Atheta (Microdota) qinlingica, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, New species, synonymies, combinations, and records of micropterous Athetini from China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 71 (1), pp. 87-101 : 99

Atheta (Microdota) qinlingica spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1590B986-DE95-458C-AFE3-71CC51AB4106

(Figs 9–10, 47–51)

Type material: Holotype : “ CHINA [2] – S-Shaanxi, SW Meixian, Qinling Shan, 34°01'31"N, 107°24'13"E, 1870 m, 26.VII.2012, V. Assing / Holotypus  Atheta qinlingica sp. n., det. V. Assing 2020 ” (cAss). Paratypes: 1 , 1 : “ CHINA [1] – S-Shaanxi, SW Zhouzhi, Qinling Shan, 33°44'02"N, 107°58'06"E, 1900 m, 25.VII.2012, V. Assing” (cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Qinling Shan, the mountain range where the species was discovered.

Description: Body length 2.5–2.8 mm; length of forebody 1.0– 1.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 9. Colouration: head blackish-brown; pronotum brown; elytra yellowish-brown; abdomen brown with the posterior margins of tergites III–VI, the posterior portion of tergite VII, and the apex (segments VIII–X) yellowish; legs yellow; antennae brown with the basal three antennomeres paler.

Head (Fig. 10) distinctly transverse; punctation dense and very fine; interstices with microreticulation. Eyes flat and of moderate size, composed of approximately 50 ommatidia. Antennae weakly incrassate; antennomeres IV approximately as long as broad, V–X of increasing width and increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long.

Pronotum (Fig. 10) approximately 1.2 times as broad as long and 1.2 times as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head, but somewhat denser; interstices with pronounced microreticulation.

Elytra (Fig. 10) 0.80–0.85 times as long as pronotum; punctation fine, but more distinct than that of head and pronotum; interstices with microsculpture. Hind wings reduced to short stubs of approximately the length of elytra.

Abdomen broader than elytra; punctation very fine, moderately dense on anterior tergites and sparser on posterior tergites; interstices with microreticulation composed of predominantly transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow palisade fringe; tergite VIII without evident sexual dimorphism, posterior margin weakly convex.

: sternite VIII ( Fig. 49 ) weakly transverse, posterior margin strongly convex; median lobe of aedeagus 0.47–0.48 mm long and shaped as in Figs 47–48 ; internal sac with sclerotized spine-shaped apical internal structures.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII with pronounced median incision and with a dense fringe of modified setae ( Fig. 50 ); spermatheca ( Fig. 51 ) rather large.

Comparative notes: Based on the similar structure of the aedeagus, the similar modifications of the female sternite VIII, and the similar general shape of the spermatheca, Atheta qinlingica belongs to the same species group as A. miriapex and A. peinantamontis . It is reliably distinguished from other species of this group by the shapes of the primary sexual characters. For illustrations of micropterous Microdota species previously reported from China see ASSING (2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011) and PACE (1995, 1999, 2004).

Distribution and natural history: The species was found in two localities in Qinling Shan, South Shaanxi. The specimens were sifted from litter, soil, and grass roots in moist mixed and secondary deciduous forests at altitudes of 1870–1900 m.

Figures

Figs 47–60: Atheta qinlingica (47–51) and A. biformis (52–60). 47–48, 52–54 – median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (54: nanistic morph); 49, 56 – male sternite VIII; 50 – female sternite VIII; 51, 59–60 – spermatheca; 55 – male tergite VIII; 57 – female tergite VIII; 58 – posterior portion of female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 49–50, 55–58: 0.2 mm; 47–48, 51–54, 59–60: 0.1 mm.