Ascaphium ingentis He, Tang & Li

He, Wen-Jia, Tang, Liang & Li, Li-Zhen, 2008, New data on the genus Ascaphium Lewis (Coleoptera, staphylinidae, Scaphidiinae) of China, Zootaxa 1923, pp. 62-68 : 65-66

Ascaphium ingentis He, Tang & Li , sp. nov.

( Figs. 2 , 11 )

Type material. Holotype: CHINA: Yunnan Prov.: Ψ, 24.83671°N, 98.76185°E, Xiaoheishan, Longling Co., Longjiang, 28.V.2005, alt. 2067m, LIANG H. B. & GUO K. J. leg. (IOZ)

Description. BL 9.0 mm.

Head, pronotum, elytra and femora black. Antennae: segments 1–6 reddish brown, 7–11 yellowish brown. Palpi, tibiae and tarsi reddish brown, abdomen entirely light ochreous.

Frons at narrowest point 0.67 mm, with punctation somewhat swallow. Median portion of vertex with punctures sparse, puncture intervals distinctly larger than puncture diameter. Posterior portion of head disk between eyes and neck with punctures dense, intervals varied from equal to smaller than puncture diameter. Largest punctures situated near neck. Neck entirely covered with oblique microsculpture, dorsal surface with few punctures medially, microsculpture oblique.

Antennae long and slender, segment 5 about 3.5 times as long as wide; 6 about 2.4 times as long as wide; club stout; segment 7 about twice as long as wide; segment 8 2.1 times as long as wide; segments 9 and 10 of equal size, similar to 7, both twice as long as wide, segment 11 slightly longer than segments 9 and 10, about twice as long as wide.

Pronotum at base 2.7 mm wide; lateral edges oblique in basal half, arcuate in apical half. Antebasal puncture row inflexed and deeply impressed laterally, contiguous in middle, consisting of fairly coarse punctures. Discal punctation extremely fine.

Elytra weakly inflexed, slightly impressed in apical eighth. Each elytron with six very long puncture rows ( Fig. 11 ) situated in deep striae. Each row almost straight and ending with weakly delimited ounctures in apical tenth of elytron. First row a little separated from basal row; second and third rows basally joined with basal row and apically joined with each other; fourth row joined with basal puncture row, curved interiad and extra impressed both basally and apically; fifth and sixth rows starting behind humeral protuberance. Intervals between striae convex, very finely punctate. Apical portion of each elytron flattened, with relatively shallow but dense and coarse punctures which are a little larger than those on vertex of frons.

Metaventrite near posterior margin with two median carinae broad and long, close to each other and slightly diverging posteriorly.

Protibiae straight, meso- and metabibiae slightly sinuate. Meso- and metafemora each with a blunt ventral protuberance in apical third.

First exposed abdominal sternite densely and finely punctuate, and with mesh-like microsuclpture; following abdominal sternites sparsely and finely punctuate, and with transverse microsculpture.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Remarks. Ascaphium ingentis is very similar to A. ochripes Löbl, 1992 from Nepal, especially in coloration, but the new species may be distinguished by the following characters: 1) distinctly larger body size, 9.0 mm (6.0 mm in A. ochripes ); 2) elytra with second and third discal rows joined apically (in A. ochripes the first and the second rows are joined apically); 3) punctation of the apical portion of elytra coarser than in A. ochripes , punctures are a little larger than that on vertex of frons; 4) female meso- and metafemora each with a blunt ventral protuberance in apical third (absent in A. ochripes ).

Etymology. The specific name is derived from the Latin word “ ingentis ” and refers to the large body size of the new species.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Habitus of Ascaphium. 1 — A. longlingense sp. nov.; 2 — A. ingentis sp. nov.; 3 — A. alticola Löbl. Scale bars 1 mm.

FIGURES 10 – 12. Elytral puncture rows of Ascaphium. 10 — A. longlingense sp. nov.; 11 — A. ingentis sp. nov.; 12 — A. alticola Löbl. Scale bars 0.5 mm.