Veraphis sakaii, Jałoszyński, 2019

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2019, Four new species and new records of Veraphis Casey in Japan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 4701 (1), pp. 54-64 : 54-64

Veraphis sakaii sp. n.

( Figs 4 , 11–12 , 19–20 , 24 , 25 )

Type material. Holotype: JAPAN ( Shikoku , Kôchi Pref.): ♂, two labels: “[Kôchi: JAPAN] / Kamioriwatashi / Yusuhara-cho / 24. V. 1997 / M.Sakai / (in litter)” [white, printed], “ VERAPHIS / sakaii m. / P. Jałoszyński, 2019 / HOLOTYPUS ” [red, printed] ( EUMJ).

Diagnosis. Male protrochanter unmodified; male protibia with subapical fin-like projection about as broad as half of tibial width; median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view weakly curved; in ventral view gradually and strongly broadening from base to subapical region, with convex sides; apical region subtriangular with rounded apex, broad- er than long; ventral diaphragm slightly shorter than half of median lobe, distant from basal margin of aedeagus; parameres in lateral view straight in distal 2/3.

Description. BL 1.35 mm. Body of male ( Fig. 4 ) flattened, slender, moderately light brown, covered with yel- lowish vestiture, tarsi slightly lighter.

Head broadest at large, moderately convex eyes, HL 0.15 mm, HW 0.24 mm; vertex with pair of small postero- median pits, each prolonged by shallow but distinct longitudinal groove extending anterad to posteromesal margin of weakly elevated supraantennal tubercle; area between grooves distinctly flattened and depressed in relation to convex sides of vertex and frons. Punctures on sides of vertex fine and shallow, inconspicuous, area between grooves with uneven surface; setae short, sparse and suberect, except for a pair of conspicuously long and erect thin setae, each inserted just behind eye. Antennae slender, with distinctly demarcated trimerous club, AnL 0.53 mm; antennomeres I–II distinctly elongate; III distinctly transverse; IV about as long as broad; V indistinctly elongate, VI–X each dis- tinctly transverse (VIII not narrower, but shorter than VII), XI as broad as long and slightly narrower than X.

Pronotum nearly semielliptical, broadest at base; PL 0.30 mm, PW 0.40 mm; anterior margin broadly and evenly rounded; lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior third, in posterior half nearly straight and parallel, hind angles obtuse and blunt; posterior margin indistinctly bisinuate. Pronotal base with distinct transverse groove with barely marked median pit, groove laterally reaching lateral pair of elongate and deep impressions; lateral pronotal margins narrowly carinate in posterior half. Punctures on pronotal disc fine and inconspicuous; setae short and sparse, suberect.

Elytra slightly more convex than pronotum, together oval, broadest slightly in front of middle; EL 0.73 mm, EW 0.53 mm, EI 1.38; humeral calli well-marked, elongate. Surface of elytra less glossy than pronotum, covered with fine, superficial, inconspicuous punctures; setae distinctly thicker and denser than those on pronotum.

Legs moderately long and slender; protrochanter unmodified, protibia with small subapical fin-like projection ( Fig. 24 ).

Aedeagus ( Figs 11–12 , 19–20 ) elongate but relatively stout; AeL 0.30 mm; in ventral view median lobe gradu- ally broadening from base to subapical 1/4, with subtriangular, short and rounded apical portion; ventral diaphragm about as long as 1/3 of median lobe and with its proximal margin distant from base of aedeagus; in lateral view median lobe weakly curved; parameres straight in distal 2/3, each with two tiny apical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Japan, western Shikoku ( Fig. 25 ).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to the famous Japanese coleopterist Masahiro Sakai, who collected many rare and interesting Scydmaeninae, especially on Shikoku.

Remarks. Veraphis sakaii belongs to the japonica group of species, which is characterized by the antennomeres XI and protrochanters unmodified in males, protibiae with a subapical fin-like projection; male metaventrite with median elongate impression; and aedeagus lacking apical setae, with apical portion of median lobe in lateral view demarcated by a deep ventral emargination. This group comprises V. japonica (K. Sawada, 1962) , V. hisamat- sui Jałoszyński & Hoshina, 2005, V. odaigaharensis Jałoszyński & Hoshina, 2005 , V. tottoriensis Jałoszyński & Hoshina, 2005 , V. yoshitomii Jałoszyński, 2014a (all known to occur in Japan), V. modesta Jałoszyński, 2009 and V. assingi Jałoszyński, 2013 ( China) . Also V. qinghaiensis Jałoszyński, 2012 , V. calcarifer Jałoszyński, 2012 , and V. gansuana Jałoszyński, 2013 ( China) have similar aedeagi, but they have modified male protrochanters. Veraphis sakaii differs from V. japonica in a much shorter apical portion of the median lobe, which is broader than long (distinctly elongate in V. japonica ); from V. hisamatsui , V. odaigaharensis and V. tottoriensis in the aedeagus gradually broadening from base to subapical region (with distinctly concave sides in submedian region in these three species); from V. yoshitomii and V. assingi in a symmetrical apex of the median lobe (strongly asymmetrical in V. yoshitomii and V. assingi ); and from V. modesta in a rounded apex of the median lobe and parameres longer than half length of the median lobe (apex shallowly and narrowly emarginate and parameres shorter than half length of median lobe in V. modesta ).

Figures

FIGURE 25. Distribution of Veraphis in Japan.

FIGURES 1–4. Dorsal habitus of males. Veraphis loebli sp. n. (1); V. mutsuensis sp. n. (2); V. aomoriensis sp. n. (3); V. sakaii sp. n. (4).

FIGURES 5–12. Aedeagus in ventral (5, 7, 9, 11) and lateral (6, 8, 10, 12) views. Veraphis loebli sp. n. (5–6); V. mutsuensis sp. n. (7–8); V. aomoriensis sp. n. (9–10); V. sakaii sp. n. (11–12).

FIGURES 13–20. Aedeagus in ventral (13, 15, 17, 19) and lateral (14, 16, 18, 20) views. Veraphis loebli sp. n. (13–14); V. mutsuensis sp. n. (15–16); V. aomoriensis sp. n. (17–18); V. sakaii sp. n. (19–20).

FIGURES 21–24. Fore leg of male. Veraphis loebli sp. n. (21); V. mutsuensis sp. n. (22); V. aomoriensis sp. n. (23); V. sakaii sp. n. (24).