Toxidium hartmanni

Löbl, Ivan, 2022, - On-new-collections-of-Scaphidiinae- (Coleoptera: - Staphylinidae) - from-China, - with-description-of-two-new-species, Zootaxa 5092 (4), pp. 487-492 : 490

Toxidium hartmanni sp.­nov.

(Figs 4–7)

Type­material. HolotYPE:­ CHINA: male: CHINA: Yunnan, Honghe, Dajianshan , 2060 m, EKL 1, 22°54’46.5’’N, 103°41’51.5’’E 11.VI.2018, leg. L.Z. Meng ( NKME) . HolotYPE:­ CHINA: female: with the same data but EKL 5, 30.VI.2018 ( MHNG) .

Etymology. Patronymic. The species is named in honour of Matthias Hartmann (Erfurt, Germany) who continuously makes interesting material available for study.

Description.Length 2.45–2.65mm, width 1.32–1.45mm.Head and body black, with ochraceous exposed tergites and ventrites V and VI. Femora black, tibiae and tarsi reddish-brown or ochraceous, tarsi lighter than tibiae. Palpi and antennomeres I to IV ochraceous, following antennomeres light brown. Length/width ratios of antennomeres as: III 41/10: IV 40/10: V 49/10: VI 46/11: VII 58/17: VIII 36/12: IX 47/18: X 50/20: XI 65/28. Pronotum rather densely, very finely punctate, punctures hardly visible at 25x magnification. Tip of scutellum exposed. Elytron with sutural stria reduced, limited to apical fifth of sutural length; basal halves of stria absent; epipleural and lateral striae parallel from bases to mid-length; discal punctation irregular, fine, coarser than on pronotum, rather dense. Hind wings fully developed. Mesosternum with few fine punctures along lateral margins, mesosternal process with shallow impression somewhat more impressed near suture, lacking median keel. Metaventrite smooth, not microsculptured, slightly convex on most of median area, flattened on apicomedian area; metacoxal process oblique. Submesocoxal area about 0.10 mm, as long as half of shortest interval to metacoxa. Submesocoxal line sinuate, evenly arcuate between mesocoxa, impunctate. Metanepisternum flat, nearly evenly 0.10 mm wide, with deep, slightly curved, impunctate suture. Tibias straight. Exposed abdominal segments very finely and sparsely punctate. Ventrite I not microsculptured, following ventrites with punctulate microsculpture hardly visible at 200 x magnification.

Male characters. Protarsomeres I to III weakly enlarged, mesotarsomeres not enlarged. Aedeagus (Figs 4–7) 0.72 mm long. Apical process of median lobe gradually narrowed apicad, moderately inflexed, ventrally nearly evenly concave (lateral view). Articular process robust, strongly sclerotized. Expanded apical section of parameres separated by notch, apical margin of parameres bearing few very short setae; parameres gradually widened apicad in lateral view. Internal sac with straight rod followed by densely spinose tube.

Differential­ diagnosis. This species shares with T. incompletum Löbl, 1990 black thorax and elytra, elytra lacking basal striae and possessing strongly reduced sutural striae. It has also a similar pattern of punctation though not arranged to form striae on elytral disc, and a straight flagellum. It may be distinguished from T. incompletum by the submesocoxal areas as long as half of the shortest interval to the metacoxae, the dark femora and ventrites I to IV, and the aedeagal characters. Notable is the apical process of the median lobe being weakly inflexed, the parameres being gradually expanded apically in lateral view, notched subapically in dorsal view and bearing extremely fine, short apical setae, and the internal sac bearing dense rows of very fine spines. The key to the Asian species of Toxidium ( Löbl, 2019b) is not applicable for this new species, as its parameres cannot be considered to be asetose.