Chinecallicerus subater, Assing, 2015

Assing, Volker, 2015, Two new species of Chinecallicerus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Geostibini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (1), pp. 249-256 : 252

Chinecallicerus subater nov.sp. ( Figs 1-9 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype Ƌ: " CHINA: Yunnan, mts NW Dongchuan, 26°10'00''N, 103°03'32''E, 2350 m, trail margin, litter and soil between herbs sifted, 8.VIII.2014, leg. M. Schülke [CH14-01a] / Holotypus Ƌ Chinecallicerus subater sp.n., det. V. Assing 2015" (coll. Assing).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: nearly matt) alludes to the pronounced microsculpture of the forebody.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 4.6 mm; length of forebody 2.0 mm. Coloration: body blackish, with the elytra blackish-brown; legs yellowish; antennae blackish-brown; maxillary palpi blackish-brown, with the terminal needle-shaped palpomere yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 1 ) approximately as long as broad, narrowed towards posterior constriction immediately behind eyes; postero-lateral contours between posterior margin of eye and posterior constriction nearly straight in dorsal view; punctation extremely fine and moderately dense, barely visible; interstices with pronounced microreticulation and practically matt ( Fig. 2 ). Eyes moderately large and moderately convex, slightly shorter than distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view. Antenna 1.75 mm long and shaped as in Fig. 3 .

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) slender, 1.1 times as broad as long and 1.25 times as broad as head, broadest slightly before middle; punctation and microsculpture similar to those of head ( Fig. 4 ); pubescence of midline directed caudad.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) approximately as long as pronotum; punctation very fine and rather dense; microreticulation even more pronounced than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen ( Fig. 5 ) narrower than elytra; punctation moderately dense and distinct on tergites III-VI, sparse on tergite VII; microsculpture very shallow on tergites III-VI, more distinct on tergite VII; tergites III and IV without sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

Ƌ: tergite VII with small median tubercle in posterior half; tergite VIII ( Fig. 6 ) weakly transverse, posterior margin truncate in the middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 7 ) transverse and with convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus 0.45 mm long and shaped as in Figs 8-9 .

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The new species is distinguished from all the previously described Chinecallicerus species by the pronounced microsculpture and the extremely fine punctation of the whole forebody, by the shape of the male tergite VIII, and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. It additionally differs from most species by its small size and the relatively slender pronotum. For characters separating it from the similarly microsculptured C. reticulatus see the comparative notes in the following section.

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 in a mountain to the northwest of Dongchuan in northeastern Yunnan ( Map 1 ). The slightly teneral holotype was sifted from litter and roots in herbaceous vegetation at a trail margin at an altitude of 2350 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of Chinecallicerus in Yunnan: C. wrasei (filled diamond); C. schuelkei (open circle); C. laevigatus and C. serratus (both filled circle); C. subater (open diamond); C. reticulatus (star).

Figs 1-9: Chinecallicerus subater nov.sp.: forebody (1); median portion of head (2); antenna (3); postero-median portion of pronotum (4); abdomen (5); male tergite VIII (6); male sternite VIII (7); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view (8); median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view (9). Scale bars: 1, 3, 5: 0.5 mm; 6-9: 0.2 mm; 2, 4: 0.1 mm.