Paraphloeostiba betlephila, Shavrin, 2024

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2024, Twenty-one new species of Omaliini from the Papuan Region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae), with diagnostic and faunistic notes on some species of the genus Paraphloeostiba Steel, 1960, Zootaxa 5424 (3), pp. 251-307 : 265-267

Paraphloeostiba betlephila sp. n.

( Figs 6 , 32–35 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ ( Fig. 6 ; dissected): ‘ PAPUA N.G.: Morobe Prov. | Aseki, 1700 m | 22.2.1998, betelnut - | flower, leg. A. Riedel’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Paraphloeostiba | betlephila sp. n. | Shavrin A. V. des. 2024’ <red, printed> ( NMW).

Description. Measurements: HW: 0.30; HL: 0.23; OL: 0.10; TL: 0.02; AL: 0.57; PL: 0.25; PWmax: 0.45; PWmin: 0.38; ESL: 0.45; EW: 0.56; MTbL: 0.30; MTrL: 0.14 (MTrL 1–4: 0.04; MTrL 5: 0.10); AW: 0.57; AedL: 0.30; BL: 1.42.

Habitus as in Fig. 6 . Body and antennomeres 6–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomere 1–5 and legs yellow. Head and neck without punctation; pronotum with indistinct, fine and moderately dense punctation, invisible in mediobasal portion; elytra with distinct, very dense, moderately large and deep punctation, finer and sparser around scutellum and along suture. Head with dense coarse isodiametric microsculpture; pronotum with very dense isodiametric microsculpture, slightly finer than that in middle portion of head; scutellum with coarse isodiametric microreticulation; microsculpture of elytra very dense, transverse, finer around scutellum and longitudinal along suture.

Head 1.3 times as broad as long, with short and deep narrow anteocellar foveae almost reaching level of middle length of eyes. Ocelli very small, located about at level of posterior margins of eyes; distance between ocelli slightly larger than distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eyes. Antennae with slightly transverse antennomeres 6–8 and distinctly transverse antennomeres 9–10; antennomere 5 slightly broader than 4, 6 slightly longer and broader than 5, 7–8 distinctly longer and broader than 6, 9–10 slightly longer than 8, apical antennomere about 1.8 times as long as 10.

Pronotum 1.8 times as broad as long, 1.5 times as broad as head, widest in middle, slightly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; laterobasal portions slightly and widely impressed.

Elytra 1.2 times as broad as long and slightly shorter than pronotum.

Metatarsi slightly less than twice as long as metatibia.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate ( Fig. 34 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII concave ( Fig. 35 ). Aedeagus with wide basal portion, gradually narrowed toward very narrow apical portion, with small rounded apex; parameres slightly not reaching apex of median lobe, moderately wide, with rounded apices, each with three long apical and one preapical setae, apical half of inner margin with four to five short setae; internal sac moderately short and wide, without large sclerotized structures ( Fig. 32 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 33 .

Female unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on the very narrow median lobe and the parameres, P. betlephila sp. n. is similar to P. atramentaria sp. n., P. barclayi sp. n., P. coprophila sp. n., and P. steeli sp. n. It can be distinguished from all these species by the following morphological features:

from P. atramentaria sp. n. by the absence of the punctation of the head, the finer punctation of the more transverse pronotum, the longer elytra and the shorter parameres;

from P. barclayi sp. n. by the darker body, the absence of the punctation of the head, the finer punctation on the pornotum, the longer elytra and the shorter parameres;

from P. coprophila sp. n. by the slightly shorter elytra and moderately broader parameres;

from P. steeli sp. n. by the paler body, the absence of the punctation of the head and the presence of elevations between punctures on the elytra, the finer punctation of the pronotum, and slightly shorter parameres with narrower apical portions.

From all these species, P. betlephila sp. n. can be distinguished by the smaller body and the details of the external and internal morphology of the aedeagus.

Distribution. The new species is known only from the type locality in Morobi Province of eastern part of Papua New Guinea.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from the fact that the holotype was collected in betelnut flower ( Piper betle ; Piperaceae ), the most commonly used as flavoring in chewing in Asian countries.

Bionomics. The holotype was collected in the flower of betelnut at an elevation of 170 m a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Habitus of Omaliini: 1–Nipponophloeostiba hornabrooki (holotype), 2–Paraphloeostiba assimile (holotype), 3–P. atramentaria (holotype), 4–P. attenuata (paratype), 5–P. barclayi (paratype), 6–P. betlephila (holotype). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 32–38. Paraphloeostiba betlephila (Figs. 32–35: holotype) and P. conjuncta (Figs. 36–38): 32–aedeagus, parameral view, 33–aedeagus, lateral view, 34–male abdominal tergite VIII, 35–male abdominal sternite VIII, 36–female abdominal tergite VIII, 37–female abdominal sternite VIII, 38–female accessory sclerite. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.