Leptusa (Chondrelytropisalia) umbhakica, Assing, 2011

Assing, V., 2011, New species and additional records of Leptusa from the Caucasus region and the Himalaya (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (1), pp. 253-265 : 259-261

Leptusa (Chondrelytropisalia) umbhakica nov.sp. ( Figs 27-34 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Nepal: 390 Dist. Sankhua Sabha, Thudam, 3550-3650 m, 25.-27.V.1988, leg. W. Schawaller / Holotypus Leptusa umbhakica sp.n. det. V. Assing 2010" (SMNS). Paratypes: 1, 1: same data as holotype (SMNS, cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.8-3.2 mm. Habitus slender ( Fig. 27 ). Coloration: forebody brown to blackish brown; abdomen dark-brown to blackish-brown, with segment VI and anterior portion of segment VII black and with the posterior margins of segments III-V, the posterior portion of segment VII, and segments VIII-X reddish; legs dark-brown; antennae reddish-brown, with antennomeres I-III and XI reddish.

Head 1.05-1.10 times as long as wide; punctation coarse, dense, and defined; interstices slightly narrower than punctures and with very shallow microreticulation ( Fig. 28 ); eyes weakly convex, slightly shorter than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna slender ( Fig. 18 ), approximately 0.9 mm long; antennomere IV weakly oblong, V approximately as long as broad, VI-X gradually and weakly increasing in width and increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as wide as long ( Fig. 30 ). Maxillary palpi slender; preapical palpomere approximately 3-3.5 times as long as broad.

Pronotum slender ( Fig. 28 ), approximately 1.05 times as wide as long and 1.15-1.20 times as wide as head, strongly convex in cross-section; maximal width in anterior half; lateral margins in posterior half weakly sinuate in dorsal view; posterior angles marked; punctation fine and rather sparse, much finer and shallower than that of head; interstices with very shallow microreticulation visible only at high magnification ( Fig. 29 ); surface somewhat glossy.

Elytra ( Fig. 28 ) short, approximately 0.75 times as long as, and only indistinctly broader than pronotum; posterior margin distinctly sinuate near postero-lateral angles; punctation much coarser than that of head and not very dense ( Fig. 31 ); interstices without microsculpture and very glossy. Hind wings reduced. Legs moderately slender and rather stout; metatarsomere I as long as the combined length of II and III, or nearly so.

Abdomen slightly broader than elytra, subparallel; tergites III-VI with deep and coarsely punctate anterior impressions; remainder of tergal surfaces with very fine and sparse punctation; interstices glossy, with very shallow, almost obsolete microreticulation visi- ble only at high magnification; posterior margin of tergite VII with fine palisade fringe; tergites VII-VIII without evident sexual dimorphism, posterior margin of tergite VIII broadly and shallowly concave ( Fig. 32 ).

: sternite VII with long and erect pubescence, otherwise unmodified; posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely angled in the middle ( Fig. 33 ); aedeagus ca. 0.36 mm long, with small tooth-like projection at the base of the ventral process ( Fig. 34 ); apical lobe of paramere short and stout, similar to that of other species of the subgenus.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII evenly convex; spermatheca not distinctive.

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) is derived from the name of the mountain range (Umbhak Himal), where the type locality is situated.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the external (slender habitus, punctation, presence of pronounced anterior impressions on tergites III-VI) and sexual characters, particularly the shape and internal structures of the aedeagus, L. umbhakica undoubtedly belongs to the L. indica species group, which is characterized especially by the shape of the two sclerotized internal structures, the shape of the tube-like apical internal structure, as well as by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. In aedeagal characters, L. umbhakica is most similar to L. bagmatiensis PACE 1989 from central Nepal, from which it is readily distinguished by the more slender habitus, the much coarser and defined punctation of the head, and by the shape of the ventral portion of the median lobe of the aedeagus (between the base of the ventral process and the crista apicalis). For illustrations of L. bagmatiensis see PACE (1989).

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 near Thudam (27°45'N, 87°30'E) in the Umbhak Himal in the very northeast of Nepal. The specimens were sifted in a mixed forest (mainly birch and rhododendron) at an altitude of 3550-3650 m. The female paratype had a mature egg in the ovaries.

Figures

Figs 27-34: Leptusa umbhakica nov.sp.: (27) habitus; (28) forebody; (29) median portion of pronotum; (30) antenna; (31) sutural portion of elytra; (32) male tergite VIII; (33) male sternite VIII; (34) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 27: 1.0 mm; 28: 0.5 mm; 30, 32-33: 0.2 mm; 29, 31, 34: 0.1 mm.

Figs 15-26: Leptusa microphthalma REITTER: (15) habitus; (16) forebody; (17) median dorsal portion of head; (18) antenna; (19) median portion of pronotum; (20) male tergite VIII; (21) male sternite VIII; (22-23) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (24) female tergite VIII; (25) female sternite VIII; (26) spermatheca. Scale bars: 15: 1.0 mm; 16: 0.5 mm; 18, 20-25: 0.2 mm; 17, 19, 26: 0.1 mm.