Leptusa (Aphaireleptusa) auriculata, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, New species and additional records of Leptusa from the Palaearctic region, with a focus on the faunas of China and the Caucasus region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 71 (1), pp. 103-126 : 117-118

Leptusa (Aphaireleptusa) auriculata spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1812AE30-52FF-498D-B8C2-D600DCAB2724

( Figs 3 , 16 , 45–50, 56–57)

Type material: Holotype : “P. R. CHINA, Yunnan, E slope Cangshan at Dali, N25°39'54.4", E100°05'53.0", 15.v.2010, 3991 m, sifting14, V. Grebennikov / Holotypus  Leptusa auriculata sp. n. det. V. Assing 2020” ( CAS) . Paratypes: 28 exs.: same data as holotype ( CNC, cAss) ; 15 exs.: “P. R. CHINA, Yunnan, E slope Cangshan at Dali, N25°40'24.1", E100°05'57.6", 17.v.2010, 3806 m, sifting15, V. Grebennikov ” ( CNC, cAss) ; 40 exs.: “P. R. CHINA, Yunnan, E slope Cangshan at Dali, N25°40'14.7", E100°06.'12.0", 17.v.2010, 3827 m, sifting16, V. Grebennikov ” ( CNC, cAss) ; 21 exs.: “P. R. CHINA, Yunnan, E slope Cangshan at Dali, N25°40'07.6", E100°06'12.9", 18.v.2010, 3887 m, sifting18, V. Grebennikov ” ( CNC, cAss) ; 17 exs.: “P. R. CHINA, Yunnan, E slope Cangshan at Dali, N25°39'54.7", E100°06'04.5", 19.v.2010, 3815 m, sifting19, V. Grebennikov ” ( CNC, cAss) ; 5 exs.: “ CHINA, Yunnan, Cang Shan at Dali, N25°40'12", E100°06'10", 3740 m, 05.vii.2011, sift37, V. Grebennikov” ( CNC, cAss) ; 5 exs. [most likely mislabeled]: “ CHINA, Sichuan, Emei Shan, N 29°32'48.4" E 103°20'06.3", 2342 m, 17.vi.2010, sifting36, V. Grebennikov ” ( CNC, cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun auricula (diminutive of auris: ear) and alludes to the shapes of the apical internal structures of the aedeagus.

Description: Body length 2.6–3.2 mm; length of forebody 1.2–1.4 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 3 . Colouration: forebody reddish-brown to dark-brown, often with the head at least partly darker; abdomen with segments III–IV reddish-brown to blackish, V–VII blackish, and VIII–X dark-yellow to reddish; legs and antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 16 ) transverse; punctation coarse, dense, and umbilicate; interstices narrower than diameter of punctures, with shallow microsculpture. Eyes slightly shorter than postocular region in lateral view. Antennae slender, gradually and moderately incrassate apically, preapical antennomeres approximately 1.5 times as broad as long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 16 ) 1.3–1.4 times as broad as long and approximately 1.3 times as broad as head; maximal width slightly anterior to middle; posterior angles obtusely marked; punctation finer, shallower, and less defined than that of head; interstices with shallow microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 16 ) 0.70–0.75 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense and much coarser than that of pronotum. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen broader than elytra; punctation distinct and rather dense; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe; tergite VII without, tergite VIII with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism.

: tergite VIII (Fig. 48) with weakly concave posterior margin; sternite VII posteriorly truncate or very weakly concave, with long marginal setae; posterior margin of sternite VIII convexly produced in the middle (Fig. 56); median lobe of aedeagus nearly 0.5 mm long, shaped as in Figs 45–47; apical lobe of paramere of similar shape as in L. chinensis .

: tergite VIII (Fig. 49) with weakly concave or truncate posterior margin; posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly and obtusely angled in the middle (Fig. 57); spermatheca (Fig. 50) not distinctive.

Comparative notes: Based on external characters (strongly transverse pronotum, coarsely punctate forebody), long marginal setae at the posterior margin of sternite VIII, and on the morphology of the aedeagus, L. auriculata is assigned to the subgenus Aphaireleptusa . It differs from other representatives of the subgenus recorded from mainland China by the combination of relatively pale colouration of the forebody and a bicoloured abdomen, a coarsely punctate forebody, and by the male sexual characters. For illustrations of other Aphaireleptusa species known from mainland China see PACE (1997, 1999, 2001, 2010) and ASSING (2002, 2006).

Distribution and natural history: The specimens were found by sifting litter in several close localities in Cang (Diancang) Shan, Northwest Yunnan, at high altitudes (3740–3990 m). The specimens bearing labels indicating

Emei Shan as the locality of collection were most likely mislabeled; for additional comments see the section on L. emeiana .

Figures

Figs 1–8: Male habitusof Leptusaspp.1 – L.excisa; 2 – L.grandipennis; 3– L.auriculata; 4– L.gonggana; 5– L.emeiana; 6 – L. jizuica;

Figs 9–18: Male habitus (9–11) and forebody (12–18) of Leptusa spp. 9, 15 – L. habana; 10 – L. monscangi; 11 – L. pathibarana; 12 – L. excisa; 13 – L. grandipennis; 14 – L. gonggana; 16 – L. auriculata; 17 – L. jizuica; 18 – L. desculpens. Scale bars:9–16: 1.0 mm; 17–18: 0.5 mm.