Pselaphodes distincticornis Yin & Li

Yin, Zi-Wei & Li, Li-Zhen, 2012, Notes on Michael Schuelke's pselaphine collections from China. - Tyrini. I. genera Labomimus Sharp, Linan Hlavac and Pselaphodes Westwood (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae), ZooKeys 251, pp. 83-118 : 93-94

Pselaphodes distincticornis Yin & Li sp. n. Figs 11A12

Type material

(2 ♂♂, 1 ♀). Holotype: ♂, labeled 'CHINA: Yunnan, Dali Bai Aut. Pref. / 36 km N Dali, ruderal pasture wtih / pines and shrubs, 26°01'20"N, / 100°08'14"E, 2158 m, litter sifted / under pines and shrubs, 24.VIII.2009, / leg. M. Schülke [CH09-04]' (cSch). Paratype: 1 ♂, same label data as holotype (SNUC); 1 ♀, same label data sa holotype, except 'D.W. Wrase [04]'.

Diagnosis.

Reddish brown; length 2.74-2.88; postgenae rounded; antennomeres IX–XI enlarged, IX modified in the male; pronotum with lateral margins roundly expanded laterally; with long thick metaventral processes; metacoxae simple; aedeagus with asymmetric median lobe elongate.

Description.

Male (Fig. 11A). Length 2.74-2.88. Head longer than wide, HL 0.59-0.60, HW 0.58-0.59; eyes each composed of about 40 facets. Antennal clubs as in Fig. 12A. Pronotum (Fig. 12B) about as long as wide, PL 0.58-0.59, PW 0.58-0.60, with round lateral margins. Elytra wider than long, EL 0.72-0.73, E W 1.11-1.12. Long metaventral processes with truncate apices (Fig. 12C). Protrochanters and profemora simple (Fig. 12D), protibiae with short apical tubercle (Fig. 12E); mesotrochanters (Fig. 12F) with small spine at ventral margin; metatrochanters and metafemora (Fig. 12G) simple. Abdomen broad at base and narrowed apically, AL 0.85-0.96, AW 1.11-1.14. Sternite IX as in Fig. 12H. Aedeagus length 0.71, with asymmetric median lobe distinctively elongate (Figs 12 I–K).

Female. Similar to male in general; BL 2.79, HL 0.64, HW 0.58, PL 0.59, PW 0.59, EL 0.62, EW 1.16, AL 0.94, AW 1.22. Eyes each composed of about 30 facets. Metaventral processes absent.

Comparative notes.

The unmodified antennal clubs are shared in Pselaphodes fengtingae Yin, Li et Zhao (Zhejiang, Jiangxi) and Pselaphodes parvus Yin, Li et Zhao (Guizhou). Pselaphodes distincticornis can be separated from bothspeciesby the larger size, the simple protrochanters and profemora, and the distinctively asymmetric and elongate median lobe of the aedeagus. Both Pselaphodes fengtingae and Pselaphodes parvus have the protrochanters with a small ventral spine, and the profemora with a larger spine at the ventral margin, and have the aedeagus with an asymmetric but much shorter median lobe.

Distribution.

Southwest China: Yunnan.

Biology.

Species were sifted from leaf litter under pines and shrubs in a ruderal pasture.

Etymology.

Species name combined from Latin stems ‘distinct’ and ‘corn’, referring to the large median metaventral processes of the new species.