Zoosetha discolor ASSING, 2012

Assing, V. & Feldmann, B., 2012, On the Staphylinidae of Israel (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (1), pp. 351-363 : 358-360

Zoosetha discolor ASSING nov.sp. ( Figs 11-18 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "N 32°57'20 E 035°19'55, Israel Upper Galiläa [sic], Harashim 830 m, Meybohm 21.3.2011 / Holotypus Zoosetha discolor sp.n. det. V. Assing 2011" (cAss). Paratype: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 2.2-2.4 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 11 . Coloration: head blackish; pronotum bright reddish; elytra reddish-yellow; abdomen blackish-brown to blackish, with segments VIII-X and posterior margin of segment VII dark-yellowish; legs yellowish; antennae blackish-brown, with antennomeres I-II dark-brown; maxillary palpi brown.

Head ( Figs 12-13 ) approximately as long as wide; punctation coarse, dense (interstices narrower than diameter of punctures) in lateral and posterior dorsal portions, sparser (interstices approximately as wide as diameter of punctures) in median dorsal portion; interstices with very shallow microsculpture and glossy. Eyes distinctly projecting from lateral contours of head and rather larger, as long as postocular region in lateral view. Antennae ( Fig. 14 ) distinctly incrassate apically; antennomere IV weakly transverse, X approximately twice as wide as long.

Pronotum ( Figs 12, 15 ) 1.25-1.30 times as wide as long and 1.25-1.30 times as wide as head, maximal width in or slightly behind the middle; punctation similar to that of lateral dorsal portions of head; interstices with very shallow microsculpture and glossy.

Elytra ( Figs 12, 16 ) approximately as long as, and somewhat broader than pronotum; posterior margin weakly sinuate near postero-lateral angles; punctation similar to that of head and pronotum or even coarser; interstices glossy. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I almost as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen approximately as wide as elytra, widest at segments V/VI; tergites III-V with rather shallow anterior impressions; punctation fine, but distinct, that of anterior tergites moderately dense, that of posterior tergites much sparser; microsculpture very shallow, barely visible at lower magnifications; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII convex.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII strongly produced, almost pointed in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus 0.3 mm long, shaped as in Fig. 17 ; apex of ventral process bifid.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly convex and with rather thin long marginal setae; spermatheca as in Fig. 18.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective: colourful) refers to the distinctive coloration of the species.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The oxypodine genus Zoosetha MULSANT & REY 1874 previously included eleven species ( ASSING 1998, 2003, 2004). Zoosetha discolor is readily distinguished from all of them by the conspicuous coloration alone, as well as by the morphology of the aedeagus. From Z. salomonis (SAULCY 1865) , a species of doubtful generic assignment and the only other Zoosetha species previously recorded from Israel, it is additionally separated by smaller size, the shallow microsculpture on head and pronotum ( Z. salomonis : microsculpture pronounced), and the broader abdomen. For illustrations of Z. salomonis see ASSING (1998).

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: The species is currently known only from one locality in Upper Galilee, northern Israel, where the type specimens were collected at a road margin by sifting grass and leaf litter beneath shrubs at an altitude of 830 m.

Figures

Figs 11-18: Zoosetha discolor nov.sp.: (11) habitus; (12) forebody; (13) posterior median portion of head; (14) antenna; (15) median portion of pronotum; (16) sutural portion of elytra; (17) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (18) spermatheca (proximal portion of capsule damaged). Scale bars: 11: 1.0 mm; 12: 0.5 mm; 14: 0.2 mm; 13, 15-18: 0.1 mm.