Nepalota crocea, Assing, 2015

Assing, Volker, 2015, On the Nepalota fauna of China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Athetini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (1), pp. 207-248 : 236

Nepalota crocea nov.sp.

( Figs 96-105 , Map 4 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " CHINA [21] - Yunnan, NNE Pingbian, broad-leaved for., 23°00'39''N, 103°42'10''E, 1500 m, 26.VIII.2014, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Nepalota crocea sp.n. det. V. Assing 2014" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 11♂♂, 9♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss, MNHUB) ; 16 exs.: " CHINA: Yunnan, NNE Pingbian , 23°00'39''N, 103°42'10''E, 1500 m, subtropical broadleaved forest, litter sifted, 26.VIII.2014, leg. M. Schülke [CH14-21]" (cSch, cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: yellow) alludes to the uniformly yellowish coloration.

Description: Body length 2.6-3.8 mm; length of forebody 1.3-1.6 mm. Coloration: body dark-yellowish, with the abdominal segment VI sometimes weakly infuscate in the middle; legs pale-yellowish; antennae reddish to reddish-brown, with the basal antennomeres often paler reddish and antennomere XI dark-yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 96 ) transverse; dorsal surface with nearly obsolete microreticulation and glossy; punctation sparse and extremely fine. Eyes large, much longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 97 ) approximately 0.9-1.0 mm long; antennomere IV weakly oblong or approximately as long as broad; antennomeres V-X of gradually increasing width and increasingly transverse; preapical antennomeres distinctly transverse, nearly 1.5 times as broad as long; antennomere XI apically acute, slightly shorter than the combined length of VIII-X.

Pronotum ( Fig. 96 ) large and strongly transverse, 1.30-1.35 times as broad as long and 1.4-1.5 times as broad as head, without sexual dimorphism; disc with nearly obsolete microreticulation, glossy, and with extremely fine punctation.

Elytra ( Fig. 96 ) approximately as long as pronotum; punctation dense and fine; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen with very shallow transverse microsculpture; punctation very sparse and fine; tergites III and VII without sexual dimorphism.

♂: tergite VIII ( Fig. 98 ) approximately as long as broad and with distinctly convex posterior margin; sternite VIII ( Fig. 99 ) approximately as long as broad, slightly longer than tergite VIII, and strongly convex posteriorly; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 100- 101 ) relatively small, approximately 0.38 mm long, of slender shape; paramere ( Fig. 102 ) approximately as long as median lobe and with slender apical lobe.

♀: tergite VIII ( Fig. 103 ) of similar shape as in male; sternite VIII ( Fig. 73 ) weakly transverse and with broadly convex posterior margin, middle of posterior margin not concave; spermatheca ( Fig. 105 ) approximately 0.38 mm long.

Comparative notes: This species is distinguished from its congeners by the nearly uniformly yellowish coloration of the body and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality ( Map 4 ) and the circumstances of collection are identical to those of N. fellowesi (see above). Nepalota guangdongensis was present at the same site.

Figures

Map 4: Distributions of Nepalota yunnanensis PACE (filled circles), N. cuneata nov.sp. (open circles), and N. crocea nov.sp. (star) in China, based on examined records.

Figs 96-105: Nepalota crocea nov.sp.: (96) forebody; (97) antenna; (98) male tergite VIII; (99) male sternite VIII; (100-101) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (102) paramere; (103) female tergite VIII; (104) female sternite VIII; (105) spermatheca. Scale bars: 96: 0.5 mm; 97-99, 103-104: 0.2 mm; 100-102, 105: 0.1 mm.

Figs 65-74: Nepalota fellowesi PACE: (65) forebody; (66) antenna; (67) male tergite VIII; (68) male sternite VIII; (69) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (70) apical portion of median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view; (71) paramere; (72) female tergite VIII; (73) female sternite VIII; (74) spermatheca. Scale bars: 65-66: 0.5 mm; 67-74: 0.2 mm.