Neosclerus schuelkei, Assing, 2011

Assing, Volker, 2011, A revision of the genus Neosclerus C (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 6 (1), pp. 89-148 : 114-115

Neosclerus schuelkei sp. n. ( Figs 66-72)

Type material:

Holotype : " China: Yunnan, Baoshan Pref., mount. range 22 km S Tengchong , 1800 m, 24°49'29''N, 98°29'30''E, devast. primary forest, litter & mushr. sifted, 30.VIII.2009, leg. M. Schülke [CH09-19] / Holotypus  Neosclerus schuelkei sp. n. det. V. Assing 2010 " (cAss) . Paratypes: 3 : same data as holotype (cSch) .

Description:

Relatively large species of broad habitus ( Fig. 66). Body length 3.4-4.0 mm. Coloration: body blackish, except for the reddish-yellow posterior margins of the elytra; legs yellowish; antennae reddish-yellow.

Head across eyes approximately 1.25-1.30 times as wide as long; eyes large, postocular region obsolete ( Fig. 67); punctation areolate, coarse and extremely dense, also in posterior portion of dorsal surface; interstices reduced to narrow ridges, with shallow microreticulation; dorsal surface matt; antenna approximately 1.2 mm long.

Pronotum weakly transverse, 1.05-1.10 times as wide as long and approximately 0.9 times as wide as head ( Fig. 67); punctation areolate, coarse, and dense, similar to that of head; impunctate midline very narrow; interstices without microsculpture and glossy.

Elytra 0.95-1.00 times as long and approximately 1.1 times as wide as pronotum; humeral angles marked ( Fig. 67); punctation very dense and moderately fine; interstices glossy. Hind wings

present.

Abdomen approximately as wide as elytra or slightly narrower; punctation fine and moderately dense, slightly sparser on tergite VII than on anterior tergites; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VII with posterior margin indistinctly concave in the middle, near middle of posterior margin with slightly denser and very weakly modified setae ( Fig. 68); sternite VIII anteriorly with median elevation, in posterior half with extensive impression without pubescence, posterior excision conspicuouly deep and distinctly V-shaped, its depth almost 1/3 the length of sternite ( Figs 69-70); aedeagus with subapically distinctly dentate and apically acute (lateral view) ventral process, internal sac with pair of sclerotized structures ( Figs 71-72).

Etymology:

The species is dedicated to my colleague and friend Michael Schülke, who not only collected the type series of this species, but also type material of various other species treated in the present

paper.

Comparative notes:

Neosclerus schuelkeischuelkei is the largest species of the genus. It is characterized not only by its size and broad habitus, but also by the areolate and dense punctation of the head and pronotum, the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternites VII and VIII, and particularly by the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus.

Distribution and bionomics:

The species is known only from the type locality to the south of Tengchong , Yunnan, China. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter in a degraded primary forest at an altitude of 1800 m in August .