Veraphis calcarifer, Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2012

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2012, Two new species of Veraphis Casey (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae) from China, Zootaxa 3322, pp. 63-68 : 67-68

Veraphis calcarifer sp. n.

( Figs. 2 , 4 , 7, 8 )

Type material. Holotype: CHINA (Sichuan Prov.): ɗ, two labels: " CHINA: W-Sichuan 1999 \ Ganzi Tibet Aut. Pref., Kangding Co. \ Daxue Shan, Tsheto La Pass \ 30°05N, 101°48E, 4300- \ 4350 m, Steine, Moos, Rhod. \ 25. VI., leg. M. Schülke" [white, printed]; " VERAPHIS \ calcarifer m. \ det. P. Jałoszyński, '12 \ HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] (cMS). Paratypes (2 ɗɗ): 1 ɗ, same data as holotype; 1 ɗ, " CHINA: Qinghai Prov. [ CH 11-18] \ Daban Shan, Pass 19 km WSW Men \ Yuan, southern ramp, shrubbery \ overhead, 37°22'23.8''N, 101°24'22''E \ 3522- 3550 m, litter & moss sifted, \ 4.VII.2011, leg. M. Schülke" [white, printed]. Paratypes additionally with yellow printed label " VERAPHIS \ calcarifer m. \ det. P. Jałoszyński, '12 \ PARATYPUS "; deposited in cMS and cPJ.

Diagnosis. Male protrochanter with strongly projecting, subtriangular and pointed apex; aedeagus in ventral view with broadened trapezoidal apical part, in lateral view median lobe strongly curved and in apical half nearly parallel-sided.

Description. BL 1.38–1.40 mm (mean 1.39 mm). Body of male ( Fig. 2 ) weakly convex, slender, moderately dark brown, covered with yellowish vestiture, legs and antennae slightly lighter.

Head broadest at large, strongly convex eyes, HL 0.15–0.16 mm (mean 0.16 mm), HW 0.23–0.24 mm (mean 0.23 mm); vertex with distinct pair of median pits, without longitudinal grooves; frons flattened, clypeus steeply lowering anteriorly, flattened; sides of vertex and frons confluent and distinctly more convex than median area. Punctures on head dorsum fine and indistinct; setae short, sparse and suberect. Antennae moderately slender, AnL 0.45 mm, antennomere I 2.2 × as long as broad; II much shorter but about as broad as I, 1.5 as long as broad; III much shorter and narrower than II, strongly transverse; IV as broad as III but distinctly longer, about as long as broad; V distinctly longer and broader than IV, about as long as broad; VI slightly narrower and distinctly shorter than V, slightly transverse; VII distinctly broader but only slightly longer than VI, distinctly transverse; VIII as broad as VII but slightly shorter, strongly transverse; IX much longer and slightly broader than VIII, strongly transverse; X as broad as IX but slightly shorter, strongly transverse; XI slightly narrower and slightly longer than X, only about as long as broad.

Pronotum subtrapezoidal, broadest near anterior fourth; PL 0.29–0.30 mm (mean 0.30 mm), PW 0.33 mm, anterior margin broadly and evenly rounded; lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior half, in posterior third nearly straight and strongly convergent towards obtuse and acute hind angles; posterior margin nearly straight; base of pronotum with indistinct transverse groove connecting small but distinct and slightly transverse median antebasal pit with lateral pair of distinct, large and strongly elongate pits. Punctures on pronotal disc distinct and moderately large but shallow and with diffused margins, in middle separated by spaces comparable to puncture diameters; setae sparse, short, recumbent.

Elytra more convex than pronotum, oval, broadest in middle; EL 0.68–0.70 mm (mean 0.68 mm), EW 0.43–0.45 mm (mean 0.44 mm), EI 1.50–1.59; base of each elytron with distinct but short impression and small basal fovea located much closer to scutellum than to humerus; humeral callus well-marked, elongate. Punctures on elytra finer than those on pronotal disc; setae slightly thicker and longer than those on pronotum, sparse and suberect. Hind wings well developed.

Legs moderately long and slender; fore legs modified as in Fig. 4 .

Aedeagus ( Figs. 7, 8 ) moderately slender; AeL 0.25 mm; in ventral view apical part of median lobe distinctly broadened, symmetrical and subtrapezoidal in shape; endophallus symmetrical, with lightly sclerotized components located in subapical region.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Chinese Tibet, provinces Sichuan and Qinghai.

Etymology. The specific epithet calcarifer refers to the spiny protrochanters; from the Latin calcar, a spur, and fero, to carry.

Remarks. Veraphis calcarifer highly resembles V. s p i n o s u s in the modifications of fore legs; these are the only species of this genus with strongly projecting and pointed protrochanters. However, the aedeagi of these species are clearly different. The median lobe of V. calcarifer in the ventral view has a distinctly trapezoidal apical part and in the lateral view the apex is subrectangular, while V. s p i n o s u s has a clearly subrectangular apical part in the ventral view, and in lateral view the apex is strongly narrowing distally. As discussed previously ( Jałoszyński 2009), V. spinosus , and certainly also very similar V. calcarifer , seem to be close to the sawadai species group ( Jałoszyński & Hoshina 2005).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Habitus of males. 1 ― Veraphis qinghaiensis sp. n.; 2 ― Veraphis calcarifer sp. n. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 3 – 4. Right fore leg of male in posterior view. 3 ― Veraphis qinghaiensis sp. n.; 4 ― Veraphis calcarifer sp. n. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Aedeagus in ventral (5, 7) and lateral (6, 8) views. 5, 6 ― Veraphis qinghaiensis sp. n.; 7, 8 ― Veraphis calcarifer sp. n. Scale bars: 0.1