Amaurodera projecta, Assing & V, 2015

Assing, Volker & V, North, 2015, On the Lomechusini fauna of Vietnam (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 47 (2), pp. 1257-1282 : 1259-1261

Amaurodera projecta nov.sp. ( Figs 1-4 , 19-23 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "N-Vietnam - 7 km NW Sa Pa, 22°22'48''N, 103°47'12''E, 1810 m, field margin, 31.VII.2013, V. Assing [4+2] / Holotypus 3 Amaurodera projecta sp. n., det. V. Assing 2015" (cAss). Paratype 3: "N-Vietnam - 7 km NW Sa Pa, 22°22'47''N, 103°47'10''E, 1850 m, decid. forest, 31.VII.2013, V. Assing [5+2]" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: projecting) alludes to the conspicuous shape of the crista apicalis of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.7-6.2 mm; length of forebody 2.6 mm. Other measurements: head width: 0.69-0.71 mm; length of pronotum: 1.00- 1.05 mm; width of pronotum: 0.75-0.77 mm; elytral length at suture: 0.50-0.51 mm; elytra width: 0.90-0.98 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 19 . Coloration: forebody dark-brown; abdomen: tergites III and IV reddish to reddish-brown with the posterior portions of the paratergites infuscate, tergite V dark-brown, with the anterior half slightly to distinctly paler, tergites VI and VII dark-brown, tergite VIII dark-brown with the posterior portion yellowish-brown, segments IX-X yellowish-brown; legs with brown tibiae and yellowish tarsi, profemora brown, meso- and metafemora dark-brown to blackish with broadly yellowish bases; head blackish; pronotum and blackish brown, with the humeral angles of the elytra dark- reddish and the elytra posterior margins narrowly pale-reddish; antennae with antennomeres I-II reddish, III-VII more or less distinctly infuscate, and VIII-XI pale reddish; maxillary palpi dark-brown with the terminal palpomere pale-yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 1 ) weakly oblong, 1.03-1.05 times as long as broad, broadest across eyes; postero-lateral outline between eyes and posterior constriction very weakly convex in dorsal view; median dorsal portion impressed; median and anterior dorsal portions extensively without punctation and glossy, with nearly obsolete microsculpture; posterior and postero-lateral dorsal portions with shallow microsculpture and sparse setiferous punctures ( Fig. 20 ). Eyes strongly convex, slightly more than half as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction. Antenna elongate, 3.3-3.4 mm long, and very slender ( Fig. 2 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) approximately 1.35 times as long as broad and 1.06-1.09 times as broad as head; dorsal surface opaque due to very dense microgranules; midline with long and narrow furrow reaching neither anterior nor posterior margins; antero-lateral portions slightly elevated, each with four granules arranged in an oblique series and bearing stout black setae ( Fig. 21 ); antero-lateral surface nearly vertical, without microsculpture and glossy.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) 0.48-0.49 times as long as pronotum; punctation fine and moderately sparse; interstices without microsculpture, several times as broad as diameter of punctures. Hind wings present, but apparently of reduced length. Metatarsomere I as long as, or slightly longer than, the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; tergites III-IV with moderately deep, tergite V with very shallow anterior impressions; tergites III-VII with fine punctation only at and near posterior margins, otherwise impunctate; tergite VIII with granulose setiferous punctation in posterior third (male secondary sexual character?) ( Fig. 3 ); microsculpture present and composed of short transverse meshes, but nearly obsolete and visible only at high magnification (at least 100 x); posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

3: posterior margin of tergite VIII strongly serrate, on either side of middle with 3-4 pronounced tooth-like projections, median pair of projections distinctly longer than lateral teeth ( Fig. 4 ); sternite VIII with broadly and weakly convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus 0.9 mm long; ventral process of distinctive shape; crista apicalis enormous, strongly projecting ( Figs 22-23 ).

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: From all its congeners, except A. darenae YAN & LI, 2015 , Amaurodera projecta differs by the pronounced crista apicalis of the aedeagus and by the presence of a series of four setae in the antero-lateral portions of the pronotum. As can be inferred from these shared derived characters, as well as from the similarly shaped posterior margin of tergite VIII, A. projecta is closely allied to A. darenae ( China: Guangxi), most likely its sister species, from which it is distinguished by larger size (no overlap; see measurements in YAN & LI 2015a), different coloration particularly of the legs (uniformly pale reddish-yellow in A. darenae ), the different shape of the apex of the ventral process of the aedaegus both in lateral and in ventral view, the more oblique crista apicalis (nearly parallel to ventral process and of slightly different shape in A. darenae ), as well as the more massive apical and more slender basal internal structures of the aedeagus. For illustrations of A. darenae see YAN & LI (2015a), for those of other

geographically close congeners from China and Thailand see ASSING (2009), PACE (1986, 1992), and YAN & LI (2015a).

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 specimens were collected in two close localities 7 km to the northwest of Sa Pa, North Vietnam, by sifting debris and leaf litter in a field margin and in a secondary deciduous forest at altitudes of 1810 and 1850 m.

Figures

Figs 1-9: Amaurodera projecta nov.sp. (1-4), Drusilla perforans nov.sp. (5-7), and Orphnebius fansipanicus nov.sp. (8-9): forebody (1, 5, 8); antenna (2, 6, 9); posterior portion of abdomen (3); tergite VIII (4); abdomen (6). Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Figs 10-19: Peltodonia atripalpis nov.sp. (10-11), Tetrabothrus bicolor CAMERON (12-14), and Zyras fansipanicus nov.sp. (15-18): forebody (10, 12, 15); antenna (11, 13, 16); abdomen (14, 17); abdominal segments VII-VIII (18). Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Figs 19-26: Amaurodera projecta nov.sp. (19-23) and Drusilla perforans nov.sp. (24-26): habitus (19); postero-median dorsal portion of head (20); right half of pronotum in latero-dorsal view (21); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (22-25); spermatheca (26). Scale bars: 19: 1.0 mm; 21: 0.5 mm; 22-26: 0.2 mm; 20: 0.1 mm.