Amaurodera schmidti, Assing, 2019

Assing, Volker, 2019, On the Lomechusini fauna of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions. XXVI. New species, a new synonymy, and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 69 (1), pp. 33-70 : 54-55

Amaurodera schmidti spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7ABC3A7D-5EA4-47C5-90A5-F8F451BF1914

(Figs 24–26, 118–121)

Type material: Holotype: “E-NEPAL, D: Sankhuwa- Saba, N of Chauki , 27.V.2016, 2600–2700 m, 27°12'52"N, 87°27'47"E, leg. J. Schmidt / Holotypus Amaurodera schmidti sp. n., det. V. Assing 2017” ( NME) . Paratypes: 12 exs.: same data as holotype ( NME, cAss) .

Etymology: This species is dedicated to Joachim Schmidt, Rostock, who collected the type series and whose numerous field trips to Nepal have significantly contributed to our current knowledge of the Staphylinidae fauna of the Himalaya.

Description: Body length 5.5–6.5 mm; length of forebody 2.6–2.9 mm. Other measurements: head width: 0.8 mm; length of pronotum: 1.2 mm; width of pronotum: 0.8 mm; elytral width: 0.95–1.00 mm. Coloration: forebody blackish; abdomen with tergites III–IV reddish to reddish-brown, V blackish with reddish margins, VI–VII blackish with reddish posterior margins, and VIII with the anterior portion dark-brown and the posterior portion dark-yellowish; legs yellowish with the profemora and the apical halves of the meso- and metafemora darker; antennae reddish-brown to blackish-brown with antennomeres I–II and the basal portion of III pale-reddish and often also XI reddish; maxillary palpi dark-yellowish to yellowish-brown.

Head (Figs 24–25) weakly oblong; postero-lateral outline between eyes and posterior constriction broadly convex in dorsal view; median dorsal portion not impressed; punctation fine and rather sparse; interstices with (particularly in posterior dorsal portion) or without shallow microreticulation. Eyes distinctly convex, approximately half as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction. Antenna (Fig. 26) elongate, 2.9–3.0 mm long; antennomere X noticeably oblong.

Pronotum (Fig. 24) approximately 1.5 times as long as broad and as broad as head, without sexual dimorphism; dorsal surface opaque due to very dense microgranules; midline with long and narrow sulcus reaching neither anterior nor posterior margins; antero-laterally with sparse short setae on either side.

Elytra (Fig. 24) conspicuously short, approximately 0.4 times as long as pronotum; punctation fine and rather sparse; interstices with very shallow, nearly obsolete microreticulation. Hind wings reduced. Metatarsomere I nearly as long as the combined length of II–IV.

Abdomen broader than elytra; tergites III–V with moderately deep anterior impressions; punctation fine and very sparse; interstices with very shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII crenulate.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII in the middle with convex projection; median lobe of aedeagus 0.68– 0.70 mm long and shaped as in Figs 120–121.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; spermatheca shaped as in Figs 118–119.

Comparative notes: Based on external (large size, dark coloration, long and slender antennae and legs, absence of a sexual dimorphism of the pronotum) and the primary sexual characters (large and broad median lobe of the aedeagus; S-shaped and proximally not distinctly truncate spermatheca), A. schmidti belongs to the A. silvana group ( ASSING 2003). It is distinguished from other representatives of this group known from East Nepal by the shape of the aedeagus and additionally as follows: from A. granata ASSING, 2003 by distinctly sparser punctation of the elytra and a spermatheca with a larger cuticular invagination;

from A. fulgens ASSING, 2003 by a distinctly bicoloured abdomen and by the paler coloration of the legs and antennae ( A. fulgens : abdomen blackish; legs and antennae dark-brown to blackish);

from A. kleebergi ASSING, 2006 by sparser punctation of the elytra, a bicoloured abdomen, and by paler legs and antennae ( A. kleebergi : abdomen, legs, and antennae blackish);

from A. arunica ASSING, 2016 by sparser punctation of the elytra, a distinctly bicoloured abdomen, and paler basal antennomeres ( A. arunica : abdomen dark-brown to blackish with the anterior segments indistinctly paler at most; basal antennomeres blackish-brown to black).

For illustrations of A. granata , A. fulgens , A. kleebergi ,

and A. arunica see ASSING (2003, 2006, 2016b).

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated to the north of Chauki (East Nepal: Sankhuwa-

Saba District) at an altitude of 2600–2700 m.