Pseudolathra regularis ( SHARP , 1889) 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 : 326-329

Pseudolathra regularis ( SHARP, 1889) , comb. n. ( Figs 64-70 , Map 2 )

Lathrobium regulare Sharp, 1889: 258 .

Type material examined:

Lectotype ♂, present designation: “ ♂ Lathrobium regulare . Type D.S., Yokohama. Lewis [written on mounting label] / Japan. G. Lewis / Type / Sharp Coll, 1905-313. / Pseudolathra regulare (Sharp) ♂, V.I. Gusarov det. 1992 / Aedeagus at rest is turned to 180° in abdomen / Lectotypus ♂ Lathrobium regulare Sharp , desig. V. Assing 2012 / Pseudolathra regularis (Sharp) , det. V. Assing 2012” ( BMNH).

Comment:

The original description is based on “six examples” from “Yokohama” ( Sharp 1889). The male syntype made available to me from the Sharp collection is designated as the lectotype.

Sharp (1889) stated that L. regulare was a “species of the L. lusitanicum group”, which today belongs to Pseudolathra . An examination of the lectotype confirmed that the species indeed belongs to this genus.

Additional material examined:

China: 1 ex., N-Sichuan, Daba Shan , 65 km N Fengjie, 31°40'N, 109°34'E, 1000 m, gravel river bank, 10.VII.2001, leg. Wrase (cSch) ; 2 exs., Shaanxi, 7 km E Zhouzhi, auto route 100, km 72, tributary of Wei He river , 34°09'N, 108°17'E, 400 m, 24.VIII.1995, leg. Wrase (cSch, cAss) ; 1 ex., Shaanxi, Xian , Ba R. Br., 18.IX.1980, leg. Hammond ( BMNH) ; 1 ex., Yunnan, Dali Bai Aut. Pref., 10 km S Weishan, Hóu Hé river bank, 25°09'N, 100°20'E, 1650 m, washed from sand and gravel, 15.IX.2009, leg. Schülke (cSch) ; 3 ♀♀, Jiangsu, Nanjing, Agricultural University , VII.1991, leg. Cooter ( MMUM, cAss) .

Redescription:

Body length 6.0-7.0 mm; length of forebody 3.2-3.9 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 64 . Coloration: forebody blackish, with the suture indistinctly dark-reddish; abdomen blackish, sometimes with dark-reddish apex; legs and antennae pale-reddish.

Head ( Fig. 65 ) weakly oblong, approximately 1.05 times as long as broad, slightly tapering behind eyes; posterior angles rather weakly marked; dorsal surface with few macropunctures and with sparse micropunctation; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes large, approximately as long as postocular region in dorsal view, or slightly shorter. Antenna moderately slender, almost 2 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 65 ) about 1.20-1.25 times as long as broad and approximately 1.1 times as wide as head, lateral margins almost straight, weakly converging posteriorly in dorsal view, posterior angles broadly rounded; on either side of midline with a dorsal series of 11-14 coarse punctures, laterad of these series with sparse macropunctures; microsculpture very sparse, micropunctation absent.

Elytra ( Fig. 65 ) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum, humeral angles marked; macropunctation arranged in one sutural and three dorsal series; microsculpture and micropunctation absent. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra; punctation fine and dense; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: tergite VIII strongly convex posteriorly; sternite VII without conspicuous modifications; sternite VIII weakly transverse, with rather broad and shallow posterior excision ( Fig. 66 ); aedeagus 0.95-1.00 mm long, shaped as in Figs 67-70 .

Comparative notes:

This species is distinguished from all other Palaearctic and Oriental species by the shallow and broad posterior excision of the male sternite VIII and by the shape of the aedeagus, from all other dark-coloured species also by the much more slender pronotum.

Distribution:

The species was described from Japan and subsequently reported also from China ( Li & Chen 1990). In view of the external similarity of Pseudolathra species , as well as the fact that it was previously attributed to Lobrathium and that illustrations of the male sexual characters had been unavailable, there is some doubt if these records are based on correct identifications. Nevertheless, the species is present and widespread in China, as is confirmed by the above material from Shaanxi, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Yunnan provinces.

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 63-70: Pseudolathra sagittata (63) and P. regularis (64-70), lectotype (64-65, 67-68, 70) and male from China (66, 69): male sternite VIII (63, 66); habitus (64); forebody (65); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (67-69); dorsal plate of aedeagus in dorsal view (70). Scale bars: 64-65: 1.0 mm; 63, 66-70: 0.5 mm.