Lathrobium jiulingense Peng

Peng, Zhong, Li, Li-Zhen & Zhao, Mei-Jun, 2016, On the Lathrobium fauna of the Luoxiao Mountains, Central China, Zootaxa 4158 (3), pp. 385-402 : 392-394

Lathrobium jiulingense Peng and L.-Z. Li, new species

(Map 1, Figs 5 B, 7)

Type material. HOLOTYPE: Ƌ, labeled ‘ Jiangxi Prov., Fengxin County, Jiuling Shan , 28°41'57''N 114°44'33''E, 1250 m, 19.VII.2013, Hu & Lv leg.’ ( SNUC) . Paratypes: 5 ƋƋ, 3 ♀♀ [2 ƋƋ, teneral], same label data as holotype (SNUC).

Description. Measurements (in mm) and ratios: BL 5.56–6.39, FL 2.84–3.00, HL 0.80–0.85, HW 0.78–0.86, AnL 1.61–1.67, PL 1.02–1.09, PW 0.83–0.90, EL 0.51–0.61, AL 0.94–0.97, HL/HW 0.99–1.03, HW/PW 0.94– 0.97, HL/PL 0.77–0.79, PL/PW 1.21–1.23, EL/PL 0.50–0.56.

Habitus as in Fig. 5 B. Body dark brown, legs brown, antennae brown to light brown.

Head: punctation moderately coarse and sparse, somewhat sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices with distinct microsculpture. Eyes small and composed of approximately 30 ommatidia.

Pronotum parallel-sided; punctation similar to that of head; impunctate midline broad; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytral punctation fine and moderately dense. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsi with distinct sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen with fine and moderately dense punctation, that of tergite VII somewhat sparser than that of anterior tergites; interstices with shallow, but distinct microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Male. Posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex; sternites III–VI unmodified; sternite VII ( Fig. 7 D) strongly transverse, without modified setae, posterior margin truncate; sternite VIII ( Fig. 7 E) transverse and distinctly asymmetric, with moderately extensive median impression posteriorly, this impression with numerous distinctly modified, stout blackish setae, posterior excision deeply concave and asymmetric; aedeagus as in Figs 7 F, G; ventral process stout and asymmetric; dorsal plate weakly sclerotized; internal sac with a long and strongly curved sclerotized spine.

Female. Posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Fig. 7 A) convex; sternite VIII as in Fig. 3 B, posterior margin convexly produced; tergite IX ( Fig. 7 C) with very short antero-median portion and slender postero-lateral processes; tergite X ( Fig. 7 C) 3.3 times as long as antero-median portion of tergite IX.

Comparative notes. Based on the completely different morphology of the aedeagus (ventral process stout, strongly asymmetric; shape of internal structure) and the distinctly asymmetric male sternite VIII with a pronounced cluster of modified setae, L. jiulingense represents a different lineage than the other species recorded from Luoxiao Mountains. It is additionally distinguished from them by smaller body size.

Distribution and natural history. The type locality is situated in the Jiuling Shan to the west of Fengxin, western Jiangxi. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter in a secondary pine forest at an altitude of 1250 m.

Etymology. The species is named after its type locality (Jiuling Shan).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lathrobium fumingi. A — female tergite VIII; B — female sternite VIII; C — female tergites IX – X. D — male sternite VII; E — male sternite VIII; F — aedeagus in ventral view; G — aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 5. Habitus of Lathrobium spp., A — L. jinyuae (Bijia Shan); B — L. jiulingense; C — L. shuguangi. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 7. Lathrobium jiulingense. A — female tergite VIII; B — female sternite VIII; C — female tergites IX – X. D — male sternite VII; E — male sternite VIII; F — aedeagus in ventral view; G — aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.