Zyras (Zyras) granulipennis CAMERON, 1930

Assing, Volker, 2017, On Zyras sensu strictu in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions III, with a focus on the Southeast of Continental Asia and the Sunda Islands (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Lomechusini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (2), pp. 213-246 : 233-234

Zyras (Zyras) granulipennis CAMERON, 1930

( Figs 7, 30, 46, 66–69)

Zyras granulipennis CAMERON, 1930: 167 f.

Zyras pervariolosus PACE, 2008: 150 ; syn. nov.

Type material examined: Z. granulipennis : Holotype : “ N. Borneo. Bettotan, / Nr. Sandakan. July 24 th 1927. / Zyras granulipennis Cam. Type / Holotype / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147 / Holotypus Zyras granulipennis Cameron , rev. V. Assing 2017 ” ( BMNH).

Z. pervariolosus : Holotype : “BORNEO SABAH Mt. Kinabalu Nat. Pk. , HQ at Liwagu Rv., 1500 m 30.IV.1987, A. Smetana / Holotypus Zyras pervariolosus mihi, det. R. Pace 2000 / Zyras pervariolosus n. sp., det. R. Pace 2000 / MHNG ENTO 00010008 / Zyras granulipennis Cameron , det. V. Assing 2017 ” ( MHNG) . Paratype : “ SABAH: E Mt. Kinabalu , 1150 m, rte Ranau–Kota Kinabalu, 24.V.1987, Burckhard - Löbl / Paratypus Zyras pervariolosus mihi, det. R. Pace 2000 / Zyras pervariolosus n. sp., det. R. Pace 2000 / MHNG ENTO 00010009 / Zyras montanus (Bernhauer) , det. V. Assing 2017 ” ( MHNG) .

Comment: The original description of Z. granulipennis is based on a unique holotype from “ North Borneo; Bettotan” ( CAMERON 1930), that of Z. pervariolosus on a male holotype from “ Sabah, Mt. Kinabalu Nat. Pk., HQ at Liwagu Rv.” and two female paratypes from “ Sabah, E Mt. Kinabalu, ..., rte. Ranau–Kota Kinabalu” ( PACE 2008). An examination of the two holotypes revealed that they are conspecific; hence the synonymy proposed above. The examined paratype of Z. pervariolosus is conspecific with Z. montanus ( BERNHAUER, 1915) .

Redescription: Rather small species; body length 6.2–6.4 mm; length of forebody 2.8–2.9 mm. Coloration ( Figs 7, 30, 46): forebody dark-brown to black; abdomen: tergites III–VI dark-brown with the anterior and antero-lateral portions paler, tergites VII–VIII reddishbrown; legs with the profemora, the protibiae, and the mesofemora brown, metafemora distinctly bicoloured with the basal two-fifths pale yellowish and the apical three-fifths dark-brown to blackish, meso- and metatibiae pale yellowish with the base narrowly blackish and the apex slightly darker, and the tarsi yellowish; antennae pale-reddish; maxillary palpi dark reddish with the apical palpomere pale-reddish.

Head ( Fig. 30) relatively weakly transverse; punctation conspicuously coarsely granulose, along middle of dorsal surface with narrow and irregular glossy elevation. Eyes moderately large, barely longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 7) approximately 2.0 mm long; antennomeres IV–V oblong, VI approximately as long as broad, VII–X increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI of conical shape, barely as long as the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum ( Fig. 30) very weakly transverse, 1.03 times as broad as long and 1.18–1.23 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles, posteriorly distinctly tapering, strongly convex in cross-section; posterior angles marked; lateral margins sinuate in posterior two-thirds in dorsal view; punctation conspicuously coarsely granulose, in the middle and in lateral portions with irregularly elevated glossy elevations; at lateral and anterior margins with very long and rather stout dark and erect setae.

Elytra ( Fig. 30) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum; punctation extremely coarsely granulose and very dense. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I slender, approximately as long as the combined length of II–IV.

Abdomen ( Fig. 46) nearly as broad as elytra, with deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; anterior impressions of tergites III–V each with a transverse row of very fine and weakly defined puncture-like impressions, with a lateral puncture on either side, and with a transverse series of eight setiferous punctures near posterior margin; tergite VI with a transverse row of few fine non-setiferous punctures anteriorly, with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with eight setiferous punctures near posterior margin; tergite VII with sparse non-setiferous punctures in antero-median portion and with two transverse rows each composed of few setiferous punctures posteriorly, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII with setiferous punctation bearing long and rather stout black setae in posterior third, posterior margin weakly convex in the middle (Fig. 68).

: sternite VIII with strongly convex posterior margin (Fig. 69); median lobe of aedeagus 0.72 mm long and shaped as in Figs 66–67; parameres malformed in the holotype.

: unknown.

Comparative notes: This highly distinctive species is easily distinguished from all its consubgeners based on the conspicuous punctation of the forebody alone, particularly the strongly granulose punctation of the elytra. It is additionally characterized by the shape of the pronotum, the coloration of the legs, the punctation pattern of the abdomen, and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. Among the described species recorded from the Oriental region, Z. granulipennis is most similar to the sympatric Z. montanus , from which it additionally differs by smaller body size, more slender head and pronotum, a distinctly more convex and less transverse pronotum with coarser punctation and more pronounced glossy elevations, by shorter antennae with shorter and more transverse antennomeres IV–X and darker apical antennomeres ( Z. montanus : antennomeres X–XI paleyellowish), fewer setiferous punctures on the abdomen, and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

Distribution: Zyras granulipennis has been recorded only from two localities in Sabah (Borneo), Malaysia.