Lathrobium sheni Peng & Li

Peng, Zhong, Li, Li-Zhen & Zhao, Mei-Jun, 2012, Three new species of the genus Lathrobium Gravenhorst (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae) from the Jiulongshan Natural Reserve, East China, ZooKeys 184, pp. 57-66 : 61

Lathrobium sheni Peng & Li sp. n. Figs 1B3

Type locality.

Jiulongshan Natural Reserve, Zhejiang Province, East China

Type material

(2 ♂♂, 1 ♀). Holotype: ♂, labeled 'CHINA: Zhejiang Prov. / Suichang County / Jiulongshan N. R. / 31.vii.2006, alt. 500-700 m / Li & Shen leg.'. Paratypes: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, same label data as holotype.

Description.

Measurements and ratios:BL 6.12-7.51, HL 0.83-0.93, HW 0.93-1.02, PL 1.15-1.26, PW 1.00-1.11, EL 0.74-0.83, HW/HL 0.93-1.12, HW/PW 0.90-0.93, HL/PL 0.72-0.81, PL/PW 1.14-1.17, EL/PL 0.64-0.66.

Habitus as in Fig. 1B. General appearance similar to Lathrobium jiulongshanense , except for the lighter coloration of the legs, the much smaller body size, and the sparser punctation on head and pronotum.

Male. Posterior margin of sternite VII (Fig. 3D) weakly concave; sternite VIII (Fig. 3E) with two rows of dense setae; sternite IX (Fig. 3F) almost symmetric; aedeagus (Fig. 3G, 3H) with short ventral process and longer dorsal sclerites.

Female. Posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 3A) pointed in middle; sternite VIII (Fig. 3B) much longer than that of male, posterior margin strongly convex; tergite IX (Fig. 3C) narrowly separated from X (Fig. 3C) and with slender lateral processes.

Distribution.

East China (Zhejiang: Jiulongshan Natural Reserve).

Etymology.

The species is named after Shan-Jia Shen, collector of the type specimens.

Remarks.

This species resembles Lathrobium tamurai Watanabe, 1992, which too was described from Zhejiang Province, in having an aedeagus with a short and apically hook-shaped ventral process. It resembles Lathrobium yinae Watanabe, 1997 from Yunnan in having the posterior margin of the male sternite VII weakly concave and two rows of dense setae on male sternite VIII. The new species can be readily distinguished from these species by two rows of dense setae on the male sternite VIII and by the much shorter ventral process of the aedeagus. In Lathrobium tamurai , the male sternite VIII has short darkish setae. In Lathrobium yinae , the ventral process of the aedeagus is elongate.