Apatetica aspera, Assing, 2018

Assing, Volker, 2018, On some species of Apatetica WESTWOOD (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Apateticinae), Beiträge zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 68 (2), pp. 347-359 : 353-354

Apatetica aspera spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:221E2344-6290-429C-930E-32F970F7DD72

( Figs 15–22)

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ CHINA [32] – S-Shaanxi [recte: N-Sichuan], Micang Shan, 42 km S Hanzhong, 32°40'43"N, 106°48'33"E, 1090 m, 17.VIII.2012, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Apatetica aspera sp. n. det. V. Assing 2017” (cAss). Paratypes: 2 ♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss); 1 ♂ [damaged: abdominal segments VIII-X missing]: “ China, Sichuan, Qingcheng Shan, 65 km NW Chengdu, 103.33E, 30.53N, 18.V./ 3.–4.VI.1997, 8 km W Taiping, 800-1000 m, leg. A. Pütz” (cPüt); 1 ♀: “ China (Sichuan) 1995, Qingcheng-shan (Umg. Heavenly Old Village) 1000–1300 m, 18./20.VI. Heinz leg.” (cSme); 1 ex. [damaged; abdominal apex missing]: “ CHINA (C-Sichuan) (17) Quincheng [sic] Shan, NW Chengdu, 650–700 m, 30.54N, 103.33E, 3./ 4.VI.1997 Wrase” ( MNB); 1 ♀: “ CHINA border Shaanxi-Sichuan Daba Shan pass 20 km SSE Zhenping / 1700–1800 m 31°44'N 109°35'E, 9.VII.2001, A. Smetana [C96b]” (cSme).

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: rough) alludes to the pronounced sculpture of the dorsal surface of the forebody.

Description: Body length 7.3–8.1 mm; length of forebody 6.3–7.1 mm. Other measurements: headwidth 1.4–1.6 mm; length of antenna 2.7–3.0 mm; width of pronotum: 3.3–3.5 mm; length of pronotum 1.9–2.0 mm; length of elytra 2.8–3.2 mm; length of metatibia 1.8–1.9 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 15. Coloration: body black with the lateral explanate margins of the pronotum more or lessdistinctly paler; legs black except for the reddish to reddish-brown tarsomeres V; antennae black with antennomeres II–III and the base of IV reddish-brown.

Head ( Fig. 16) strongly transverse; vertex with a pair of flat and coarsely punctured elevations, between these elevations with irregular longitudinal rugae, between elevations and dorsal margins of eyes coarsely rugose; frons with coarse and dense punctation; interstices with shallow striate microsculpture. Antenna ( Fig. 17) moderately long; antennomeres IV and V approximately twice as long as broad; antennomere Xweakly oblong.

Pronotum ( Fig. 16) approximately 1.7 times as broad as long and approximately 1.35 times as broad as head, broadest at posterior third; lateral margins very broadly explanate, irregularly sculptured, irregularly crenulate, and with moderately coarse punctures in anterior half; disc with extremely coarse punctation and irregular elevations; interstices glossy.

Elytra ( Fig. 18) approximately 1.5 times as long as pronotum; each elytron with eight indistinctly and sparsely punctate striae; intervals more or less convex (crosssection), without distinct microsculpture, and glossy; intervals 3, 5, 7, and 9 with two to six pronounced, but somewhat irregular elevations, the number of elevations increasing from interval 3 to 9; near humeral angles with very large elevation. Scutellum weakly transverse. Hind wings present. Legs rather short and stout; protarsomeres I–IV without appreciable sexual dimorphism, moderately dilated in both sexes.

Abdomen ( Figs 19, 22) with microsculpture predominantly composed of more or less distinctly isodiametric meshes; punctation of tergites VII and VIII very coarse and dense, much more so than that of V and VI; tergite VIII ( Figs 19, 22) without appreciable sexual dimorphism.

♂: aedeagus ( Figs 20–21) 1.55 mm long; ventral process tapering apicad and acute apically in ventral view; parameresslender, apicallyvery acute, not flattened, extending slightly beyond apex of ventral process.

Intraspecific variation: In the two females from the Qingcheng Shan and Daba Shan the middle of abdominal tergite VIII is sparsely punctateto almost impunctate, whereas inthematerial from thetype localityit iscoarsely and densely punctate everywhere. The condition in the two remaining specimens cannot be assessed, since their tergites VIII are missing. Since no additional evidence was found suggesting that the respective populations should represent distinct species and since the aedeagus of the male from Qingcheng Shan is identical to that of the holotype, the observed difference is attributed to intraspecific variation.

Comparative notes: This species is similar and evidently closely allied to Apatetica callosa JANSSON, 1947 (type locality: Kambaiti pass in Northeast Myanmar; holotype examined), but distinguished by a more coarsely and densely punctured head (especially in anterior portion), blackish antennomeres X–XI (reddish in A. callosa ), the shape and sculpture of the pronotum ( A. callosa : median portion more elevated, more strongly convex in cross-section; distribution of callosities different; lateral margins anteriorly dentate), the distribution and shapes of the elevations on the elytra ( A. callosa : elevations more oblong, more pronounced, and more defined), and by the shape of the aedeagus ( A. callosa : median lobe more strongly curved in lateral view; ventral process apically narrower and more acute).

Distribution and natural history: Apatetica aspera is currently known from five localities in the Micang Shan, the Qingcheng Shan, and the Daba Shan in North and Central Sichuan, China. The altitudes range from approximately 700 to approximately 1750 m. The specimens fromthe type locality, one of whichis teneral, were sifted from leaf litter and the roots of grass and herbs along a path at the margin of a secondary mixed forest.