Chinecallicerus trituberculatus, Assing, 2018

Assing, Volker, 2018, Six new species of Chinecallicerus from China, with a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Geostibini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 47-63 : 61-62

Chinecallicerus trituberculatus nov.sp. ( Figs 33-41 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♂: " CHINA - Yunnan [CH07-15], Baoshan Pref., Gaoligong Shan , 29 km ESE Tengchong, 24°55'37''N, 98°45'09''E, 2350 m, dev. decid. forest, litter, wood, fungi sifted, 1.VII.2007, M. Schülke / Holotypus ♂ Chinecallicerus trituberculatus sp.n., det. V. Assing 2018" ( MNB).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the pronounced tubercles on the male tergites III, IV, and VII.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.1 mm; length of forebody 2.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 33 . Coloration: head and pronotum blackish; elytra blackish with the vicinity of the suture slightly and diffusely paler; abdomen black with the posterior margins of tergites III-VI and the posterior portions of tergites VII and VIII reddish; legs yellowish-red; antennae brown with the basal two antennomeres slightly paler; maxillary palpi brown with the apical palpomere pale-yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 34 ) distinctly transverse, approximately 1.15 times as broad as long; posterior angles weakly marked, nearly obsolete; punctation moderately sparse and extremely fine, visible only at high magnification; interstices with shallow traces of microsculpture visible only at high magnification. Eyes distinctly convex and large, longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 35 ) 1.6 mm long and massive; antennomeres IV weakly oblong, V approximately as long as broad, VI-X weakly transverse, and XI approximately as long as the combined length of IX and X. Maxillary palpomere III distinctly dilated.

Pronotum ( Fig. 34 ) conspicuously large in relation to head, 1.13 times as broad as long and 1.6 times as broad as head, broadest in posterior half; disc moderately convex in cross-section; middle of posterior margin strongly produced posteriad; punctation dense and fine; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 34 ) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, fine, and granulose, more distinct than that of head and pronotum; interstices with shallow microsculpture only in anterior portion. Hind wings probably fully developed.

Abdomen ( Figs 36-37 ) narrower than elytra; tergites III-V with shallow impunctate and glossy anterior impressions; anterior portions of tergties VI-VII impunctate; remainder of tergal surfaces with moderately dense (tergites III-V) or sparse punctation (tergites VI- VII); tergites glossy, with extremely fine and nearly obsolete transverse microsculpture visible only at high magnification; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: tergites III, IV, and VII each with pronounced median tubercle posteriorly ( Figs 36- 37 ) ; posterior margin of tergite VIII truncate in the middle ( Fig. 38 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely pointed ( Fig. 39 ); median lobe of aedeagus 0.5 mm long and shaped as in Figs 40-41 .

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: This species is distinguished from all its congeners by a conspicuously large (in relation to head) and posteriorly strongly produced pronotum and by the male primary and secondary sexual characters (tubercles on tergites III, IV, and VII; shape of aedeagus). It additionally differs from the geographically close C. grandicollis by darker coloration, larger eyes, the shapes of antennomeres IV-X, dilated maxillary palpomeres III, and granulose punctation of the elytra.

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: The type locality is situated near Tengchong in the Gaoligong Shan, Northwest Yunnan, China ( Map 1 ). The holotype was sifted from litter in a degraded deciduous forest at an altitude of 2350 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Chinecallicerus species in China: C. wrasei (black diamond); C. schuelkei (white circle); C. laevigatus and C. serratus (both black circle); C. subater (white diamond); C. reticulatus (black star); C. pinnatus (black triangle); C. grandicollis (grey star); C. carinatus (white triangle); C. orbiculatus (white star); C. transversus (black square); C. granulosissimus (white square); C. trituberculatus (grey triangle).

Figs 33-41: Chinecallicerus trituberculatus: habitus (33); forebody (34); antenna (35); abdomen in dorsal view (36); abdomen in dorso-lateral view (37); male tergite VIII (38); male sternite VIII (39); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (40-41). Scale bars: 33: 1.0 mm; 34-39: 0.5 mm; 40-41: 0.1 mm.