Amaurodera angularis, Assing, 2015

Assing, Volker, 2015, New species and additional records of Lomechusini from the Palaearctic region, primarily from China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 65 (2), pp. 243-262 : 256-258

Amaurodera angularis spec. nov.

( Figs 65–72 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: ” INDIA W. Bengal, Darjeeling distr. , Teesta-Rangpo 350 m, Besuchet-Löbl 12.X.78 / Holotypus ♂ Amaurodera angularis spec. nov., det. V. Assing 2015” ( MHNG).

Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ [1 teneral]: same data as holotype ( MHNG, cAss); 1♀: ” INDIA W. Bengal, Darjeeling distr. , Sevoke 200 m, 7.X.78 Besuchet-Löbl” (cAss) .

Comment: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: angled) alludes to the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus in lateral view.

Description: Body length 3.8–4.2 mm; length of forebody 1.85–2.05 mm. Coloration: head reddish; pronotum reddish to reddish-brown; elytra reddish; abdomen yellowish, with segments VI–VII more or less distinctly and more or less extensively infuscate; legs and antennae yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 65 ) as long as broad or weakly oblong, broadest across eyes, and with sexual dimorphism; punctation sparse and extremely fine; interstices with or without very shallow, nearly obsolete microreticulation. Eyes 0.7–0.8 times as long as the distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna ( Fig. 66 ) approximately 2.4 mm long and very slender.

Pronotum ( Fig. 65 ) 1.30–1.35 times as long as broad and approximately 1.05 times as broad as head; dorsal surface matt; dorsal and lateral surface meeting at an angle posteriorly; microreticulation reaching lateral carinae only posteriorly; narrow median furrow of reduced, but variable length, extending along anterior half to anterior four fifths, far from reaching anterior or posterior margins.

Elytra ( Fig. 65 ) approximately 0.55 times as long as pronotum; punctation sparse and extremely fine; pubescence whitish and depressed. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I longer than combined length of II and III, but shorter than combined length of II–IV.

Abdomen ( Fig. 67 ) narrower than elytra; tergites III–VI impunctate except for some setiferous punctures at posterior margin and a median pair of setiferous punctures bearing long brown setae; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Fig. 68 ) convex and denticulate.

♂: dorsal surface of head with distinct and extensive impression ( Fig. 65 ); sternite VIII ( Fig. 69 ) nearly as long as broad and with weakly convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 70–71 ) 0.6 mm long; ventral process strongly angled in lateral view; paramere 0.5 mm long.

♀: surface of head not impressed; spermatheca as in Fig. 72 .

Comparative notes: This species is distinguished from other species of the A. veluticollis group (see ASSING 2003) particularly by the conspicuous shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus and by the sexual dimorphism of the head. It additionally differs from the sympatric A. cameroni by the shorter median furrow of the pronotum, the longer elytra, and the differently shaped spermatheca ( A. cameroni : spermatheca proximally truncate).

The new species is distinguished from A. veluticollis (MOTSCHULSKY, 1858) , whose male sexual characters are still unknown and whose original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from ”Indes orientales” (probably Burma today), by the different shape and sculpture of the pronotum ( A. veluticollis : antero-lateral projections less pronounced; dorsal and lateral surfaces posteriorly meeting at a more pronounced angle; microreticulation extending to lateral carinae), the shorter median sulcus on the pronotum, and the differently shaped apical cuticular intrusion of the spermatheca.The general shape of the spermatheca is more or less similar also in other species of the A. veluticollis group, e.g., A. thailandensis PACE, 1986 and A. birmana PACE, 1986 . For illustrations of A. veluticollis , A. cameroni , and other Himalayan representatives of the genus see ASSING (2003, 2005d, 2006a, 2010).

Distribution and natural history: The known distribution is confined to two localities in Darjeeling district, West Bengal province, North India. The type specimens were collected at low altitudes (200 and 350 m), in one locality together with A. cameroni . One of the paratypes is teneral.

Figures

Figs 65–75: Amaurodera angularis spec. nov. (65–72) and A. ilamica (73–75): male forebody (65); antenna (66); abdomen (67); male tergite VIII (68); male sternite VIII (69); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (70–71); spermatheca (72, 75); female tergite VIII (73); female sternite VIII (74). Scale bars: 65–67: 1.0 mm; 68–75: 0.2 mm.