Pseudolathra villiersi ( CAMERON , 1950)

Assing, V., 2012, The Pseudolathra species of the East Palaearctic and the Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 62, pp. 299-330 : 312-314

Pseudolathra villiersi ( CAMERON, 1950) ( Figs 25-28 )

Lathrobium villiersi Cameron, 1950: 213 f.

Type material examined:

Paratype ♀: “Paratype / Agadez, Aïr Sud, 525 m, 8.VIII / IFAN 1947, L. Chopard, A. Villiers / Lathrobium villiersi Cam. P. Type / M. Cameron Bequest B.M. 1955-147. / Pseudolathra villiersi (Cameron) , det. V. Assing 2012” ( BMNH) .

Comment:

The original description of Lathrobium villiersi is based on a “Type à l’Ifan” from “Monts Tarraouaji (900 m.)” ( Cameron 1950) in the Air range in Niger. The aedeagus of the holotype was figured by Coiffait (1982b).

Additional material examined:

Pakistan: 2 ♂♂ [1 slightly teneral], Baluchistan, Zhob valley , sand desert, 24.-25.VIII.2009, leg. Gurko (cSch, cAss) ; 4 ♀♀, Tribal Area, Sulaiman mts., Drazinda tribal agency, 1700 m, 17.-21.VIII.2008, leg. Gurko (cSch, cAss) .

Yemen: 1 ♀, Tihama , 3 km N Bayt al Faqih, 14°30'N, 43°13'E, 4.XI.1996, leg. Hacker (cAss) .

Diagnosis:

In external characters highly similar to P. unicolor and P. himalayana ; reliably distinguished only by the male primary and secondary sexual characters:

♂: sternite VII without distinctly modified pubescence, posterior margin almost truncate ( Fig. 25 ); sternite VIII of similar shape and chaetotaxy as in P. unicolor ( Fig. 26 ); aedeagus approximately 1.0 mm long, dorsal plate with slender and apically acute (ventral view) apical portion of distinctive shape ( Figs 27-28 ).

Distribution and natural history:

Pseudolathra villiersi was previously known from the Sahara and Saudi Arabia ( Coiffait 1982a, 1982b). The above specimens from Pakistan represent a new country record and considerably expand the known distribution eastwards. The female-based record from Yemen is tentative and requires confirmation. The species appears to be adapted to arid habitats. One specimen collected in August is slightly teneral.

Figures

Figs 20-28: Pseudolathra brevincisa (20-24) and P. villiersi from Pakistan (25-28): forebody (20); male sternite VIII (21, 26); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (22-23, 27-28); ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (24); male sternite VII (25). Scale bars: 20: 1.0 mm; 21-28: 0.5 mm.