Pseudolathra armata, Assing, 2014

Assing, V., 2014, A revision of Palaearctic and Oriental Pseudolathra. IV. New species, new combinations and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 46 (2), pp. 1151-1166 : 1161-1162

Pseudolathra armata nov.sp.

( Figs 14-19 , 28 , Map 2 )

Type material: Holotype: " MALAYSIA, Pahang, Rompin, 7.5.1993, leg. I. Jenis / Holotypus Pseudolathra armata sp. n., det. V. Assing 2014" ( NHMW) . Paratype: " MALAYSIA, Pahang, 40 km W Rompin, Selendang , 29.4.- 6.5.1993, leg. I. Jenis " ( cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: armed) alludes to the remarkable assortment of internal structures of the aedeagus.

Description: Body length 7.0- 7.5 mm; length of forebody 4.3-4.5 mm. Coloration: head and pronotum blackish-brown; elytra reddish, with the postero-lateral angles extensively infuscate; abdomen dark-reddish to reddish-brown, with the middle of segments VII and VIII extensively blackish; legs yellowish; antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 14 ) 1.00-1.03 times as broad as long, of subquadrangular shape, with sharply marked posterior angles; lateral margins subparallel in dorsal view; punctation coarse, not umbilicate, rather dense in lateral and posterior dorsal portions, sparser in median dorsal portion, with interspersed micropunctation; interstices without microsculpture in median dorsal portion, with microsculpture in lateral and in posterior dorsal portions. Eyes ( Fig. 14 ) large, moderately convex, but only little more than half as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 15 ) slender, 2.7-2.8 mm long; all antennomeres oblong; IV-X of gradually decreasing length, decreasingly oblong, and with distinctly constricted bases.

Pronotum ( Fig. 14 ) 1.08-1.11 times as long as broad and 0.92-0.94 times as broad as head; lateral margins very weakly converging posteriad; punctation nearly as coarse as that of head, dense and not umbilicate, without distinct micropunctation; separate dorsal series absent; impunctate midline moderately broad.

Elytra ( Fig. 14 ) 1.04-1.11 times as long as pronotum; punctation shallow, arranged in longitudinal series. Hind wings fully developed. Legs rather short; metatarsomere I short and weakly oblong, slightly longer than II; protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated, without sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen slender, approximately 0.85 times as broad as elytra; punctation fine, moderately dense on tergites III-VI, somewhat sparser and finer on tergite VII, very sparse on tergite VIII; interstices with distinct microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with pronounced palisade fringe.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 18 ) moderately transverse, posterior margin weakly concave, pubescence sparse, near middle of anterior margin with a cluster of gland openings ( Fig. 28 ); sternite VIII ( Fig. 20 ) nearly as broad as long, posterior excision broad and somewhat Vshaped, 0.25 times as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 16-17 ) approximately 1.5 mm long, slender, rather weakly sclerotized, and symmetric (except for internal structures); ventral process with semi-membranous apex; internal sac with a conspicuous assortment of dark sclerotized structures of various shapes.

Comparative notes: As can be inferred from the similar external (head with pronounced posterior angles) and male sexual characters (presence of gland openings on the male sternite VII, shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII; derived morphology of the aedeagus with a weakly sclerotized apex of the ventral process and with an assortment of dark structures of various shapes in the internal sac), P. armata undoubtedly belongs to the P. quadriceps group. It differs from the three previously described species of this group particularly by the deeper and nearly V-shaped posterior excision of the male sternite VII, as well as by the more slender aedeagus with internal structures of different shapes.

Distribution and natural history: The species is known from two localities near Rompin in Pahang province in the south of Peninsular Malaysia ( Map 2 ). Additional data are not available.

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Pseudolathra armata (black triangles), P. bisinuata (star), P. sepikensis (white circle), P. naviculum (black circle), P. puncta (white triangle), and P. cyanea (diamond).

Figs 12-17: Pseudolathra puncta (LAST), holotype (12), P. cyanea (LAST), holotype (13), and P. armata nov.sp., holotype (14-17): (12-14) forebody; (15) antenna; (16-17) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 12-15: 1.0 mm; 16-17: 0.5 mm.

Figs 18-27: Pseudolathra armata nov.sp. (18-19) and P. bisinuata nov.sp. (20-27): (18, 23) male sternite VII; (19, 24) male sternite VIII; (20) habitus; (21) forebody; (22) antenna; (25-26) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (27) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 20-22: 1.0 mm; 18-19, 23-27: 0.5 mm.

Figs 28-30: Pseudolathra armata nov.sp. (28) and P. bisinuata nov.sp. (29-30): (28-29) anteromedian portion of male sternite VII; (30) male segments IX-X. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.