ZooKeys 218: 57–63, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.218.3361
Two new apterous species of Lathrobium Gravenhorst (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae) from Fujian,  East China
Zhong Peng 1,†, Li-Zhen Li 1,‡, Mei-Jun Zhao 1,§
1 Department of Biology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, P. R. China

Corresponding author: Mei-Jun Zhao (mjzhao@shnu.edu.cn)

Academic editor: Volker Assing

received 6 July 2012 | accepted 27 August 2012 | Published 30 August 2012


(C) 2012 Zhong Peng. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


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Abstract

Two new apterous species of the genus Lathrobium Gravenhorst, 1802 from Fujian Province, East China, Lathrobium daocongchaoi Peng & Li, sp. n. and Lathrobium fujianense Peng & Li, sp. n., are described and illustrated.

Keywords

Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, taxonomy, Lathrobium, new species, Fujian, China

Introduction

So far, 62 species of the genus Lathrobium Gravenhorst, 1802 have been reported from China (Peng et al. 2012c), but none was previously known from Fujian Province, East China. Only eleven species have been reported from the adjacent Zhejiang Province (Watanabe and Luo 1992, 1999a, b; Peng et al. 2012a, b).

Recently, the first author and his colleagues made two collecting trips to Fujian Province and collected a small series of Lathrobium. The examination of the specimens revealed two species, both of which are remarkably different from the previously known species from China regarding their male sexual characters.

Material and methods

All specimens were collected from the leaf litter in broad-leaved forests by sifting. The following abbreviations are used in the text, with all measurements in millimeters:

BL length of body from the anterior margin of the labrum to the apex of the abdomen;

FL length of forebody from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the posterior margin of the elytra;

HL length of head from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the posterior margin of the head;

HW maximum width of head;

PL length of pronotum along midline;

PW maximum width of pronotum;

EL length of elytra from the apex of the scutellum to the posterior margin of the elytra.

The type material is deposited in the Insect Collection of Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China. (SNUC).

Descriptions
Type material

(3 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀). Holotype: ♂, labeled ‘CHINA: Fujian Prov. / Wuyishan City / Guadun Village / 27°44'N, 117°37'E / 26.v.2012, alt. 1, 400 m / Dai & Peng leg.’. Paratypes: 2♀♀, same label data as holotype; 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, same data, except ‘29.v.2012’; 1♀, same data, except ‘28.v.2012’.

Description.

Measurements and ratios:BL 7.51–8.90, FL 3.72–4.00, HL 0.89–1.02, HW 1.02–1.15, PL 1.33–1.52, PW 1.13–1.24, EL 0.93–0.96, HL/HW 0.86–0.92, HW/PW 0.90–0.94, HL/PL 0.65–0.67, PL/PW 1.18–1.24, EL/PL 0.63–0.70.

Habitus as in Fig. 1A. Body brown with paler apex, legs light brown, antennae light brown to yellowish brown.

Head subquadrate (HL/HW 0.86–0.92); punctation coarse and sparse; interstices with very shallow microreticulation; eyes small, approximately 1/3–2/5 the length of postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum nearly parallel-sided; punctation sparser than that of head; impunctate midline narrow; interstices shining without microsculpture.

Elytra with punctation denser than that of pronotum and well defined; hind wings reduced.

Abdomen with dense punctation; interstices with very shallow, transversely striate microsculpture.

Male. Sternite VI (Fig. 2D) with dense darkish setae in postero-median impression; sternite VII (Fig. 2E) with sparse darkish setae in median impression, and posterior margin with several peg-like setae; sternite VIII (Fig. 2I) with asymmetric emargination and short darkish setae in shallow impression; sternite IX (Fig. 2F) nearly symmetric; aedeagus (Figs 2G, 2H) with short ventral process and thin dorsal sclerite.

Female. Posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 2A) pointed in middle; sternite VIII (Fig. 2B) slightly longer than that of male, middle of posterior margin with broad and obtuse projection; tergite X (Fig. 2C) obtuse apically and not reaching anterior margin of tergite IX (Fig. 2C).

Figure 1.

Male habitus of Lathrobium spp., A Lathrobium daicongchaoi B Lathrobium fujianense. Scales: 1.0 mm.

Figure 2.

Lathrobium daicongchaoi. A female tergite VIII B female sternite VIII C female tergites IX–X D male sternite VI E male sternite VII F male sternite IXG aedeagus in lateral view H aedeagus in ventral view I male sternite VIII. Scales: 0.5 mm.

Distribution.

East China: Fujian.

Etymology.

The species is named after Cong-Chao Dai, collector of the type specimens.

Remarks.

The new species resembles Lathrobium zhaotiexiongi Peng & Li, 2012 in havinga postero-median impression on the male sternite VI and similarly shaped male sternite IX. The new species can be readily separated by the presence of a median impression on the male sternite VII and by the short ventral process of the aedeagus. In Lathrobium zhaotiexiongi, the male sternite VII lacks a median impression and has an asymmetric posterior emargination , and the ventral process of the aedeagus is longer.

Type material

(1 ♂, 2 ♀♀). Holotype: ♂, labeled ‘CHINA: Fujian Prov. / Mingxi County / Mt. Junzifeng / 26°34'N, 117°16'E / 7.viii.2008, alt. 1, 400 m / Qi & Yin leg.’. Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, same label data as holotype.

Description.

Measurements and ratios:BL 7.78–9.73, FL 3.77–4.05, HL 1.11–1.13, HW 1.24–1.26, PL 1.48–1.54, PW 1.30–1.33, EL 0.93–0.96, HL/HW 0.90, HW/PW 0.95, HL/PL 0.73–0.75, PL/PW 1.14–1.16, EL/PL 0.62–0.63.

Habitus as in Fig. 1B. General appearance similar to that of Lathrobium daicongchaoi, except for the darker coloration, somewhat larger body size, denser punctation on head and pronotum, and the weakly convex lateral margins of pronotum in dorsal view.

Male. Sternite V (Fig. 3A) with darkish setae in postero-median impression, and posterior margin with several point-like setae; sternite VI (Fig. 3C) similar to sternite V, but with much fewer point-like setae; posterior margin of sternite VII (Fig. 3E) weakly concave; sternite VIII (Fig. 3G) with subtriangular, weakly asymmetric emargination and short darkish setae in the narrow median impression; sternite IX (Fig. 3H) nearly symmetric; aedeagus (Fig. 3I, 3J) with long ventral process and short dorsal sclerite.

Female. Posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 3B) broadly convex; sternite VIII (Fig. 3D) longer than that of male, middle of apical margin with obtuse projection; tergite X (Fig. 3F) broadly convex apically and not reaching anterior margin of tergite IX (Fig. 3F).

Figure 3.

Lathrobium fujianense. A male sternite V B female tergite VIII C male sternite VI D female sternite VIII E male sternite VII F female tergites IX–XG male sternite VIII H male sternite IX I aedeagus in lateral view J aedeagus in ventral view. Scales: 0.5 mm.

Distribution.

East China: Fujian.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is derived from Fujian Province, where the type locality is situated.

Remarks.

The new species can be separated from other East Chinese Lathrobium species by the morphology of the aedeagus, as well as by the presence of point-like setae at the posterior margin of the male sternite V and by the presence of short dark setae in the narrow postero-median impression of the male sternite VIII.

Acknowledgements

All the collectors mentioned in the text are acknowledged for their field work. The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31101659 and No. 31172134), the Foundation of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 12YZ077) and Shanghai Normal University (No. SK201234). We thank the two anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript.

References
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