Leptusa (Homopisalia) schawalleri, 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 : 263-264

Leptusa (Homopisalia) schawalleri nov.sp. ( Figs 42-49 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Nepal: 361, Taplejung Dist. upper Simbua Khola, near Tseram, 10.-15.V.88, 3250- 3350 m, leg. Schawaller / Holotypus Leptusa schawalleri sp.n. det. V. Assing 2010" (SMNS). Paratypes: 1, 4: same data as holotype (SMNS, cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: External characters ( Figs 42-43 ) as in L. hiarens , except as follows:

Elytral suture not gaping posteriorly ( Fig. 44 ). Posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex ( Fig. 45 ).

: sternite VII unmodified; posterior margin of sternite VIII very weakly produced in the middle ( Fig. 46 ); aedeagus ca. 0.25 mm long, shaped as in Fig. 47 ; apical lobe of paramere short and stout ( Fig. 48 ).

: sternite VIII of similar shape as in male, slightly less produced than in male; spermathecal capsule with distal portion of oval shape, without apical cuticular intrusion ( Fig. 49 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The species is dedicated to Wolfgang Schawaller, specialist of Tenebrionidae , who collected the type series of three of the species described in the present paper.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: This species is reliably distinguished from the syntopic L. hiarens only by the fully contiguous elytral suture (posteriorly gaping in L. hiarens ) and by the sexual characters, particularly the completely different morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus (which readily distinguishes it also from all other consubgeners), the stouter apical lobe of the paramere, as well as by the different morphology of the spermatheca (shape of the distal portion of the capsule, absence of an apical cuticular intrusion).

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 and the ecological circumstances are identical to those of L. hiarens .

Figures

Figs 42-52: Leptusa schawalleri nov.sp. (42-49) and L. ilamensis PACE (50-52): (42) antenna; (43) median portion of pronotum; (44) sutural portion of elytra; (45, 50) male tergite VIII; (46, 51) male sternite VIII; (47, 52) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (48) apical lobe of paramere; (49) spermatheca. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.