Lathrobium, GRAVENHORST, 1802

Assing, Volker, 2013, On the Lathrobium fauna of China V. New species and additional records from Yunnan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 63 (1), pp. 53-128 : 56-57

3 The Lathrobium fauna of Yunnan

3.1 Diversity and distribution

The material examined in the course of the present study is composed of fifty-nine species, nine of them previously described, forty newly described, and ten unnamed. The latter probably represent undescribed entities, but are not named because only females have become available. Thus, with a total of fifty-eight described species, the Lathrobium fauna of Yunnan is far more diverse than that of any other Chinese province and nearly twice as high as that of Sichuan, which previously had the greatest number of species. All the species, named and unnamed, are micropterous, flightless, and apparently locally endemic. Without exception, the Lathrobium records from Yunnan are from the west of the province, records from the eastern half are unknown ( Map 1 ). The Gaoligong Shan alone hosts as many as eighteen described species. The remaining described species are endemic to the Yulongxue Shan (6 species), the Diancang Shan (5), the mountain ranges to the north, south-southeast, and east-southeast of Zhongdian (5), the Ailao Shan (4), the Jizu Shan (3), the Haba Shan (3), the Ertaipo Shan E Mangshi (2), the Zhemo Shan (2), the Wuliang Shan (2), the Nu Shan (2), the Xue Shan to the south of Zhongdian (2), the Laobie Shan (1), the Bangma Shan (1), the Wulao (=Xue) Shan to the east-northeast of Lincang (1), and the Daque Shan to the east of Weishan (1).

For several reasons the Lathrobium fauna of Yunnan can be expected to be significantly more diverse than presently known. Not only did the examined material include ten probably undescribed species. Also, numerous species were collected only once. Moreover, ten out of eighteen previously described species were not recorded in the present paper, although material from the respective mountain ranges was available. Finally, numerous regions, mountains, or habitats/elevations, particularly the northeastern parts of Yunnan, have not been investigated using appropriate methods (sifting), probably because they are less easily accessible.

Figures

Map 1: Pooled Lathrobium records from Yunnan, based on examined material. The frame marks the limits of Maps 2-8.