Brachygluta (Brachygluta) iranica ( Saulcy, 1876 )

Yin, Zi-Wei, 2022, First pselaphine beetles from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Zootaxa 5222 (5), pp. 495-500 : 496-497

Brachygluta (Brachygluta) iranica ( Saulcy, 1876)

( Fig. 1 )

Chinese common name: ĦDZDḆḎƤ

Bryaxis (Reichenbachia) iranica Saulcy, 1876: 85 . Type locality: Perse, Téhéran.

Reichenbachia iranica ; Reitter 1866: 347, 1905: 206 (as Reichenbachia (s. str. )), Raffray 1904: 358, 1908: 239, 1911: 101.

Brachygluta iranica ; Karaman 1961: 168, Sabella et al. 2004: 159, Hlaváč & Nakládal 2014: 536.

Material examined. 2 ♁♁, labeled ‘ Xinjiang, Fukang , Baisihumu Vill.; N44.2711, E88.0894, 500 m, dry land; 2018. VIII .06, light trap; Shi H & Yang G. leg., ỀṞḌDzfflpḄOiϮϋ ’ ( SNUC) .

Diagnosis. Male. Body ( Fig. 1A ) length 1.5–1.7 mm; pronotum ( Fig. 1B ) with punctiform median antebasal fovea; each elytron with round, protruding apicolateral angle; metatibia ( Fig. 1C ) broadly excavated at middle of ventral margin, with row of small denticles along excavation; tergite 1 (IV) and 2 (V) greatly modified as in Fig. 1D (see also Sabella et al. 2004: figs 72–76, 215, 216); parameres of aedeagus ( Fig. 1E, F ) abruptly narrowed at apices, each paramere with three macrosetae below apex, endophallus with three major sclerites at middle.

Redescription. See Sabella et al. (2004). The measurements of the population from China (2 ♁♁) are given here: Body length 1.62–1.66 mm, length/width of head 0.35/ 0.40 mm, pronotum 0.35–0.38/ 0.40–0.41 mm, elytra 0.56/ 0.72 mm, abdomen 0.56–0.57/ 0.65–0.66 mm, length of antenna 0.82–0.85 mm; each compound eye composed of about 35 ommatidia; length of aedeagus 0.31 mm.

Biology. Both individuals were collected together with Trissemus melinus by a light trap set in a dryland with few desert plants.

Distribution. Russia (southern European part, western Siberia), Iran, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan ( Newton 2022), China (Xinjiang). New country record for China.

Remarks. The genus Brachygluta Thomson and B. iranica ( Fig. 1A ) are reported from China for the first time. This record substantially expands the distributional range of this species to the east. The diagnostic characters collectively provide unambiguous means for species identification.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus and morphological details of Brachygluta iranica, male. A. Dorsal habitus. B. Head and pronotum. C. Tergite 1 (IV) and 2 (V). D. Metatibia. E, F. Aedeagus, ventral. Abbreviations: en, endophallus; pa, paramere; sIX, sternite IX. Scale bars: 0.5 mm in A; 0.2 mm in B–D; 0.1 mm in E, F.