Lobrathium zonalis, Solodovinikov, Xiao-Yan Li Alexey & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2013

Solodovinikov, Xiao-Yan Li Alexey & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2013, Four new species of the genus Lobrathium Mulsant & Rey (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) from China, Zootaxa 3635 (5), pp. 569-578 : 575-578

4. Lobrathium zonalis sp. n.

( Figs. 4 A–I, 5D).

Type material. Holotype, 3, CHINA: Sichuan Province, Baoxing, Guobayan, 1900 m, 18. VIII. 2003, leg. Yejun Zhang (IZCAS); Paratypes, 4ƤƤ, 33, same data as holotype; 13, Bujigou, 2300 m, 14. VIII. 2003, leg. Jie Wu; 13, Guobayan, 2070 m, 4. VII. 2001, leg. Hongzhang Zhou (IZCAS, ZMUC).

Description. Length: 6.3–6.8 mm; width: 1.11–1.15 mm. Body parts (all in mm): HL 0.91; AL 2.00; PL 1.07; ELL 1.47; HW 0.90; PW 0.85; EW 1.14; ABW 1.06.

Body black, glossy, with slight metallic luster. Basal antennomere, posterior part of elytra and tarsi somewhat blackish brown.

Head nearly square-shaped and as long as wide. Eyes relatively large, slightly protruded laterally; HL/EL = 3.0, eye length slightly longer than gena but shorter than temple (gena eye temple = 0.24: 0.30: 0.37 mm). Punctation with pale setae of different length. Vertex and middle front smooth and glossy where punctures sparse but coarse.

Pronotum with PL/PW = 1.3. Disc with punctures larger than on head. Scutellum U–shaped, longer than wide, dull and with fine setiferous punctation.

Elytra with ELL\ELW = 1.3, ESL/ELL = 0.8, epipleural ridge absent in the basal fifth of elytral length; surface with punctures distinctly larger and denser than those on head or pronotum, slightly finer laterally, intervals between punctures distinctly shorter than their diameter. Posterior 1/8 of elytral length brown. Hind wings extending back to basal of elytra but flightless species.

Abdomen widest at segment VI (4th visible), wider than head or pronotum but distinctly narrower than elytra. Punctation on sternites as on tergites. Middle area of sternites VI–VII slightly depressed with sparse punctures.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 4 G–I) slender, length/width = 3.5. Median lobe, except dorsal plate, short and thick, slightly curved dorsally, with apex slightly bilobed in dorsal view and with round structure in lateral view. Dorsal plate slightly elongate, broad in its middle part, gradually narrowed posteriad and anteriad, with round apex. Ventral plate strongly chitinized, elongate and sinuate, with long and curved ventral process.

Secondary sexual dimorphism.

Both sexes differ from each other in the structure of terminalia. In male sternite VII with posterior margin shallowly notched, laterally from notch with medially oblique hairs; hind margin of sternite VIII ( Fig. 4 A) with deeply V-shaped notch, anterior to the notch with distinct depression having dense papillose thorns; sternite IX ( Fig. 4 B) rather symmetrical with pair of lateral lobes in posterior part; tergites IX–X ( Fig. 4 C) symmetrical, posterior margin of tergite X round.

In female sternite VIII ( Figs. 4 D) with posterior margin broadly rounded; lateroventral parts of tergite IX ( Fig. 4 E) with rather long hairs, anterior and posterior gonocoxites fused with transverse ridge; sternite IX ( Fig. 4 F) with posterior margin slightly rounded and with two pairs of setae on posterior part.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective meaning zonal.

Remarks. Externally the new species is rather similar to L. hebeatum Zheng , but both species can be easily distinguished from each other by characters of the middle notch of the male sternite VIII and form of the aedeagus as follows: 1) the middle notch in the new species is narrowly acute ( Fig. 4 A), whereas in L. hebeatum Zheng it is broadly rounded; 2) the ventral process of the aedeagus of the new species is sinuate with acute apex ( Figs. 4 G–I), whereas in the latter species the ventral process is not narrowed apically and has teeth.

Distribution. Lobrathium zonalis sp. n. is known only from the type locality: Guobayan in the County Baoxing, Sichuan. The type series was collected in the mountains with well developed vegetation of wet and fresh grass, in the period from June to August, at the range of altitudes between 1900 and 2300 m.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Lobrathium zonalis sp. n. from Sichuan. A. sternite VIII, male; B. sternite IX, male; C. tergites IX – X, male; D. sternite VIII, female; E. sternites IX – X, female; F. sternite IX, female; G. aedeagus, ventral, view; H. aedeagus, lateral view; I. aedeagus, dorsal view. Scale = 0.5 mm.