Nazeris obtortus, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, A revision of Nazeris VIII. Five new species from China and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (1), pp. 301-315 : 310-311

Nazeris obtortus nov.sp. (Figs 13-17)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " CHINA, Guangxi, Huaping , 19.VIII.1998, J.R. Fellowes / Holotypus 3 Nazeris obtortus nov.sp. det. V. Assing 2016" (cAss) . Paratypes: 3♀♀ [teneral]: same data as holotype (cRou, cAss) ; 1♀: same data, but 20.VIII.1998 (cRou) ; 1♀, 1 sex? [apex of abdomen missing; teneral]: same data, but 16.VIII.1998 (cRou) ; 1 sex? [apex of abdomen missing; teneral]: same data, but 17.VIII.1998 (cRou) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb obtorquere (to bend back) and alludes to the shape of the dorso-lateral apophyses in lateral view.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.0-6.0 mm; length of forebody 2.5-3.0 mm. Coloration: body dark-brown to blackish, with the posterior portions of segments VII and VIII, and all of segments IX-X reddish; antennae yellowish, with antennomeres I or I-II pale-brown.

Head (Fig. 13) approximately as long as broad, mostly weakly dilated behind eyes (i.e., broadest not across, but behind eyes); median portion of dorsal surface not, or only indistinctly, elevated; punctation dense, moderately coarse, umbilicate, not distinctly confluent. Eyes small, approximately 0.25-0.30 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head.

Pronotum (Fig. 13) approximately 1.15 times as long as broad and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head; punctation very coarse, much coarser than that of head, and somewhat irregularly spaced in postero-lateral portions (i.e., with glossy elevations separating punctures); midline with narrow glossy elevation posteriorly.

Elytra (Fig. 13) approximately 0.55 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, coarse, and deep.

Abdomen approximately 1.2 times as broad as elytra; punctation very dense and moderately coarse on tergites III-V, sparser and finer on posterior tergites; interstices without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: posterior margin of sternite VII very weakly concave in the middle; sternite VIII (Fig. 14) approximately 1.2 times as broad as long, posterior excision small, approximately one-sixth as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus (Figs 15-17) large and strongly sclerotized, 1.05 mm long; ventral process rather short and of triangular shape in ventral view; dorso-lateral apophyses stout, strongly sclerotized, bent dorsad in lateral view, apically obliquely truncate and obliquely excavate, projecting beyond apex of ventral process.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the morphology of the aedeagus (ventral process short; dorso-lateral apophyses stout and strongly sclerotized, projecting beyond apex of ventral process, apically dilated, and strongly bent dorsad in lateral view) and the shape of the male sternite VIII (with small posterior excision), N. obtortus is allied to N. luoi HU & LI, 2012 (Guangxi: Dayao Shan ), N. tani HU & LI, 2012 (Guangxi: Dayao Shan ), and N. damingshanus HU & LI, 2013 (Guangxi: Daming Shan). The new species is distinguished from all of them by the completely different shape of the ventral process (particularly in ventral view) and by the shapes of the dorso-lateral apophyses, particularly in ventral view. For illustrations of N. luoi , N. tani , and N. damingshanus see HU et al. (2012, 2013).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: According to PENG et al. (2012), Huaping is situated at 25°36'N, 109°55'E in the north of Guangxi province. Three of the paratypes are distinctly teneral.