Leptusa (Drepanoleptusa) pollicita, Assing, V., 2010

Assing, V., 2010, Three new species of Leptusa from Yunnan, with a catalogue of the Leptusa species recorded from China and Taiwan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 42 (2), pp. 1155-1167 : 1160-1162

Leptusa (Drepanoleptusa) pollicita nov.sp. ( Figs 15-26 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d Holotype: " China: Yunnan, Lincang Pref., Xue Shan , 11 km ENE Lincang, 2510 m, 23°55'01''N, 100°11'17.5''E, second. pine forest with Rhodod., small cleft with water, litter & mushrooms sifted, 10.IX.2009, leg. M. Schülke [CH09-39] / Holotypus Leptusa pollicita sp. n. det. V. Assing 2010" (cAss). Paratypes: 2: same data as holotype (cSch, cAss); 1: " China: Yunnan, Lincang Pref., Laobie Shan , Wei Bo Shan pass, 24°08'16''N, 99°42'53''E, 2385 m, creek valley, devastated second. decid. forest, litter & moss sifted, 8.IX.2009, leg. M. Schülke [CH09-35]" (cSch) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.7-3.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 15 . Coloration: head blackish-brown to black; pronotum and elytra reddish-brown to blackish, of similar coloration as head or paler; abdomen reddish to dark-brown, with segment VI and anterior half of segment VII blackish; legs reddish to reddish-brown; antennae dark-brown, with antennomeres I-III reddish to reddish-brown.

Head ( Fig. 16 ) weakly transverse, widest across eyes; punctation very dense and coarse ( Fig. 17 ); dorsal surface almost matt. Eyes relatively large, but weakly convex, slightly longer than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 18 ) relatively slender and gradually incrassate apically.

Pronotum ( Fig. 16 ) strongly convex in cross-section, approximately 1.25 times as wide as long and 1.15-1.20 times as wide as head, maximal width in anterior half; posterior angles marked; punctation very dense, somewhat ill-defined, and less coarse than that of head ( Fig. 17 ); surface almost matt.

Elytra 1.15-1.20 times as wide and approximately as long as pronotum ( Fig. 16 ); humeral angles marked; posterior margin near external angles shallowly sinuate; punctation dense, as coarse as that of head ( Fig. 19 ); interstices with very shallow, almost obsolete microsculpture visible only at high magnification.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra; segments III-VI of subequal width; tergites III- V with deep, tergite VI with shallower densely punctate anterior impressions; tergite III with dense, tergites IV-VII with somewhat sparser punctation; interstices glossy, with obsolete isodiametric microreticulation visible only at high magnification; tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergites VII-VIII with sexual dimorphism.

: tergites VII and VIII with long and pronounced median carina ( Fig. 20 ); posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly concave in the middle ( Fig. 21 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely angled in the middle ( Fig. 22 ); median lobe of aedeagus 0.41 mm long, of characteristic shape and with distinctive internal structures ( Fig. 23 ); apical lobe of paramere shaped as in Fig. 24 , with two long and two short setae.

: posterior margin of tergite VIII indistinctly concave in the middle ( Fig. 25 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex ( Fig. 26 ); spermatheca not distinctive.

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E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun pollex (thumb) and alludes to the shape of the apical internal structure of the aedeagus.

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C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The new species is distinguished from all other species of Drepanoleptusa by the characteristic morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus. From the externally similar and geographically close L. puetzi ASSING 2008 , it is additionally separated by distinctly coarser punctation of the head. The general shape of the aedeagus somewhat resembles that of L. sichuanensis PACE 1997 , which too has been recorded from Yunnan, but the ventral process is of different shape in lateral view, the crista apicalis is less pronounced, the crista proximalis is smaller, and the internal structures are of different shape. For illustrations of L. puetzi and L. sichuanensis see ASSING (2008) and PACE (1997), respectively.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The type specimens were collected in two localities to the east and the northwest of Lincang, western Yunnan. They were sifted from litter in a secondary pine forest and a secondary deciduous forest at altitudes of 2385 and 2510 m.

4. Additional records and systematic changes

Figures

Figs 15-26: Leptusa pollicita nov.sp. (15-20, 23-24: holotype): (15) habitus; (16) forebody; (17) posterior portion of head and median portion of pronotum; (18) antenna; (19) sutural portion of elytra; (20) male abdominal tergites VII-VIII; (21) male tergite VIII; (22) male sternite VIII; (23) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (24) apical lobe of paramere; (25) female tergite VIII; (26) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 15: 1.0 mm; 16, 18: 0.5 mm; 17, 19-26: 0.1 mm.