Pseudolathra himalayana, Assing, 2012

Assing, V., 2012, The Pseudolathra species of the East Palaearctic and the Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 62, pp. 299-330 : 308-310

Pseudolathra himalayana sp. n. ( Figs11-14 , Map 2 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: “ Nepal, Narayani, Chitawan, Gynganagar , 09.V.2005 LF, leg. D. Ahrens / Holotypus ♂ Pseudolathra himalayana sp. n., det. V. Assing 2012” ( NME) . Paratypes: 3 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀: same data as holotype ( NME, cAss) ; 4 exs.: “ Nepal, Chitawan National Park , at MV light, Sauraha, 700’, 3.-6.VI.1983, leg. Brendell ” ( BMNH) ; 2 exs.: same data, but 4.VI.1983 ( BMNH) ; 2 ♂♂, 4 exs.: “632 Nepal: Kathmandu , Baneshwar, 1350 m, 18.-24.VI.2000, leg. W. Schawaller ” (cAss) ; 1 ♂: “ Nepal: 4500’, Kathmandu , British Embassy, 20.v.-23.vi.1983 / At light / M.J.D. Brendell, B.M. 1983-222” ( SMNS, cAss) ; 1 ex., same data, but “600 ... 20.-21.V.2000 ” ( SMNS) ; 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀: “ Pakistan, Northwest Frontier Province , Khyber agency, middle stream of Kabul river, 15.-22. VIII.2005, 700- 900 m, leg. V. Gurko ” (cSch, cAss) ; 1 ♀: “ Pakistan: Northwest Frontier Province : South Waziristan agency, near Tanai village / 28.VII.-12.VIII.2005, 1500-2500 m, leg. V. Gurko ” (cSch) ; 1 ♀: “ Pakistan: Azad , Jammu & Kashmir, SW Garhi, 1500 m, 10.-20.VII.2003 ” (cAss) ; 14 exs.: “ Pakistan, N.W.F.P., 7 km SE Peshawar , ca. 33°58'N, 71°40'E, arable land, at light, 14.VII.2011, leg. Zubair ” (cAss) ; 1 ♂: “ Sarda [= Sarda river in Uttar Pradesh; approx. 27°21'N, 81°23'E; altitude approx. 300 m], Bengal, F. W. C. / Lathrobium unicolor / Aedeagus at rest turned to 180° in abdomen / Pseudolathra sp. 2 ♂♂, V.I. Gusarov det. 1992 / G.C. Champion coll. B.M. 1927-409” ( BMNH) ; 2 ♀♀: “ Sarda, Bengal, F. W. C. / Pseudolathra sp. 2 ♀♀, V.I. Gusarov det. 1992 / G.C. Champion coll. B.M. 1927-409” ( BMNH) ; 1 ♂: “ Haldwani Divn. Kumaon, U.P., Jne ‘23. H.G.C. / at light / 3997 / G.C. Champion coll. B.M. 1927-409” ( BMNH) .

Etymology:

The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Himalaya.

Description:

Body length 5-6 mm; length of forebody 2.7-3.0 mm. Coloration variable: body uniformly reddish or partly (head, posterior portion of elytra, abdominal segments III-VI) more or less distinctly infuscate; legs yellowish to pale reddish; antennae reddish. Of similar external appearance and as variable as P. unicolor ; reliably distinguished only by the male sexual characters.

♂: sternite VII in the middle with rather extensive impression, setae in this impression directed obliquely postero-mediad, posterior margin very weakly concave ( Fig. 11 ); sternite VIII of similar shape as in P. unicolor , but midline without setae ( Fig. 12 ); aedeagus 1.0- 1.1 mm long, shaped as in Figs 13-14 .

Comparative notes:

As can be inferred from the similar external morphology and particularly by the similar male sexual characters (shape and chaetotaxy of sternite VIII; general morphology of the aedeagus), P. himalayana is closely allied to and probably the adelphotaxon of P. unicolor , with which it was previously confounded. It is distinguished from P. unicolor especially by the differently shaped (both in lateral and in ventral view) and smaller aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history:

The currently known distribution ranges across the West Himalaya from northern Pakistan to central Nepal and northern India ( Map 2 ). The specimens were collected at altitudes between 700 and at least 1500 m. Numerous beetles were collected at light sources in May and June. In one locality in southern central Nepal, the species was collected together with P. unicolor and P. pulchella .

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Pseudolathra himalayana (filled triangles), P. nigerrima (open squares), P. sagittata (open diamond), and P. regularis (filled circles), based on revised records.

Figs 11-19: Pseudolathra himalayana (11-14) and P. lineata, lectotype (15-19): male sternite VII (11); male sternite VIII (12, 17); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (13-14, 18-19); habitus (15); forebody (16). Scale bars: 15-16: 1.0 mm; 11-14, 17-19: 0.5 mm.