed apically, each with one short apical seta; internal sac weakly sclerotized, short ( Fig. 23 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 24 .

Female unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on the presence of fine smoothed crenulation on the lateral edges of the pronotum, A. ampliatum sp. nov. is similar to Nepalese A. flaveolum Shavrin & Smetana, 2018 and A. flavofasciatum sp. nov. (see below). It can be distinguished from A. flaveolum by the narrower pronotum, and from A. flavofasciatum sp. nov. by the darker lateral parts of the pronotum. From both species it can be distinguished by the smaller body, longer elytra, significantly broader median lobe with widely truncate apical margins, shorter parameres with significantly broadened preapical portions, and other details of the morphology of the aedeagus.

Distribution. Anthobium ampliatum sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Koshi, eastern Nepal ( Fig. 26 ).

Bionomics. The specimen was collected at an elevation 2500 m a.s.l. The detailed bionomical data are unknown. It was collected together with A. cribrarium sp. nov.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective ampliatus, - a, - um (widened). It refers to the shape of the elytra.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Distribution of Anthobium ampliatum (circle), A. aterrimum (squares), A. flavofasciatum (triangles) and A. portentum (diamond) in Nepal.

FIGURES 15–20. Habitus of Anthobium: 15—A. ampliatum (holotype), 16—A. anishchenkoi (Sichuan), 17—A. aterrimum (paratype), 18—A. flavofasciatum (holotype), 19—A. lakshmanai (holotype), 20—A. portentum (holotype). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 21–25. Aedeagus of Anthobium (Figs 21–22—A. sculpturatum (holotype), Figs 23–24—A. ampliatum (holotype), 25—A. anishchenkoi (Sichuan)): 21, 23, 25—aedeagus, parameral view, 22, 24—aedeagus, lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.