Paederus (Harpopaederus) xui Peng & Li

Peng, Zhong, Li, Li-Zhen & Zhao, Mei-Jun, 2015, New data on the subgenus Harpopaederus of the genus Paederus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae) of mainland China, ZooKeys 495, pp. 143-153 : 147-149

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Paederus (Harpopaederus) xui Peng & Li sp. n. Figs 1F, 2F, 7

Type material.

Holotype: ♂, labelled 'China: Sichuan Province, Nanjiang Hsien, Micang Shan, Daba, 32°40'N, 107°02'E, 1800 m, 27.IV.2008, Huang & Xu leg.' (SNUC). Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, same label data as holotype (SNUC); 1♀ [teneral]: 'CHINA (S.Shaanxi) Micang Shan, 33 km S Hanzhong, 32°44'44"N, 106°52'46"E 1360 m (stream valley, forest margin with tall herbaceous vegetation, pitfall traps, vinegar) 15.-16.VIII.2012 D.W. Wrase [30A]' (cSch); 2♀♀: 'CHINA: S-Shaanxi [CH12-31], Micang Shan, 40 km SW Hanzhong, 32°52'25"N, 106°37'11"E, 1530 m, N-slope, mixed secondary forest, litter and moss sifted, 16.VIII.2012, leg. M. Schülke’ (cSch, cAss).

Description.

Measurements (in mm) and ratios: BL: 8.67-9.34; FL: 4.72-4.95; HL: 0.93-0.98; HW: 1.07-1.11; AnL: 2.72-2.95; PL: 1.23-1.26; PW: 1.10-1.13; EL: 0.87-0.94; EW: 1.13-1.20; AW: 1.74-1.77; AL: 1.38-1.41; HL/HW: 0.84-0.87; HW/PW: 0.96-0.98; HL/PL: 0.76-0.78; PL/PW: 1.10-1.13; EL/PL: 0.71-0.75; diameter of eye: 0.34-0.36.

Habitus as in Fig. 1F. Coloration: head, labrum and apical segments black, labial palpi and antennae yellowish brown; pronotum brownish red; elytra blackish blue with metallic luster; first four abdominal segments reddish brown; legs yellowish brown, with apical halves of femora black.

Head wider than long, widest across eyes; punctation coarse and sparse; interstices glossy. Mandibles without distinct sexual dimorphism. Eyes distinctly convex. Antenna as in Fig. 2F.

Pronotum nearly oviform, strongly convex in cross-section; punctures somewhat sparser and shallower than those of head.

Elytra trapeziform; punctation coarse, defined and dense. Hind wings reduced. Metatarsomere I as long as combined length of metatarsomeres II and III.

Abdomen distinctly broader than elytra; punctation coarse; interstices with very shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

Male. Anterior margin of labrum (Fig. 7B) distinctly sinuate; each mandible (Fig. 7A, D) with single bicuspidate tooth. Posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 7H) convex; sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII (Fig. 7I) with deep posterior incision, this incision approximately 0.4 times as long as sternite VIII; sternite IX as in Fig. 7J; aedeagus as in Fig. 7 K–M; dorsal plate of median lobe nearly symmetric, long and slender; parameres very slender and curved apically; internal sac without sclerotized spines.

Female. Labrum as in Fig. 7C. Posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 7E) truncate; posterior margin of sternite VIII (Fig. 7F) with narrowly triangular median process; tergites IX and X as in Fig. 7G.

Distribution and natural history.

The type locality is situated in the Micang Shan to the north of Nanjiang, northern Sichuan. The specimens were sifted from leaf litter in a mixed deciduous forest at an altitude of 1,800 m.

Etymology.

The species is dedicated to Wang Xu, who collected some of the type specimens.

Comparative notes.

As can be inferred from the highly similar sexual characters, the new species is allied to the geographically close Paederus antennocinctus Willers, 2001 (Sichuan: Jiuzhaigou; Gansu: Qiujia Dam), from which it differs by the coloration of legs, the somewhat smaller size, the shape of the labrum, the longer dorsal plate of the aedeagus and the nearly trifurcate posterior margin of the female sternite VIII.