Zuluclavodes mulanjensis, Hlaváč & Baňař, 2020

Hlaváč, Peter & Baňař, Petr, 2020, New species of Clavigeritae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from Malawi and South Africa, Zootaxa 4877 (3), pp. 587-597 : 588-590

Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 7–8 )

Material examined. holotype, ♂: MLW/FIT 02 S MALAWI 2018, MULANJE MTS. S15 o 56’12.9’’ E35 o 30’35.5’’, 913 m, 18-24.11., Flight Interception Trap. P. Baňař lgt. ( PCPH) ; paratype: 1 ♀: MALAWI: Mt. Mulanje, Ruo river Forest, beating, 970 m, S15 o 58’17.0’’ E35 o 39’18.3’’, 18-25.XI.2018, M. Kocian lgt. ( PCPH) .

Description. Body ( Fig. 1 ) brown; head, pronotum and elytra matt, abdomen shiny, lacking pubescence on head and pronotum, with short, recumbent, sparse setae on elytra and stronger, sparse setae on dorsal abdomen; length 2.35–2.55 mm, maximum width 1.10–1.15 mm.

Head elongate, about 1.30–1.40 times as long as wide, rostrum wide, about 0.60 of length of head, vertexal foveae located close to posterior margin of eyes, temples about 1.50 times as long as eyes.

Antennae about 0.65 mm long, pedicel slightly transverse, antennomeres III–VI elongate, III–IV subequal, 1.50 times as long as wide, V slightly longer, 1.65 times as long as wide, terminal antennomere longest, widest at apex, about 2.30 times as long as wide and 1.75–1.80 times as long as V.

Pronotum about 1.15–1.20 times as long as wide and about 1.20 times as long as head, with shallow antebasal fovea, lacking lateral foveae.

Elytra 1.25–1.35 times as long as pronotum and 1.40–1.50 times shorter than abdomen, with tiny entire sutural and discal carinae, discal carina reaching apical third of elytral length; posterior lateral part of elytron with trichome opposite trichome on composite tergite, first paratergites with fine trichome.

Abdomen slightly wider than elytra, 1.15–1.25 times as wide as long, evenly rounded on sides and posterior margin, composite tergite with strongly concave basal basin, sides ridged and separated from paratergites, with well-defined basolateral pits adjacent to first visible paratergites.

Legs short, mesofemora with long basal spur, mesotibiae with short spur just behind middle in posterior half, metatibiae with bunch of long, dense setae.

Aedeagus ( Figs 7–8 ) 0.57 mm long, about 2.60 times as long as wide, with slightly bilobed apex of median lobe, with three sharp internal apophyses of different size, basal and apical part divided, basal part 1.65 times as long as apical part, dorsal diaphragm opening elliptical.

Differential diagnosis. Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov. can be easily separated from its congeners by large size, subequal antennomeres III–V, long terminal antennomere which is 1.77 times longer than V, and by males hav-ing metatibiae on inner side with a bunch of long, dense setae.

Biology. The holotype was collected by flight interception trap ( Fig. 15 ) in a remnant of mountainous forest. The paratype was swept on the edge of a different remnant of mountainous forest ( Fig. 16 ).

Host ant. Unknown.

Etymology. Named after Mulanje Massif, a large mountain range in southern Malawi, the type locality of the species.

Distribution. Malawi, Mulanje Massif.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Zuluclavodes species, dorsal habitus. 1, Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov., male holotype; 2, Zuluclavodes sp., female; 3, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., male holotype; 4, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., female paratype. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 7–14. 7–8, Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (7) and dorsal (8) aspect; 9–10, Zuluclavodes minor sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (9) and dorsal (10) view; 11–12, Articerodes jaloszynskii sp. nov., male holotype, aedeagus in lateral (11) and dorsal (12) aspect; 13–14, Ischyroceros mirus, aedeagus in lateral (13) and dorsal (14) aspect. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 15–16. 15, Flight interception trap installed in Likhubula forest, where holotype of Zuluclavodes mulanjensis sp. nov. was collected; 16, Panoramatic view to Ruo river forest. Both localities in Mulanje Massif, southern Malawi.