Sunius baculatus, Assing, 2011

Assing, V., 2011, The Sunius species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (1), pp. 151-193 : 163-164

Sunius baculatus nov.sp. ( Figs 32-37 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d Holotype: "328 Panchthar Distr. , Paniporua, 2300 m, mixed broadleaved forest, 16.-20. April 1988, J. Martens & W. Schawaller leg. / Nepal- Expeditionen Jochen Martens / Holotypus Sunius baculatus sp.n., det. V. Assing 2011" ( SMNS) . Paratypes: 1: same data as holotype ( SMNS) ; 1: "E-Nepal" (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.9-4.7 mm. Coloration: head blackish-brown to blackish; pronotum and elytra reddish-brown to dark-brown; abdomen blackish-brown to blackish; legs yellowish to reddish; antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 32 ) very weakly transverse, 1.05-1.10 times as broad as long; punctation coarse and moderately dense in anterior half, very sparse and very fine in posterior half of dorsal surface; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes large and convex, much longer than postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum ( Fig. 32 ) 1.05-1.10 times as long as wide and approximately 0.95 times as wide as head; punctation moderately dense, as coarse as that of anterior portion of head; midline rather broadly impunctate; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra very short, approximately 0.55 times as long as pronotum, distinctly dilated posteriorly; humeral angles weakly pronounced ( Fig. 32 ); punctation dense, shallow, and not well defined; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen distinctly broader than elytra; punctation fine and moderately dense; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: sternite VII without appreciable modifications ( Fig. 33 ); sternite VIII with rather small V-shaped posterior excision ( Fig. 34 ); aedeagus as in Figs 35-37 , approximately 0.8 mm long, with pair of conspicuously long and massive, apically hooked sclerotized internal structures.

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun baculum (stick) and refers to the long internal structures of the aedeagus.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: As can be inferred particularly from the similar shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus and from the pair of conspicuously long internal structures (clearly synapomorphies), but also from similar external characters such as the characteristic punctation of the head, S. baculatus is closely allied to S. bouddha , from which it is distinguished by even shorter elytra, the larger aedeagus, and the different shape of the ventral process.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: Thetypelocalityissituatedin eastern Nepal (27°10'N, 87°52'E), not far from the borders with Sikkim and West Bengal. The holotype and a paratype were collected in a broad-leaved forest at an altitude of 2300 m in April.

Figures

Figs 32-37: Sunius baculatus nov.sp.: (32) forebody; (33) male sternite VII; (33) male sternite VIII; (35) aedeagus in lateral view; (36) ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view; (37) internal structures of aedeagus in dorsal view. Scale bars: 32: 0.5 mm; 33-37: 0.2 mm.