Pseudolathra naviculum ( LAST , 1984) 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 : 1156-1158

Pseudolathra naviculum ( LAST, 1984) , nov.comb.

( Figs 6-11 , Map 2 )

Lathrobium naviculum LAST, 1984: 121 .

Type material examined: Holotype: " Goroka dist., New Guinea, 9.1971, R. Hornabrook. / Holotype / Brit. Mus. 1985-401 / Lathrobium naviculum sp.n., H.R. Last. det., Holotype / Pseudolathra naviculum (Last), det. V. Assing 2014" ( BMNH).

Comment: The original description is based on a unique male holotype from "Goroka district" ( LAST 1984). As was to be expected, the species does not belong to Lathrobium , but to Pseulolathra. The specific epithet is the genitive plural of the noun navicula and consequently remains unchanged.

Redescription: Small species; body length 6.8 mm; length of forebody 3.7 mm. Coloration: body blackish-brown, with abdominal segments IX-X and the posterior margins of segments VII and VIII reddish; forelegs brown with yellowish tarsi; mid- and hindlegs dark-yellowish; antennae pale-reddish.

Head ( Fig. 6 ) 1.03 times as long as broad, indistinctly widened behind eyes; punctation coarse and dense, sparse in median dorsal portion; microsculpture absent. Eyes moderately large, barely half as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 7 ) slender, 2.4 mm long; all antennomeres oblong; antennomeres IV-X basally constricted, of gradually decreasing length, and decreasingly oblong.

Pronotum ( Fig. 6 ) 1.15 times as long as broad and 0.92 times as broad as head, weakly tapering posteriad; lateral margins nearly straight in anterior two-thirds in dorsal view; punctation dense and rather coarse; distinct dorsal series absent; midline moderately broadly impunctate; microsculpture absent.

Elytra ( Fig. 6 ) 1.08 times as long as pronotum; epipleural line absent (lateral view); punctation shallow and dense, not arranged in series. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I as short as II. Protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra; punctation dense and very fine, somewhat sparser on tergite VII than on tergites III-VI, sparse on tergite VIII; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII convex.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 8 ) strongly transverse and with pronounced, extensive, oblong median impression without pubescence, posterior margin broadly concave, in the middle weakly convex; sternite VIII ( Fig. 9 ) weakly transverse, posterior excision nearly Ushaped; aedeagus ( Figs 10-11 ) small, 0.62 mm long; ventral process subapically with pronounced tooth; dorsal plate reduced; internal sac without sclerotized structures.

Comparative notes: Based on the similarly reduced epipleural line, the similar shape of the male sternite VIII, and the similar general morphology of the aedeagus, P. naviculum is allied to P. sepikensis , from which it differs by larger body size, the more oblong head, the much denser and less coarse punctation of the head, the much smaller and less convex eyes, the more slender, more densely and less coarsely punctate pronotum without distinct dorsal series, the longer and more slender elytra, the completely different shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VII, the larger posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, as well as by the smaller and differently shaped aedeagus.

Distribution: The type locality is situated near Goroka (6°05'S, 145°23'E) in central Papua New Guinea ( Map 2 ).

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 6-11: Pseudolathra naviculum (LAST), holotype: (6) forebody; (7) antenna; (8) male sternite VII; (9) male sternite VIII; (10-11) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 6-7: 1.0 mm; 8-9: 0.5 mm; 10-11: 0.2 mm.