Pseudolathra brevirimata, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, A revision of Palaearctic, Oriental, and New Guinean Pseudolathra. VI. Four new species, two new syonymies, and additional records (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 53 (1), pp. 451-463 : 461-462

Pseudolathra brevirimata nov.sp. (Figs 10-12, 19-20)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♁: " WEST PAPUA: Foja Mountains , cloud forest, 1000 m, leaf litter, sifting between rocks, 2°27'47.34''S, 138°45'47.56''E, leg. T. Mainda 01.06.2019 / Holotypus ♁ Pseudolathra brevirimata sp. n., det. V. Assing 2021" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective composed of the Latin adjective brevis (short) and an adjective derived from the Latin noun rima (fissure). It alludes to the relatively short posterior incision of the male sternite VIII.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Small species; body length 5.1 mm; length of forebody 3.1 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 10. Colouration: body black; legs blackish-brown with brown metatibiae and tarsi; antennae brown with antennomere I black.

Head (Fig. 11) transverse, 1.25 times as broad as long; dorsal surface flat, weakly convex in cross-section, with few moderately coarse punctures in antero-lateral and posterolateral portions and with two pairs of moderately coarse punctures between eyes, otherwise impunctate; microsculpture absent. Eyes large, approximately three times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 2.0 mm long.

Pronotum (Fig. 11) oblong, 1.05 times as long as broad and nearly as broad as head, depressed; lateral margins subparallel; disc with a dorsal series of five moderately coarse punctures on either side of middle and few punctures laterally, otherwise impunctate; microsculpture absent.

Elytra (Fig. 11) approximately as long as pronotum; disc dorsally with two series of moderately coarse punctures and with scattered very fine punctures; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings not examined, but probably present.

Abdomen with fine and sparse punctation; interstices with distinct microsculpture composed of a mix of transverse striae and transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♁: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated; sternite VII ( Fig. 19 ) strongly transverse, with very sparse pubescence and broadly concave posterior margin, the latter without series of setae on either side; sternite VIII ( Fig. 20 ) with narrow and short posterior excision reaching approximately posterior third of sternite; aedeagus small, 0.6 mm long and shaped as in Fig. 12.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the oblong pronotum and the chaetotaxy of the male sternite VII, P. brevirimata does not belong to the P. nigerrima group. Among the Pseudolathra species known from New Guinea, this species is characterized by small body size, an oblong pronotum, moderately coarse punctation of the forebody, and particularly by the male primary and secondary sexual characters. It differs from the syntopic P. atroflava by smaller size and uniformly black elytra alone. For illustrations of other previously described Pseulolathra species recorded from New Guinea see ASSING (2014) and ROUGEMONT (2015).

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 in Foja Mountains in northern West Papua, Indonesia. The holotype was sifted from leaf litter between rocks in a cloud forest at an altitude of 1000 m, together with the holotype of P. atroflava .

Figures

Figs 19-20: Pseudolathra brevirimata: (19) male sternite VII; (20) male sternite VIII. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.