Paraphloeostiba okapensis, 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 : 281-283

Paraphloeostiba okapensis sp. n.

( Figs 75 , 85–91 )

Type material. Holotype ♂ (dissected): ‘ NEW GUINEA Okapa, | 16.VI.1965, flying in | daylight’ <printed>, ‘ R. Hornabrook | BM 1970-232.’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Paraphloeostiba | okapensis sp. n. | Shavrin A. V. des. 2024’ <red, printed> ( BMNH).

Paratypes: 1 ♀♀ (left antennomeres 7–11 missing; dissected): same data as the holotype ( BMNH); 2 ♀♀ (underside of the card of three specimens with handwritten ‘H 28’): ‘ NEW GUINEA | Okapa, 23.XI.1964 | under bark of Xamata’ <printed>, ‘ R. Hornabrook | BM 1970-232.’ <printed> ( BMNH). All paratypes with additional red printed label: ‘ PARATYPE | Paraphloeostiba | okapensis sp. n. | Shavrin A. V. des. 2024’.

Description. Measurements (n=4): HW: 0.39–0.41; HL: 0.21–0.24; OL: 0.13–0.15; TL: 0.02; AL (holotype): 0.62; PL: 0.31–0.32; PW: 0.46–0.50; ESL: 0.54–0.57; EW: 0.64–0.67; MTbL (holotype): 0.36; MTrL (holotype): 0.16 (MTrL 1–4: 0.06; MTrL 5: 0.10); AW: 0.56–0.65; AedL: 0.32; BL: 1.63–1.86 (holotype).

Habitus as in Fig. 75 . Body reddish-brown, with slightly darker head and abdomen and slightly paler basal and middle portions of elytra (latero-apical and basal margins of elytra slightly darker); antennomeres 6–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–4 and legs yellow. Head, neck, pronotum and scutellum without visible punctation; elytra with dense, moderately large and deep punctation, slightly denser and finer around scutellum, finer and sparser along suture; abdominal tergites with very fine and dense punctation, finer and indistinct on tergites VII–VIII. Head with very dense, microsculpture, slightly transverse in vertex and isodiametric in middle; neck with dense transverse microreticulation; pronotum with very dense and coarse microsculpture similar to that in middle portion of head, transverse in mediobasal portion; elytra with distinct, dense and isodiametric microreticulation, coarser in basal and apical portions.

Head 1.7–1.8 times as broad as long, with short and narrow linear anteocellar foveae, reaching level of posterior third length of eyes. Ocelli large, located at level of posterior margins of eyes; distance between ocelli slightly larger than distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eyes. Apical maxillary palpomere about 1.5 times as long as preapical segment. Antennomere 5 slightly broader than 4, 6 slightly longer and distinctly broader than 5, 7–8 distinctly longer and broader than 6, 9–10 slightly longer than 8.

Pronotum 1.4–1.5 times as broad as long, 1.1–1.2 times as broad as head, widest in middle, gradually narrrowed both anteriad and posteriad; posterior angles subacute; middle portion with distinct longitudinal impressions, widest in about middle; laterobasal impressions wide and moderately deep.

Elytra 1.7 times as long as pronotum.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate ( Fig. 87 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII strongly and widely concave ( Fig. 88 ). Aedeagus with wide basal portion, gradually narrowed toward small rounded apex; parameres not reaching apex of median lobe, slightly narrowed apically, with three long apical setae and four elongate setae on preapical inner margin of each paramere; internal sac moderately short and narrow, with two very long and narrow sclerotized structures in basal portion ( Fig. 85 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 86 .

Female. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII ( Fig. 89 ) and sternite VIII ( Fig. 90 ) truncate. Accessory sclerite with wide basal portion, slightly narrowed toward somewhat truncate apex ( Fig. 91 ). Spermatheca not recognized.

Comparative notes. Based on the general shape of the aedeagus with moderately broad median lobe and narrow parameres, distinctly shorter than apex of the median lobe, P. okapensis sp. n. is similar to P. telnovi sp. n., from which it can be distinguished by the shape of the pronotum, from the middle gradually narrowed both anteriad and posteriad, with narrower apical portions not protuded apicad, the finer punctation of the forebody, the presence of the distinct longitudinal impressions in the middle of the pronotum, narrower apex of the median lobe, slightly broader parameres and different structure of the internal sac.

Distribution. Paraphloeostiba okapensis sp. n. is known only from the type locality in Papua New Guinea.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the latinized adjective derived from the area the specimens were collected from.

Bionomics. Specimens were collected flying in daylight or were found under bark.

Figures

FIGURES 75–80. Habitus of Paraphloeostiba: 75–P. okapensis (paratype), 76–P. penelopeae (paratype), 77–P. pilosa (holotype), 78–P. riedeli (paratype), 79–P. rhopalocera, 80–P. rufula (holotype). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 85–91. Paraphloeostiba okapensis (paratypes): 85–aedeagus, parameral view, 86–aedeagus, lateral view, 87–male abdominal tergite VIII, 88–male abdominal sternite VIII, 89–female abdominal tergite VIII, 90–female abdominal sternite VIII, 91–female accessory sclerite. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.