Apatetica glaucipennis, Assing, 2018

Assing, Volker, 2018, On some species of Apatetica WESTWOOD (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Apateticinae), Beiträge zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 68 (2), pp. 347-359 : 349-351

Apatetica glaucipennis spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:42C008AA-4925-4FC9-AA0B-3F043FC50F97

( Figs 5–10 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “NEP: Mahakali/Darchula, Godhani, Godhani Khola, N29°49'53", E80°40'45", 1920 m, 17.VI.2017, leg. A. Weigel, KL #17-07 / Holotypus ♂ Apatetica glaucipennis sp. n. det. V. Assing 2017” ( NME). Paratypes: 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀: same data as holotype (cWei, cAss); 1 ♂: same data as holotype, but “ 16.VI.2017, leg. A. Kopetz, #17-07” ( NME).

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective composed of the Latin adjectiveglaucus (blue) and thesuffix -pennis (of the wings). It alludes to the pronounced metallic blue hue of the elytra.

Description: Large species; bodylength 8.8–10.8 mm; length of forebody 7.7–8.8 mm. Other measurements: head width 1.90–2.05 mm; length of antenna 4.7–5.0 mm; width of pronotum: 4.0– 4.2 mm; length of pronotum 2.4–2.6 mm; length of elytra 3.9–4.5 mm; length of metatibia 3.0– 3.4 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 5 . Coloration: body black; elytra with pronounced metallic blue or blue-green hue; antennae and legs black except for the reddish-brown tarsomeres V.

Head ( Fig. 6 ) strongly transverse; vertex with extensive flat elevation, this elevation glossy, with micropunctation, and in postero-median portion with a cluster of more or less numerous macropunctures; frons glossy and with micropunctation, laterally with macropunctures; lateral portion behind eye and area near dorsal margin of eye with very dense and coarse punctation. Antenna very long and slender; antennomeres IV and Vmore than three times as long as broad; antennomere Xapproximately 1.5 times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 6 ) approximately 1.7 times as broad as longand 2.0–2.1 timesas broadas head, broadestat posterior third; lateral margins broadly explanate, withshallow microsculpture predominantly composed of longitudinal striae, each with approximately five marginal punctures; punctation of disc coarse, dense laterally and sparser in the middle; middle and medio-lateral portions of disc with irregular impunctate patches.

Elytra approximately 1.6 times as long as pronotum; each elytron with eight finely punctate striae; intervals flat and with dense micropunctation. Scutellum strongly transverse. Legs very long and slender.

Abdomen with microsculpture composed of dense microgranules on tergite V and of transverse meshes on tergites VI–VIII; tergite VIII with pronounced sexual dimorphism.

♂: protarsomeres I–IV strongly dilated and flat; tergite VIII ( Fig. 7 ) wedge-shaped, apically obtusely pointed, across the middle with a broad transverse band of numerous coarse punctures; aedeagus ( Figs 8–9 ) 3.3 mm long; ventral process long, slender, tapering apicad, and very acute apically in ventral view, apical two-fifths distinctly bent dorsad in lateral view; parameres slender, apically flattened and bent ventrad, approximally extending to apex of ventral process.

♀: protarsomeres I–IV dilated, but somewhat less so than in male; tergite VIII ( Fig. 10 ) with punctation as in male, but apically strongly and broadly concave.

Comparative notes: Apatetica glaucipennis is distinguished from other congeners with metallic elytra from continental Asia as follows:

from A. lebioides WESTWOOD, 1848 ( India: Sikkim; type material examined) by larger size ( A. lebioides : body length 6–7 mm), the coloration ( A. lebioides : lateral margins of the pronotum, tibiae, tarsi, and antennae yellowish-red to reddish; elytra with greenish hue), an anteriorly more strongly tapering abdomen with much sparser and coarser punctation ( A. lebioides : pronotum only slightly more narrowed anteriorly than posteriorly). and a coarsely punctured tergite VIII ( A. lebioides : tergite VIII practically impunctate);

from A. viridipennis (Northeast India: West Bengal, Assam?, Manipur?) by a more robust habitus, the coloration ( A. viridipennis : antennae and tarsi reddish; lateral margins of pronotum dark reddish-brown; elytra with greenish hue), and by a less convex pronotum (cross-section) with much sparser and finer punctation ( A. viridipennis : median portion of pronotum dome-shaped);

from A. caeruleipennis CAMERON, 1930 (NE-India: Manipur; type material examined) by a less strongly convex pronotum (cross-section) with much sparser, finer, and irregular punctation ( A. caeruleipennis : pronotum with extremely dense, coarse, and uniform punctation; interstices reduced to narrow ridges; median portion strongly elevated, similar to the condition in A. viridipennis );

from A. birmana CAMERON, 1930 ( Myanmar; type material examined) by the coloration ( A. birmana : apical antennomeres and tarsi reddish; elytra with indistinct metallic hue) and by a less convex pronotum (cross-section) with sparser and more irregular punctation and with practically impunctate lateral margins ( A. birmana : lateral margins with coarse and rather dense punctation).

from A. siamensis LEWIS, 1893 ( Thailand; type material examined) by slightly larger size ( A. siamensis : 8 mm), the coloration ( A. siamensis : antennae and tarsi reddish brown, lateral margins of pronotum dark reddish-brown; elytra with weak greenish hue), the punctation of the pronotum ( A. siamensis : whole pronotum including lateral margins with dense and more or less regularly spaced punctation), and by the shape of the female tergite VIII ( A. siamensis : tergite VIII with bisinuate apex and with longitudinal median elevation).

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in the extreme west of Nepal. The specimens were beaten from moist rotting plant material at a river bank (WEIGEL pers. comm.).

Figures

Figs 1–10: Apatetica viridipennis (1–4) and A. glaucipennis (5–10): habitus (1, 5); head and pronotum (2, 6); aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (3–4, 8–9); male tergite VIII (7); female tergite VIII (10). Scale bars: 1, 5: 5.0 mm; 2–4, 6–10: 1.0 mm.