Nazeris bihamatus, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, A revision of Nazeris VIII. Five new species from China and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (1), pp. 301-315 : 306-308

Nazeris bihamatus nov.sp. (Figs 1-7)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " CHINA, Guangxi, Nongxin 1050 m, 12.vii.1999, J.R. Fellowes / Holotypus 3 Nazeris bihamatus nov.sp. det. V. Assing 2016" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: with two hooks) alludes to the pair of hook-shaped sclerotized internal structures of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 6.6 mm; length of forebody 3.2 mm. Body of slender habitus. Coloration: body black; legs pale-yellowish; antennae yellowish, with antennomeres I-II reddish and III yellowish-red.

Head (Fig. 1) oblong, 1.08 times as long as broad; frons depressed; postero-median portion of dorsal surface somewhat elevated; punctation dense, coarse, umbilicate and partly confluent, particularly in postero-median portion; interstices forming narrow ridges. Eyes less than half as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna 2.2 mm long.

Pronotum (Fig. 1) 1.2 times as long as broad and 0.9 times as broad as head; punctation very coarse (much more so than that of head) and somewhat irregularly distributed in postero-lateral portions; midline with narrow glossy elevation posteriorly.

Elytra (Fig. 1) slender, 0.58 times as long as pronotum, somewhat depressed anteriorly; suture narrowly elevated; punctation nearly as coarse as that of pronotum.

Abdomen 1.15 times as broad as elytra; punctation very dense and coarse on tergites III- V, sparser and much finer on posterior tergites; interstices without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII (Fig. 2) weakly transverse, posterior excision V-shaped, approximately one-fifth as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus (Figs 3-4) 1.05 mm long and of distinctive shape; at base of ventral process with pair of wing-shaped semi-transparent lateral processes (Fig. 5); dorso-lateral apophyses slender, apically moderately dilated, not reaching apex of ventral process; internal sac with a pair of hookshaped sclerotized structures apically (Figs 6-7) and with another pair of moderately sclerotized spines dorso-apically.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The similar external and male sexual characters suggest that N. bihamatus is closely allied to N. shizukuishii ITO, 2010 from North Vietnam. It differs from that species by the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus (both in lateral and in ventral view), by the weakly sclerotized lateral processes at the base of the ventral process (strongly sclerotized in N. shizukuishii ), and by the conspicuous internal structures of the aedeagus. For illustrations of N. shizukuishii see ITO (2010b).

Figs 1-12: Nazeris bihamatus (1-7) and N. latilobatus (8-12): (1, 8) forebody; (2, 9) male sternite VIII; (3-4, 10-11) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (5) median portion of aedeagus in ventral view; (6-7) apical internal structures in lateral and in ventral view; (12) ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1, 8: 1.0 mm; 2-4, 9-12: 0.2 mm; 5-7: 0.1 mm.

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 (approximately 23°00'N, 105°56'E) is situated in the extreme west of Guangxi province, close to the border with Vietnam. The holotype was collected at an altitude of 1050 m.