Lesteva (s.str.) somsa Shavrin, 2021

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2021, A new species and new records of Lesteva Latreille, 1797 from the Chatkal Mountain Range, Uzbekistan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini), Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 21 (1), pp. 49-52 : 50-52

Lesteva (s.str.) somsa Shavrin , sp.n.

Figs. 1–5

Type material. Holotype, male: ‘ UZBEKISTAN, Chatkal Mt. | range, Okhangaron District, 6 km | NW Irtash, Iertash [Yertoshsoy] | River (right confluent of | Okhangaron River), 41°10’40.7'’N | 70°16’17.9'’E. 2400 m a.s.l. 05- | 06.08.2021.A. V. Shavrin leg.’ <printed>, ‘wet mosses on small stream | flow into river’ <printed>, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Lesteva (s.str.) | somsa sp.n. | Shavrin A. V. des. 2021’ <red, printed> (ZMM).

Paratypes: 5 males [two specimens dissected; a plastic plate with the aedeagus, abdominal tergite VIII, sternite VIII and the apical segments in Canada balsam was pinned under the card with the beetle]: same data as the holotype , ‘ PARATYPE | Lesteva (s.str.) | somsa sp.n. | Shavrin A. V. des. 2021’ <red, printed> (1 male: ZMM; 4 males: cSh) .

Description. Measurements (min-max; n=6): maximum width of head including eyes: 0.70–0.79; length of head (from base of labrum to posterior constriction along head midline): 0.50–0.53; ocular length (longitudinal): 0.25–0.30; length of temple: 0.07–0.10; length of antenna (holotype): 2.16; length of pronotum: 0.55–0.75; maximum width of pronotum: 0.80–0.92; minimum width of pronotum: 0.58–0.70; sutural length of elytra (length of elytra from apex of scutellum to posterior margin of sutural angle): 1.48–1.57; maximum width of elytra: 1.40–1.54; length of metatibia (holotype): 0.92; length of metatarsus (holotype): 0.44 (MTrL 1–4: 0.32; MTrL 5: 0.12); maximum width of abdomen: 1.23–1.47; length of aedeagus (from base of median lobe to apex of parameres): 0.60–0.62; total length (from anterior margin of clypeus to apex of abdomen): 3.80–4.50 (holotype: 4.25).

Body reddish-brown, sometimes with slightly paler elytra and abdomen; antennae and legs yellow-brown (antennomeres 1–3 in some paratypes slightly paler; apical part of femora slightly darker); mouthparts and tarsi yellow. Punctation of head dense, moderately coarse and deep, finer and denser around eyes, with distance between punctures in middle about diameter of one-two nearest puncture; punctation of neck slightly finer and coarser than that on head; punctation of pronotum about as that on middle portion of head, but slightly sparser, finer in apical and basal portions; scutellum with a few very fine punctures; punctation of elytra about as that on pronotum, but slightly deeper, coarser and finer in prescutellar portion, finer and sparser along suture and in apical portion; abdomen with very fine and moderately dense punctation. Body glossy, without microsculpture except for basal portion of neck with coarse transverse meshes and abdomen with indistinct isodiametric microreticulation. Habitus as in Fig. 1.

Head 1.4 times as broad as long, distinctly elevated in middle; middle portion separated from lateral portions by very deep and moderately wide longitudinal depressions, deeper between middle length of eyes; eyes large and convex, three times as long as temples (lateral view), gradually narrowing toward neck; ocelli small, about diameter of two nearest punctures, distance between ocelli slightly shorter or about as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Antennae reaching basal portion of elytra when reclined, with elongate antennomeres; basal antennomere about three times as long as broad, 2 about half as broad as basal antennomere, 3 slightly broader in apical portion and longer than 2, 4–8 about as long as and slightly broader than 3, 9–10 slightly shorter than 8, apical antennomere about 1.3 times as long as 10, from apical third sharply narrowed toward subacute apex.

Pronotum convex, 1.2–1.4 times broader than long, alightly broader than head, widest in apical portion, from their widely rounded lateral margins sharply narrowed toward moderately long, subparallel latero-basal margins, with obtuse hind angles; holotype and two paratypes with indistinct transverse impression in mediobasal third.

Elytra convex, about as long as or slightly longer than broad, twice as long as pronotum or slightly shorter, slightly broadened toward hind angles; apical margins widely rounded; mediobasal surface in some specimens with indistinct depression.

Metatarsus more than twice as long as metatibia, with basal metarsomere about as long as combined length of tarsomeres 2–3 and about as long as apical tarsomere.

Abdomen narrower than elytra, with paired wide tomentose spots in the middle of abdominal tergites IV and V, with narrow palisade fringe on apical margin of abdominal tergite VII.

Male. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight or slightly rounded. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely and deeply sinuate, with wide median projection, rounded apically

( Fig. 4). Aedeagus with moderately wide basal portion, gradually narrowing toward widely rounded apex; parameres slightly exceeding apex of median lobe, with very wide basal porions and long apical portions, widely rounded apically, with four long apical setae; internal sac wide and moderately long ( Fig. 2). Lateral aspect of aedeagus as in Fig. 3.

Female unknown. Comparative notes. Regarding the general shape of the body and aedeagus, L. (s.str.) somsa sp.n. is similar to L. (s.str.) championi Lohse, 1982 , known from Pakistan, India and Nepal ( Lohse 1982, Shavrin 2012), but differs from it by the slightly narrower pronotum, longer metarsomere 1, broader apical portions of parameres and median lobe, and details of the structure of the internal sac.

Distribution. The species is at present known only from the type locality in the Chatkal range, Western Tian Shan, Uzbekistan.

Bionomics. Specimens were collected at elevation 2400 m a.s.l. and were taken by sifting wet mosses near small stream, following from a steep mountainside to Iertash River ( Fig. 5).

Etymology. The specific epithet is the name of popular pastry in the Middle Asia, samsa (Uzbek: somsa ). It alludes to the shape of apical portion of the median lobe, which somewhat similar to the narrowest angle of drop-shaped Uzbek somsa.