Nazeris conicus, Assing, 2014

Assing, Volker, 2014, A revision of Nazeris. VI. On the fauna of East Yunnan, China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 64 (2), pp. 355-373 : 372

Nazeris conicus sp. n.

( Figs 68–75 , Map 3 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ CHINA [9] – Yunnan, mt. W Xundian, 2300 m, mixed for., 25°34'58"N, 103°08'42"E, sifted, 15.VIII.2014, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Nazeris conicus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2014” (cAss).

Paratypes: 5 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ [1 ♂, 4 ♀♀ teneral]: same data as holotype (cAss, MNHUB) ; 1 ♀: same data, but leg. M. Schülke (cSch) ; 1 ♂: “ CHINA [9b] – Yunnan, mt. W Xundian, 2300 m, mixed for., 25°34'58"N, 103°08'42"E, sifted, 16.VIII.2014, V. Assing” (cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) alludes to the conical shape of the ventral process (ventral view).

Description: Species of relatively small size; body length 4.5–5.6 mm; length of forebody 2.5–2.8 mm. Forebody as in Fig. 68 . Coloration: body blackish, with the head sometimes slightly paler (dark-brown to blackish-brown) and with the abdominal segments IX–X dark-brown and the posterior margins of segments VII and VIII reddish-brown. Abdominal tergites VII and VIII without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex. Other external characters as in N. clavilobatus and N. bulbosus .

♂: sternite VII ( Fig. 69 ) moderately transverse, 1.50–1.55 times as broad as long, with sparse pubescence, without evident modifications; sternite VIII ( Figs 70–71 ) usually weakly transverse, 1.00–1.08 times as broad as long, posterior excision V-shaped and 0.21–0.23 times as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 72–75 ) 0.90–0.93 mm long; ventral process rather slender in ventral view, laterally not compressed; dorsolateral apophyses stout, strongly curved (ventral view), strongly sclerotized, and moderately long, extending beyond apex of ventral process.

Comparative notes: Regarding the morphology of the aedeagus, N. conicus is highly similar to N. clavilobatus , from which it differs by slightly larger average size, darker coloration, the absence of microsculpture on the abdominal tergites VII and VIII, the anteriorly more acute posterior excision of the male sternite VIII, and by the smaller aedeagus (despite larger average body size) with a conically shaped (i.e., medially broader and apically more distinctly tapering) ventral process (ventral view). The observed differences are not very pronounced, but apparently constant. However, material from the region between the type localities of N. conicus and N. clavilobatus , which are separated by approximately 65 km, would be needed to confirm the hypothesis that they represent distinct species.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in a mountain to the west of Xundian, approximately 70 km to the northeast of Kunming, in eastern Yunnan ( Map 3 ). The specimens were sifted from litter (partly with twigs) and the roots of herbs in a mixed forest with alder, pine, and shrub undergrowth at an altitude of 2300 m. Several paratypes are teneral.

Figures

Map 3: Distribution of Nazeris species in eastern Yunnan (N. zhangi lineage: black symbols): N. clavilobatus sp. n. (black circle); N. conicus sp. n. (black square); N. bulbosus sp. n. (black diamond); N. zhangi WATANABE & XIAO (black triangle), N. fibulatus sp. n. (white circle); N. lamellatus sp. n. (white diamond); N. semifissus sp. n. (white triangle).

Figs 59–75: Nazeris clavilobatus sp. n. (59–67) and N. conicus sp. n. (68–75): forebody (59, 68); tergite VIII (60); male sternite VII (61, 69); male sternite VIII (62, 70–71); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (63–64, 72–73); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view in dry preparation (65–66, 74–75); ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (67). Scale bars: 59, 68: 1.0 mm; 60–66, 69–75: 0.5 mm; 67: 0.1 mm.