Nazeris clavator, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, A revision of Nazeris VIII. Five new species from China and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (1), pp. 301-315 : 311

Nazeris clavator nov.sp. (Figs 18-22)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " CHINA Guangdong, Gutian N.R. 800 m., 4.IV.97. J. Fellowes / Winkler extraction / Holotypus 3 Nazeris clavator nov.sp. det. V. Assing 2016" (cRou). Paratypes: 13, 1♀: same data as holotype (cRou, cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, noun in apposition: carrier of a club) alludes to the pair of club-shaped dorso-lateral processes of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 4.1-4.5 mm; length of forebody 2.1-2.4 mm. Coloration: body dark-reddish, with the abdomen slightly darker; legs yellowish; antennae reddish-yellow, with antennomeres I-II pale-reddish.

Head (Fig. 18) approximately as long as broad, of subquadrangular shape, with moderately marked posterior angles; median portion of dorsal surface weakly elevated; punctation dense, moderately coarse, non-umbilicate, and not confluent. Eyes small, approximately one-fourth as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head.

Pronotum (Fig. 18) 1.11-1.14 times as long as broad and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head, but slightly coarser, very dense, and evenly spaced; glossy elevations and glossy median band absent.

Elytra (Fig. 18) approximately 0.55 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, slightly coarser than that of pronotum.

Abdomen 1.20-1.25 times as broad as elytra; punctation very dense and moderately coarse on tergites III-V, less dense and distinctly finer on posterior tergites; interstices without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: posterior margin of sternite VII very weakly concave in the middle; sternite VIII (Fig. 19) approximately 1.15 times as broad as long, posterior excision deep and narrowly Vshaped, approximately one-third as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus (Figs 20-22) large and long in relation to body size, 0.83 mm long; ventral process long, gradually narrowed apicad, and apically very acute in ventral view, somewhat sinuate and apically of distinctive shape in lateral view; dorso-lateral apophyses long and slender, at basal third with a tubercle directed medio-dorsad, apically projecting beyond apex of ventral process; median lobe dorso-laterally with a pair of membranous club-shaped processes.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Nazeris clavator is characterized by the subquadrangular shape of the head, the dense, evenly distributed punctation and dull appearance of the whole body, non-umbilicate punctation of the head, as well as by the male sexual characters, particularly the morphology of the aedeagus. Closer affiliations with any of the other described species known from China are not evident.

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: Nazeris clavator is the first representative of the genus to be recorded from Guangdong province (South China). The Guangdong Huidong Gutian Natural Reserves are situated at approximately 23°09'N, 114°50'E in the southeast of Guangdong. The type specimens were collected at an altitude of 800 m, probably by sifting leaf litter.