Bironium albertisi, Löbl, 2021

Löbl, Ivan, 2021, A review of the Bironium Csiki, 1909 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scaphidiinae) of New Guinea and the Moluccas, Acta Musei Moraviae 106 (2), pp. 227-248 : 230

Bironium albertisi sp. nov.

( Figs 1 -6)

Type material. Holotype ♂, PAPUA N. G. Morobe Prov., S Aseki, 1750 m 14.IV.1998, sifted A. Riedel ( MHNG). Paratype ♀, with the same data as the holotype ( MHNG).

Description. Length 2.03 mm, width 1.27 mm. Head, thorax and elytra black, abdomen dark reddish­brown, femora and tibiae ochraceous, tarsi as tibiae or somewhat lighter, antennae light brown. Pronotum very finely punctate. Scutellum triangulate. Elytra lacking humeral humps, sulci and impressions; adsutural areas raised; sutural striae finely punctate, lateral striae impunctate; basal striae throughout deep, entire, not interrupted and joined to lateral striae. Most discal punctures about as pronotal punctures, disc with irregularly scattered, somewhat larger, and very shallow punctures. Mesoventrite convex, smooth, appearing impunctate, without impressions, with long mesal ridge extended from paxillum to posterior margin of mesocoxal process. Metaventrite not microsculptured, with elongate impression in centre, several hardly visible oblique striae converging anteriad, toward mesal impression, few fine punctures along basal margin and in middle part of mesocoxal process; submesocoxal lines margined by several coarse punctures; centre and lateral parts of metaventrite impunctate; anterior margin of mesocoxal process below level of margin of mesoventrite. Metacoxal process oblique, with margin weakly concave, notched at lateral margins. Metanepisterna in anterior halves about 0.05 mm wide. Metanepisternal suture impunctate, straight, nearly reaching margin of metepimeron. Ventrites with punctulate microsculpture absent from lateral parts of ventrite I, appearing impunctate, coarse punctures along basal margin of ventrite I excepted. Ventrite Iwith low basal hump. Protarsomeres III lacking prominent ventral lobe.

♂: Protarsomeres Ito III slightly widened, similar in width, each at apex about as wide as half of protibial apex. Protarsomere Iabout as long protarsomeres II and III combined. Protarsomere III with apicoventral pair of long, narrow setae. Aedeagus as Figs 1 -5, 1.27 mm long.

♀: Gonocoxite as Fig. 6 , without gonostyle.

Distribution. Papua New Guinea.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Luigi Maria D'Albertis (1841-1901), one of the early explorers of the fauna of New Guinea and Moluccas.

Comments. This species is similar to B. biroi in most external characters. It may be distinguished by the uninterrupted basal striae of the elytra, the metaventrite lacking coarse punctures and the mesoventrite lacking distinct striae. The shape of the parameres is unique in this species, notably by the presence of a small lobe posterior of expanded middle section.

Figures

Figs 1-10. 1–6, Bironium albertisi sp. nov.: 1, 2 – Aedeagus in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.2 mm; 3 – Tip of median lobe in lateral view, scale = 0.1 mm; 4 – Internal sac, scale = 0.1 mm; 5 – Paramere in ventral view, scale 0.1 mm; 6 – Gonocoxite, scale = 0.05 mm. 7–10, Bironium bicolor sp. nov.: 7, 8 – Aedeagus in dorsal and lateral views, scale = 0.2 mm; 9 – Internal sac, scale = 0.1 mm; 10 – Paramere in ventral view, scale = 0.1 mm.