Paederus lineodenticulatus LI & ZHOU, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2015, On the Harpopaederus fauna of China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (1), pp. 163-190 : 185-188

Paederus lineodenticulatus LI & ZHOU, 2007 ( Figs 80-91 , Map 3 )

M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: China: S h a a n x i: 1333, 18♀♀, Daba Shan , Ten'ma vill., 31°55'N, 109°05'E, 2200-2600 m, 18.-27.VI.2004, leg. Plutenko (cSch, cAss) ; 1♀, Daba Shan , 15 km S Shou-Man vill., 32°08'N, 108°37'E, 25.V.-14.VI.2004, leg. Plutenko " (cSch); 333, 5♀♀, Daba Shan, NW pass 25 km NW Zhenping, 32°01'N, 109°19'E, 2150 m, stream valley, young coniferous forest, 11.VII.2001, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cSch, cAss); 13, 1♀, Daba Shan, 22 km NW Zhenping, 32°00'N, 109°21'E, 1930 m, mixed deciduous forest, 11.VII.2001, leg. Schülke & Wrase" (cSch) ; 1♀, Daba Shan , 20 km NW Zhenping, 31°59'N, 109°22'E, 1680 m, young mixed deciduous forest, sifted, 11.VII.2001, leg. Wrase (cSch) .

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on 16 type specimens from " Sichuan Province, Wu Mountain, Liziping" (LI & ZHOU 2007). As can be inferred from the map provided by LI & ZHOU (2007), the type locality is not Liziping in Sichuan [[ 28°59'N, 102°17'E], but Liziping wood farm [31°12'N, 110°00'E] in what has been Chonqing since 1997, near the border with Hubei. Since the illustrations of some body parts and the original description may be misleading, a redescription and new illustrations are provided.

R e d e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 10.0- 12.5 mm; length of forebody 4.8-5.6 mm. Coloration: head black; pronotum bright reddish; elytra metallic-blue; scutellum reddish to brown; abdomen bicoloured with segments III-VI pale-reddish and segments VII-X black; legs with blackish femora and metatibiae, and with dark-brown to blackish-brown pro- and mesotibiae and tarsi; antennae yellowish, with antennomeres V-XI often more or less distinctly infuscate in apical half, pro- and mesocoxae reddish, metacoxae blackish; maxillary palpi yellowish, with preapical palpomere more or less distinctly and more or less extensively infuscate; labial palpi dark-brown to blackish, with the terminal palpomere yellowish to reddish.

Head ( Figs 80-82 ) transverse, 1.1-1.2 times as broad as long, with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism, on average larger and more transverse in males than in females; posterior angles weakly to moderately marked; punctation rather fine and sparse in median and anterior dorsal portions, coarser and denser in lateral and posterior dorsal portions; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes distinctly shorter than postocular region from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna 2.8- 3.0 mm long; antennomere IV approximately twice as long as broad; antennomere X more than 1.5 times as long as broad. Labrum of somewhat variable shape, but anterior margin with more or less pronounced U-shaped median incision. Mandibles with distinct sexual dimorphism: longer and more slender in males than in females; molar teeth often separated in males, basally fused in females ( Figs 81-82 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 80 ) 1.04-1.06 times as long as broad and 1.00-1.08 times as broad as head, strongly convex in cross-section; dorsal series each composed of at least 10 punctures.

Elytra ( Fig. 80 ) 0.65 times as long as pronotum and of trapezoid shape; punctation rather fine and dense; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsomeres I-IV with pronounced sexual dimorphism. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen approximately 1.05 times as broad as elytra; punctation moderately fine and rather dense; pubescence long and blackish; interstices with fine and transverse microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII sexually dimorphic.

3: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated ( Fig. 80 ); tergite VIII posteriorly obtusely pointed; sternite VIII ( Fig. 89 ) weakly transverse, posterior excision approximately 0.55 times as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 83-88 ) approximately 2.9 mm long and nearly symmetric; ventral process very weakly sclerotized; dorsal plate long, basally slender, gradually tapering apicad, apically acute and curved ventrad in lateral view, extending distinctly beyond apices of parameres, with two series of rather small and numerous denticles; parameres apically very weakly curved; internal sac with a clipshaped weakly sclerotized basal structure and with an additional, moderately sclerotized, and apically needle-shaped structure.

♀: protarsomeres I-IV moderately dilated, much less so than in male; tergite VIII ( Fig. 90 ) strongly tapering posteriad, posterior margin not distinctly semi-transparent, weakly convex in the middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 91 ) posteriorly with long and apically very acute median process, postero-lateral angles acute and projecting posteriad.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the morphology of the aedeagus (dorsal plate long and slender, dorsally with two rows of numerous small denticles, shape of internal structure), as well as on the sexual dimorphism of the shapes of the head and of the mandibles, P. lineodenticulatus is closely allied to P. apfelsinicus , from which it differs by the less dark pro- and mesotibiae, the less distinctly infuscate antennomeres V-XI, the more strongly pointed male tergite VIII, the longer aedeagus ( P. apfelsinicus (2.4- 2.7 mm) with an apically more slender dorsal plate, the more slender female tergite VIII with a less convex and not distinctly semitransparent apical margin, and by the longer and more acute postero-median process of the female sternite VIII.

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 currently known distribution is confined to the western Daba Shan from the environs of Zhenping in southern Shaanxi to the Wu Shan in northern Chongqing ( Map 3 ). Previous records from Sichuan are incorrect. The material listed above was sifted from leaf litter in various forest habitats at altitudes between 1680 and 2600 m.

Figures

Map 3: Distributions of Harpopaederus species in the Qinling Shan and the Daba Shan in Shaanxi, Hubei, North Sichuan, and Chongqing (some doubtful female-based literature records omitted): Paederus xui (filled diamonds); P. konfuzius (open stars); P. brevior (triangles); P. lineodenticulatus (open circles); P. cultellatus (filled triangle); P. apfelsinicus (filled circles); P. multidenticulatus (open triangle).

Figs 80-88: Paederus lineodenticulatus LI & ZHOU: (80) male forebody; (81) anterior portion of male head; (82) anterior portion of female head; (83-85) aedeagus in lateral, ventral, and dorsal view; (86-87) apical portion of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (88) internal structures of aedeagus in dorsal view. Scale bars: 80-85: 1.0 mm; 86-88: 0.5 mm.

Figs 89-91: Paederus lineodenticulatus LI & ZHOU: (89) male sternite VIII; (90) female tergite VIII; (91) female sternite VIII. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.