Lathrobium

Peng, Zhong, Li, Qi-Li, Shen, Liang & Gu, Fu-Kang, 2015, On the Lathrobium fauna of the Donggong Mountains, eastern China, Zootaxa 3905 (2), pp. 245-263 : 258-261

Lathrobium mu Peng and Li, new species

( Figs 10 B, 12)

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♂, labeled ‘ China: Zhejiang Prov., Lishui City, Longquan, Fengyang Shan, 27°53'59''N 119°09'41''E, 1700 m, 08.X.2013, Peng, Yin & Yu leg.’ ( SNUC). Paratypes: 1 ♀, same label data as holotype ( SNUC); 2 ♀♀, same data, but ‘ 27°53'22''N 119°10'25''E, 1575 m, 05.X.2013, Peng, Yu & Feng leg’ ( SNUC).

Description. Measurements (in mm) and ratios: BL 5.78–7.56, FL 2.95–3.06, HL 0.74–0.83, HW 0.76–0.86, AnL 1.48–1.56, PL 0.96–1.08, PW 0.80–0.93, EL 0.54–0.66, AL 0.61, HL/HW 0.95–0.97, HW/PW 0.92–0.95, HL/PL 0.76–0.78, PL/PW 1.16–1.20, EL/PL 0.56–0.61.

Habitus as in Fig. 10 B. Body light brown, legs yellowish brown, antennae light brown.

Head nearly as broad as long; punctation moderately coarse and sparse, somewhat sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices with distinct microreticulation. Eyes small and composed of approximately 40 ommatidia.

Pronotum nearly parallel-sided; punctation similar to that of head; impunctate midline broad; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytral punctation moderately dense, shallow and weakly defined. Hind wings completely reduced. Protarsi with pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Abdomen with fine and dense punctation, that of tergite VII sparser than that of anterior tergites; interstices with distinct microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Male. Posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex; sternites III–VI unmodified; sternite VII ( Fig. 12 D) transverse and with very shallow median impression posteriorly, this impression with few stout blackish setae, posterior margin broadly and weakly concave, without distinct concavity in middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 12 E) with deep median impression posteriorly, this impression with numerous distinctly modified, stout blackish setae, posterior excision deep and nearly symmetric; aedeagus as in Figs 12 F, G, ventral process long and slender; dorsal plate large and broad; internal sac with two long strongly sclerotized spines and single short sclerotized spine.

Female. Posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Fig. 12 A) weakly concave or nearly truncate; sternite VIII as in Fig. 12 B, posterior margin strongly convex; tergite IX ( Fig. 12 C) with long antero-median portion and short posterolateral processes; tergite X ( Fig. 12 C) 0.5 times as long as antero-median portion of tergite IX.

Comparative notes. Lathrobium mu sp. n. resembles L. liyangense sp. n. from Liyang in Zhejiang in body size, the shape of the male sternite VII, the presence of two long sclerotized spines in the internal sac of the aedeagus, and in the shapes of the female tergites IX–X and sternite VIII. Lathrobium mu is distinguished from L. liyangense by the lighter coloration of the body, the subquadrate head, the larger impression and deeper posterior excision of the male sternites VIII, the long and slender ventral process of the aedeagus, as well as the shape of the female tergite VIII.

Distribution and biological notes. The type locality is situated in the Fengyang Shan to the south of Longquan, southern Zhejiang. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter and moss in a beech forest with bamboo at altitudes of 1575 and 1700 m, partly together with L. immanissimum and L. haoae .

Etymology. The specific name is the Chinese noun “mu” (eye) in apposition. It refers to the small size of the eyes of L. mu, when compared to the other species known from Donggong Mountains.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Habitus of Lathrobium spp., A — L. liyangense; B — L. mu; C — L. yani. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

FIGURE 12. Lathrobium mu. A — female tergite VIII; B — female sternite VIII; C — female tergites IX – X. D — male sternite VII; E — male sternite VIII; F — aedeagus in ventral view; G — aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.