Paraphloeostiba conjuncta, Shavrin, 2023

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2023, New species and records of the genus Paraphloeostiba Steel, 1960 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae) from Papua New Guinea, and notes on some species from India, Indonesia and Philippines, Zootaxa 5301 (4), pp. 486-500 : 487-489

Paraphloeostiba conjuncta sp.n.

( Figs. 1 , 7–10 )

Type material. Holotype ♁ ( Fig. 1 ): ‘ PAPUA N. GUINEA | Onerunka VIII. 79 [handwritten in black] | nr Kainantu | W. G. Ullrich` <printed>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Paraphloeostiba | conjuncta sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2023`<red, printed> ( MHNG).

Paratypes: 5 ♁♁ (three specimens dissected), 2 unsexed specimens (without apical segment of abdomen): same data as the holotype, with additional printed red label: ‘ PARATYPE | Paraphloeostiba | conjuncta sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2023 (2 ♁♁: cSh; 3 ♁♁, 2 unsexed specimens: MHNG).

Description. Measurements (n=8): HW: 0.37–0.41; HL: 0.21–0.24; OL: 0.10–0.12; TL: 0.02; AL (holotype): 0.59; PL: 0.29–0.32; PWmax: 0.46–0.55; PWmin: 0.41–0.44; ESL: 0.51–0.56; EW: 0.60–0.66; MTbL (holotype): 0.32; MTrL (holotype): 0.16 (MTrL 1–4: 0.06; MTrL 5: 0.10); AW: 0.61–0.66; AedL: 0.37–0.40; BL: 1.78–2.10 (holotype: 1.80).

Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Body reddish-brown, with slightly darker head and pronotum and dark-brown posterior portions of elytra (holotype and three paratypes) and abdomen (middle portions of each elytron in three paratypes yellow-brown); antennomeres 6–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–5, laterobasal and basal margins of pronotum, and legs yellow. Head and neck without visible punctures; pronotum with very sparse and fine punctation more visible in latero-apical portions and finer in middle; scutellum without visible punctures; elytra with moderately dense, large and deep punctation, markedly finer and sparser in parascutellar portion and along suture; abdominal tergites with very fine and dense punctation, indistinct on abdominal tergites VII–VIII. Head with regular and strong microsculpture, transverse on vertex and isodiametric in middle portion; pronotum with dense and strong microreticulation, slightly transverse in medioapical and isodiametric in middle and lateral portions; scutellum with fine transverse meshes; microsculpture of elytra very dense, distinctly larger than that on pronotum (two paratypes with coarser sculpture along suture); abdomen with dense and moderately strong isodiametric sculpture, finer in abdominal tergites VII–VIII (three paratypes.

Head indistinctly elevated in middle and posterior portions between ocelli and eyes, with wide and moderately deep postantennal depressions, 1.7 times as broad as long, with elongate and deep anteocellar foveae (grooves in front of ocelli) almost reaching level of middle of eyes; postocular carina missing. Apical maxillary palpomere very narrow, 1.7–1.9 times as long as preapical segment. Antenna reaching basal margins of elytra when reclined, with distinctly transverse antennomeres 6–10, progressively broadened apicad; basal antennomere about twice as long as broad, antennomere 2 distinctly narrower than basal antennomere, 3 slightly narrower and about as long as 2, 4 suboval, slightly longer than broad, 5 about as long as broad, 6 twice broader and about as long as 5, 7 broader and slightly longer than 6, 8–9 slightly broader than 7, 10 slightly longer than 9, apical antennomere about twice as long as preceding segment, from middle gradually narrowed toward rounded apex.

Pronotum slightly convex, 1.5–1.7 times as broad as long, 1.2–1.3 times as broad as head, widest in middle, gradually and slightly narrowed anteriad toward widely rounded anterior angles not protruded apicad and strongly narrowed posteriad toward subtriangular, obtuse or subacute posterior angles; laterobasal margins strongly concaved; anterior margin straight or slightly concave in middle, slightly shorter than rounded posterior margin; middle portion with two wide paramedian impressions, from medioapical third gradually broadened posteriad; lateral margins distinctly impressed in some paratypes; laterobasal impressions very wide and deep.

Elytra slightly broader than long, 1.7 times as long as pronotum, slightly broadened apicad; posterior margin straight or slightly rounded; surface of each elytron along suture narrowly impressed in three paratypes.

Metatarsi twice shorter than metatibia.

Abdomen about as broad as elytra, with two small and round tomentose spots in middle of abdominal tergite IV; apical margin of abdominal tergite VII with narrow palisade fringe.

Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate ( Fig. 9 ). Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely concave ( Fig. 10 ). Aedeagus with wide basal bulb, gradually narrowed toward middle part of median lobe, and from about middle strongly narrowed toward small rounded apex; parameres moderately wide, with narrow apices, slightly exceeding apex of median lobe, with three long apical and one preapical setae and a row of 8–10 of moderately long setae on inner margins of each paramere; internal sac narrow and long, with several sclerotized elongate strunctures in basal portion ( Fig. 7 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 8 .

Female unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on the shape of the lateral portions of the pronotum widely and deeply concave in front of posterior margin, P. conjuncta sp.n. is similar to P. flaveola sp.n., from which it can be distinguished by the darker coloration of the body, the presence of distinct wide and long paramedian impressions on the disc of pronotum, and narrower apical portions of the median lobe and the parameres.

Distribution. Paraphloeostiba conjuncta sp.n. is known only from the type locality in north-eastern part of Papua New Guinea.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective conjunctus, - a, - um (connected, related). It is related to P. flaveola sp.n.

Figures

FIGURES 1–6. Habitus of Paraphloeostiba: 1—P. conjuncta (holotype), 2—P. coriacea, 3—P. flaveola (holotype), 4—P. gayndahensis (Papua New Guinea), 5—P. papuana (holotype), 6—P. ullrichi (paratype). Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 7–14. Aedeagus and abdominal segments of Paraphloeostiba conjuncta (Figs. 7–10) and P. coriacea (Figs. 11–14): 7, 11—aedeagus, parameral view, 8, 12—aedeagus, lateral view, 9, 13—male tergite VIII, dorsal view, 10, 14—male sternite VIII, ventral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.