Phormiobius graceae, Shen & Choi & Leschen, 2020

Shen, Jia-Wei, Choi, Su-Ho & Leschen, Richard A. B., 2020, Revision of the New Zealand endemic genus Phormiobius (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 60 (2), pp. 553-564 : 557

Phormiobius graceae sp. nov.

( Figs 4 , 10 )

Type material. Hඈඅඈඍඒඉൾ: J, point-mounted ( NZAC): ‘ New Zealand, BP, Orete Forest, Te Puia Hut, 26 Apr 1993, G. Hall // sifted litter, 93/96’. Pൺ*©ൺඍඒඉൾඌ (13 JJ, all NZAC): BP: 3 spec., same data as holotype; 1, Orete Forest,Te Puia Hut, 25/01/1993, J.S. Dugdale, litter, 93/03; 1 spec., Orete Forest, Te Puia Hut, 15/09/1992, G. Hall & R.C. Henderson, sifted litter, 92/50; 1 spec., Te Koau, 125m, 02/05/1993, R.C. Henderson, litter, 93/107; 1 spec., Rereauira, 26/01/1993, J.S. Dugdale, litter, 93/05. GB: 1 spec., Kakanui, 350m, 01/02/1993, J.S. Dugdale, litter, 93/14. HB: 1 spec., Balls Clearing S. R., 21/10/1984, C.F. Butcher, sifted litter and rotten wood, 84/72; 2 spec. [in ethanol], Lake Waikaremoana, Rahuinui Stream, 600m, 26/11/2018, sifted leaf litter and moss, 38°44′41″S, 177°06′58″E, J. Shen, JWS082. WN: 1 spec., Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth, 16/04/2005, R.Leschen, leaf litter, 40.53S, 175.28E, RL976; 1 spec. [in ethanol], Summit Track, Rimutaka Hill, 23/01/2008, K. Marske, R. Leschen & T. Buckley, sifted wood and leaf litter, S41.06.897’, E175.13.700’, 509m, KM 240.

Description. Body ( Fig. 4A ) length 1.96–2.14 mm (J, 2.02–2.14 mm; ♀, 1.96–2.05 mm), about 2.62× as long as wide (BL/AW = 2.57–2.68). Head about as long as wide (HL/HW = 1.00–1.07). Pronotum about as long as wide (PL/PW = 0.93–1.01). Elytra wider than long, about 0.46× as long as wide (EL/EW = 0.44–0.48), and about 0.76× as long as pronotum (EL/PL = 0.75–0.77). Abdomen about 1.21× longer than wide (AL/AW = 1.16–1.27).

Male. Eyes with 14–15 facets. Abdominal concavities ( Fig. 4B ) present on V2–V4; C1 absent; C2 deep, wide, and setose, edge without rims and not clearly demarcated, greatest width bigger than length of metatrochanter and slightly widened posteriorly; C3 shallow and without apical spines, greatest width almost as big as length of metatrochanter. Metatrochanter ( Fig. 4C ) with blunt and round protuberance; metatibia ( Fig. 4D ) with small apical spine. Tergite 5 ( Fig. 4E ) about as long as wide, broadly rounded; ventrite 5 ( Fig. 4F ) slightly emarginated at apex.Aedeagus ( Figs 4G–I ) with basal bulb rounded in lateral view and lobate in dorsal view; median lobe bilobate in lateral view with ventral process strongly pointed downwards in lateral view.

Female. Eyes with 13–16 facets.

Differential diagnosis. This species can be easily distinguished from all other species by males having concavities on abdominal V2, V3 and V4, apart from P. brouni sp. nov., which also has a concavity on V4, but it is weakly formed. Moreover, the concavities of P. graceae sp. nov. are not deep nor having apical spines. Additional male characters that characterize this species are as follows: metatrochanter with short crescent-shaped protuberance and metatibia with a small apical spine.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to one of the collectors, Grace Hall for her assistance in the field, her technical work in the NZAC, and friendship over many years; it is a noun in genitive singular.

Distribution. North Island: BP, GB, HB, WN.

Figures

Fig. 4. Diagnostic characters of Phormiobius graceae sp. nov. A – habitus; B – abdomen, in ventral view; C – metatrochanter; D – metatibia; E – T8; F – V8 and T9; G – aedeagus, in dorsal view; H – same, in lateral view; I – same, in ventral view. Scale bars: A–B = 0.5 mm, C–I = 0.1 mm.

Fig. 10. Geographic distribution of Phormiobius brouni sp. nov., P. graceae sp. nov., P. halli Broun, 1917, P. matau sp. nov., P. pseudhalli sp. nov. and P. ramsayi sp. nov.