Pselaphaulax tararua Owens & Carlton, 2022

Owens, Brittany E. & Carlton, Christopher E., 2022, Revision of the New Zealand species of the Genus Pselaphaulax Reitter (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae: Pselaphitae: Pselaphini), Zootaxa 5155 (2), pp. 221-244 : 238

Pselaphaulax tararua Owens & Carlton , new species

( Fig. 11a–c )

Type Material. Holotype: (male) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut Ridge 990m 13 Feb 1985 // C.F. Butcher Litter 85/16 ( NZAC) . Paratypes: (2 males, 3 females) holotype locality ( NZAC) .

Etymology. This species is named after the type locality in the Tararua Range.

Diagnosis. This species can be readily be distinguished from all others in the genus by the curvature of the median lobe to the right and the posterior direction of the terminal end.

Description. MALE holotype. Integument: head, pronotum, elytra, abdomen, and appendages light brown, palpi lighter in color. Head: wide, width between eyes greater than ½ length of head from base of vertex to apex of rostrum. Eyes rounded, composed of 19 facets. Frontal margin of rostrum in dorsal view straight, weakly emarginate with sparse suberect setae. Gular mound swollen, ovate, longer than wide, glabrous; area of head posterior to gular mound flattened, slightly concave, nude. Maxillary palpomere IV as long as head, widened at base and distal 1/3, apical swelling roughened, v-shaped sensory patches present, margined by carinae. Thorax: pronotum with basal sulcus faint, delimited by lateral antebasal foveae; median antebasal foveae margined by small longitudinal carinae, present in groove alongside basolateral pits. Mesoventrite with median shield bearing patch of spongeose setae in small concavity behind margin of procoxae. Metaventrite afoveate, raised into median tumosity; metacoxae separated by extension of ventrite I. Legs unmodified. Elytra with two basal foveae, single sutural fovea present; single discal stria and sutural striae present; apical fringe of setae absent. Abdomen: tergites of usual form for tribe. Ventrite II with narrow, flattened median depression, extending length of ventrite. Genitalia: aedeagus asymmetrical. Median lobe distally curved far to the right, elongate, terminal end directed posteriorly. Right lateral process well-developed, narrowed distally. Ventral process downward curved, distally, shorter than median lobe. Parameres present, as long as median lobe.

Females. Integument, Head, Thorax, Abdomen: similar to male except eyes slightly smaller and ventrite II lacking median ovate depression and thickened area at apex.

Distribution. This species is known from collecting events in Nelson (NN), Taranaki (TK), Taupo (TO), and Wellington (WN). Its distribution is split across the North and South islands of NZ, but it has not been collected farther south than the extreme northern tip of the South Island.

Material examined. (2 males, 1 female) New Zealand: NN: Stanley Brook, Sunday Creek Litter, 11 Oct 1963 JI Townsend, 63/27 ( LSAM); (2 males) NEW ZEALAND: So. Island, 20 km NE Takaka, Tasman Nat. Pk., 21-v-1982, FMHD #82-591, Mixed forest litter, S. Peck ( FMNH); (1male) New Zealand: TK: Mt. Egmont Nat. Park 29 Nov 1970 AW Don ( LSAM); (1 male) NEW ZEALAND TO Chakune Mtn Rd Waitonga Falls 4 Nov 2004 A C Eyles ground moss ( NZAC); (3 males, 3 females) NEW ZEALAND: WN: Tararua Forest Park, above Akatarawa Saddle , 455m, 40 ∘ 56.936'S, 175 ∘ 06.529'E, 26.ix.2005, broadleaf-podocarp forest on slope; FMHD#2005-033, berl., leaf & log litter, A. Newton & M. Thayer, ANMT site 1151 95% ethanol FIELD MUSEUM NAT. HIST. ( FMNH); (3 males, 2 females) NEW ZEALAND: WN: Tararua Forest Park, Judd Ridge, Field's Track , Field Hut vic., 855m, 40 ∘ 54.474'S, 175 ∘ 15.371'E, 24.xi-26.xi.2005, broadleaf (Noth. Menziesii-Weinmannia racemosa) -podocarp forest; FMHD#2005-039, berl., forest leaf litter (mostly Nothofagus ), A. Solodovnikov & D. Clarke; ANMT site 1153 95% EtOH FIELD MUSEUM NAT. HIST. ( FMNH); (1 female) NEW ZEALAND, WN, Kaitoke Regional Park, Pakuratahi Forks , 15 Apr 2005, R. Leschen, C. McGuiness,// leaf litter, RL975, 41.03'S, 175.11'E ( NZAC); (1 male) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Logan East Basin 12 Feb 1985 C.F.Butcher // Mixed swards 85/27 ( FMNH) . NEW ZEALAND, WN Tararua Forest Park off Waiotauru Rd 25 Aug 1998 E. Spur // found on bait ( NZAC); (1 male, 1 female) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut Ridge 950m 3 Dec 1984 // R.C.Craw Sifted litter 84/88 ( NZAC); (1 male) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Ridge to Dundas Hut 1275m 6 Dec 1984 // R.C.Craw Moss and plants 84/98 ( NZAC); (1 male, 2 females) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut Ridge 800m 13 Feb 1985 // G.W.Ramsay Litter 85/18 ( NZAC); (1 female) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut Ridge 990m 3 Dec 1984 // B. G. Bennett & T. K. Crosby Sifted litter 84/83 ( NZAC); (1 male) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut 1250m 6 Dec 1984 J.S. Dugdale // Moss,plants 84/93 ( NZAC); (1 male) NEW ZEALAND WN Tararua Ra Dundas Hut Ridge, River Forks 900m 11 Feb 1985 // G.W.Ramsay Litter 85/12 ( NZAC); (1 male, 3 females) NEW ZEALAND WN Wainuiomata Whakanui Tk 10 Jan 1993 J R Grehan // Beech /kamahai ( NZAC) .

Figures

FIGURE 11. Pselaphaulax tararua, sp. nov. a) localities where specimens have been collected; b) aedeagus, lateral; c) aedeagus, dorsal.