Lathrobium kociani, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, Six new species, a new name, and additional records of Lathrobium from the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (1), pp. 191-210 : 193-194

Lathrobium kociani nov.sp. ( Figs 1-7 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " Kazakhstan or., Almaty reg., GPS: 43°16'13''N 77°22'14''E, Talgar distr. , 10.-15.v.2014, Oto Nakládal lgt. / Holotypus 3 Lathrobium kociani nov.sp., det. V. Assing 2015 " (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: This species is dedicated to Matúš Kocian, specialist of Tachyporinae, in appreciation of the generous gift of the holotype.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.8 mm; length of forebody 3.1 mm. Coloration: head and pronotum black; elytra black with the posterior margins indistinctly paler; abdomen black with the apex (segments VIII-X) indistinctly paler; legs and antennae dark-reddish.

Head ( Figs 1-3 ) oblong, 1.12 times as long as broad and rather large in relation to pronotum; punctation moderately coarse and rather dense, slightly less dense in median dorsal portion; interstices without microsculpture and glossy. Eyes weakly projecting from lateral contours of head and small, approximately one-third as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 1.7 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) slender, 1.2 times as long as broad and 0.92 times as broad as head; punctation on average slightly finer than that of head; impunctate midline rather narrow; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum; punctation rather dense and distinctly coarser than that of pronotum; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen 1.08 times as broad as elytra; anterior impressions of tergites III-VI with pronounced coarse microsculpture; remainder of tergal surfaces with rather fine and moderately dense punctation; tergites III-VI in posterior portions with shallow microsculpture composed of strongly transverse meshes; tergite VII with more distinct microsculpture composed of shorter transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII with sexual dimorphism.

3: protarsomeres I–IV strongly dilated ( Fig. 1 ); tergite VIII with convex posterior margin; sternites III-VI unmodified; sternite VII ( Fig. 4 ) strongly transverse, with pronounced impression of triangular shape in postero-median portion, this impression with moderately dense strongly modified, short and stout black setae, posterior margin broadly and weakly concave; sternite VIII ( Fig. 5 ) weakly transverse, in the middle with deep oblong impression, anterior portion and margins of this impression with variably modified setae, posterior portion of the impression without setae, posterior excision Vshaped and approximately one-fifth as deep as length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 5-6 ) 0.8 mm long and weakly asymmetric in ventral view; ventral process moderately long, straight in lateral view, basally broad and apically acute in ventral view; dorsal plate short, lamellate, and weakly sclerotized, without separate basal portion; internal sac with large sclerotized structure of distinctive shape, without spines.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Regarding its habitus, L. kociani somewhat resembles the widespread L. impressum HEER, 1841 , from which it differs by the reddish legs, somewhat smaller body size, the absence of microsculpture on the head, the smaller eyes, the less oblong pronotum, the shorter and more slender elytra, the much sparser punctation and shallower microsculpture of the abdomen, and by the completely different male sexual characters. The presence of a voluminous dark structure in the internal sac of the aedeagus, however, suggests that it may be more closely related to the species of the L. sinense group, which previously included some species from China and Japan ( ASSING 2013a, 2013c) and from which L. kociani is distinguished particularly by the absence of microsculpture on the head, darker coloration, smaller eyes, and the male sexual characters. For illustrations of L. impressum and the species of the L. sinense group see ASSING (2012a, 2013a, 2013c).

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: The type locality is situated in the Almaty region, southeastern Kazakhstan. According to Google Earth, the altitude is approximately 1650 m.

Figures

Figs 1-7: Lathrobium kociani nov.sp.: (1) forebody; (2) head in dorsal view; (3) head in lateral view; (4) male sternite VII; (5) male sternite VIII; (6-7) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-5: 0.5 mm; 6-7: 0.2 mm.