Lithocharis inermis, Assing, 2015

Assing, Volker, 2015, A revison of the Lithocharis species of the Palaearctic, Oriental and Australian regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Medonina), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (2), pp. 1133-1178 : 1166-1169

Lithocharis inermis nov.sp.

( Figs 95-99 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " Thailand, Chumphon prov., 1.-21.iii.1996, Pha To env. 9°48' 98°47', K. Majer leg. / Holotypus ♂ Lithocharis inermis sp. n. det. V. Assing 2013" ( NHMB) . Paratypes: 1♀ [slightly teneral]: same data as holotype ( NHMB) ; 1♀: same data as holotype, but " 27.iii.-14.iv.1996 " (cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: unarmed) alludes to the absence of ventral teeth on the ventral process of the aedeagus, one of the characters distinguishing this species from the similar L. sordidula .

Description: Body length 3.2-3.6 mm; length of forebody 1.9-2.1 mm. Coloration: head blackish; remainder of body pale yellowish-brown; legs yellowish; antennae reddish-yellow.

Head ( Fig. 95 ) 1.06-1.09 times as broad as long; punctation extremely dense and very fine. Eyes conspicuously large, 1.6-1.9 times as long as postocular portion in dorsal view. Antennae approximately 1.2 mm long; preapical antennomeres weakly transverse.

Pronotum ( Fig. 95 ) weakly oblong, approximately 1.03 times as long as broad and 0.92- 0.95 times as broad as head; posterior angles rounded, weakly marked; punctation similar to that of head, but slightly more distinct; midline with narrow impunctate band, in posterior half with fine furrow; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 95 ) approximately as long as pronotum; punctation very dense and fine. Hind wings present. Protarsomeres I-IV moderately dilated. Metatarsomere I nearly as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation fine and very dense; interstices with distinct microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 96 ) strongly transverse, posterior margin nearly truncate and with comb of approximately 30 moderately long palisade setae; sternite VIII ( Fig. 97 ) strongly transverse and with broadly concave posterior margin, pubescence unmodified; aedeagus ( Figs 98-99 ) 0.55 mm long; dorso-lateral apophyses very long, apically distinctly extending beyond apex of ventral process.

Comparative notes: This species is characterized particularly by the conspicuously large eyes, the oblong and slender pronotum, the shapes and chaetotaxy of the male sternites VII and VIII, as well as by the morphhology of the aedeagus, particularly the conspicuously long dorso-lateral apophyses. It is additionally distinguished from the similarly small syntopic L. sordidula by the transverse head, the denser punctation of the head, the smaller pronotum (in relation to the head), the much more transverse sternite VII with more numerous and slightly shorter palisade setae at the posterior margin, and by the much more transverse male sternite VIII with a much larger and differently shaped posterior excision.

Distribution and natural history: Thetypelocalityissituatedin southern Thailand; L. distinguenda and L. sordidula were found in the same locality. One of the paratypes is slightly teneral.

Figures

Figs 95-101: Lithocharis inermis nov.sp. (95-99) and "Lithocharis" gigantea FAUVEL, syntype (100-101): (95, 100) forebody; (96) male sternite VII; (97) male sternite VIII; (98-99) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; head (101). Scale bars: 95, 100-101: 1.0 mm; 96-99: 0.2 mm.