Zuluclavodes minor, Hlaváč & Baňař, 2020

Hlaváč, Peter & Baňař, Petr, 2020, New species of Clavigeritae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from Malawi and South Africa, Zootaxa 4877 (3), pp. 587-597 : 590-592

Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov.

( Figs 3–4 , 9–10 )

Material examined. holotype, ♂: MALAWI: Mt. Mulanje, Likhubula Forest Lodge, 827 m, sifting, S15 o 56’15.7’’ E35 o 35’4.9’’, 18-20.XI.2018, P. Hlaváč lgt. ( PCPH) ; paratypes: 1 ♂, 1 ♀: the same data as holotype ( BMNH); 1 ♀: MLW/FIT 02 S MALAWI 2018, MULANJE MTS., S15 o 56’12.9’’ E35 o 30’35.5’’, 913 m, 18-24.11, Flight Intercep-tion Trap, P. Baňař lgt. ( PCPH); 1 ♂, 1 ♀: MLW /sift 01 S MALAWI 2018, MULANJE MTS. 913 m, S15 o 56’12.9’’ E35 o 30’35.5’’, sifted forest litter, Winkler app. Extr., 18.11, P. Baňař lgt. ( PCPH) .

Description. Body ( Figs 3–4 ) reddish-brown; elytra more reddish, head and pronotum matt, elytra and abdomen shiny. Head, pronotum and lateral sides of elytra with squamose setae; setae on abdomen longer, sparse. Length 1.60–1.70 mm, maximum width 0.60–0.65 mm.

Head elongate, about 1.55–1.70 times as long as wide, rostrum wide, about 0.70–0.80 of length of head, vertexal foveae located close to posterior margin of eyes, temples about 1.50 times as long as eyes.

Antennae about 0.50 mm long, pedicel transverse, III about as long as wide, antennomeres IV–VI elongate, VI 1.43 times as long as wide and 1.65 times as long as III, V twice as long as wide and 1.40 times as long as IV, terminal antennomere 1.5 times as long as wide and about as long as V.

Pronotum quadrate and about 1.10 times as wide as long, antebasal fovea weakly impressed, lacking lateral foveae.

Elytra 1.50–1.60 times as long as pronotum and 0.8–0.9 times the length of the abdomen, with short sutural and two short discal carinae, sutural carinae about as long as external discal carinae, both ended before elytral mid length, internal discal carinae with variable length, always much shorter, posterior lateral part of elytra lacking trichomes.

Abdomen as wide as or slightly wider than elytra, 1.15–1.20 times as wide as long, not evenly rounded on sides and posterior margin, composite tergite with strongly concave basal basin on its whole width, with well-defined basolateral pits adjacent to first visible paratergites, lacking trichomes. First paratergites with fine trichome.

Legs short, mesofemora with curved basal spur, mesotibiae with short preapical spur, metatibiae on internal side with long excavation bearing long, fine setae.

Aedeagus ( Figs 9–10 ) 0.34 mm long, about 2.35 times as long as wide, apex of median lobe divided into separated branches, each with one seta, lacking internal apophysis, not clearly divided in basal and apical part, dorsal diaphragm opening elliptical.

Differential diagnosis. Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov. can be easily separated from its congeners by its small size, antennomeres III transverse, IV and V different in length, and terminal antennomere about as long as V.

Biology. All specimens were collected either by flight interception traps or by sifting of leaf-litter in a remnant of mountainous forest. Sifted specimens were extracted using Winkler apparatus.

Host ant. Unknown.

Etymology. Named after the small body size of this species.

Distribution. Malawi, Mulanje Massif.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Zuluclavodes species, dorsal habitus. 1, Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov., male holotype; 2, Zuluclavodes sp., female; 3, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., male holotype; 4, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., female paratype. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 7–14. 7–8, Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (7) and dorsal (8) aspect; 9–10, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (9) and dorsal (10) view; 11–12, Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (11) and dorsal (12) aspect; 13–14, Ischyroceros mirus, aedeagus in lateral (13) and dorsal (14) aspect. Scale bars in mm.