Holotype, ♂, Hubei, Zigui, Jiulingtou 110 m, 5.IX.1994, collected by Fasheng Li (IZCAS); paratypes, 1♀, same data as holotype (ZMUC); 1♀, Sichuan, Fengdu 200 m, 1.VI.1994, collected by Youwei Zhang (IZCAS).

Length: 6.5–6.9 mm; length of forebody: 3.4–3.8 mm. Body glossy, vividly colored with head capsule black, pronotum and abdomen brown, elytra black with the apical margins more or less blackish-brown; antennae and mouthparts dark reddish, legs brownish red.

Head glossy, approximately as broad as long, vertex slightly convex. Punctures on head coarse and sparse, in median dorsal portion very sparse; interstices without microsculpture, but with micropunctation. Eyes relatively small and slightly protruding laterally. HL/EyL = 2.8, eyes shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae slender, about 1.9–2.0 mm long; all antennomeres oblong.

Pronotum oblong, PL/PW = 1.2, widest at its anterior third and approximately 1.2 times as broad as head, lateral margins straight; on either side of the impunctate midline with series of 13–16 punctures, some of these punctures often accompanied by additional punctures; punctures of lateral portions sparse to moderately dense; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra parallel-sided, EL/EW = 8.5, slightly longer than pronotum; punctures on surface arranged in 5 series in dorsal view; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra, wider than head or pronotum; punctation very fine and dense; interstices with microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

Aedeagus (Fig. 1D–F) about 1.25 mm long, length/width = 2.4. Dorsal plate fused with median lobe. Ventral process strongly sclerotized and curved (Fig. 1D, E). Internal sac with some strongly sclerotized structures.

Male sternite VII (Fig. 1C) with narrowly semicircular excision, margins of this excision slightly depressed; male sternite VIII (Fig. 1B) with posterior excision narrow and deep, not quite reaching middle of sternite.

Female sternites VII-VIII without any modifications.

The species name is the Latin adjective meaning cylindrical. It refers to the shape of the aedeagus of this new species.

Based on the relatively smaller body size, brownish coloration with darker head and elytra, as well as distinctly sclerotized aedeagus with an apically projecting dorsal plate, the new species belongs to the Pseudolathra unicolor group sensu Assing (2012). Within this group, the new species is externally very similar to Pseudolathra pulchella (Kraatz), but differs as follows: 1) the posterior excision of the male sternite VIII in the new species (Fig. 1B) is narrower and deeper (Pseudolathra pulchella: figure 39 in Assing 2012); 2) the aedeagus in Pseudolathra cylindrata sp. n. is of a different shape, with its ventral process forming a distinct perforation in lateral view (Fig. 1D–F; Pseudolathra pulchella: see figures 33–34 in Assing 2012).

Pseudolathra cylindrata sp. n. is known only from the type locality: Jiulingtou in Zigui County, Hubei. The type series was collected in the period from June to September, the altitudes ranging from 100 to 200 m.

Holotype, ♂, Yunnan, Mengla County, Township Yaoqu, 1030 m (21.73°N, 101.52°E), 4.X.2010, leg. Xi Zhang (IZCAS).

Length: 6.5 mm; length of forebody: 3.2 mm. Body black, glossy; abdomen with posterior and lateral margins slightly dark reddish; legs, antennae and mouthparts reddish.

Head (Fig. 2A) weakly transverse, approximately 1.1 times as wide as long; vertex slightly convex, posterior angles marked. Median area almost impunctate, lateral portions with coarse and very sparse punctures; punctures around eyes and along neck relatively fine and dense; interstices without microsculpture and micropunctation. Eyes large and bulging, HL/EyL = 1.7, approximately 1.5 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae slender, about 1.85 mm long; antennomeres III-X with very narrow bases and broadened apices.

Pronotum (Fig. 2A) approximately as long as broad and as wide as head, anterior angles distinct and posterior angles round; on either side of the impunctate midline with series of 1+4 coarse punctures in dorsal view; lateral portions with very sparse and coarse punctures; some of those coarse punctures having additional smaller punctures.

Elytra with EL/EW = 8.7, slightly longer than pronotum, with fine epipleural ridge; punctures on dorsal surface arranged in 3 pronounced series on each elytron; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen approximately as broad as head or pronotum, but narrower than elytra; punctation on tergites III-V very coarse and dense, tergites VI-VIII with punctures relatively fine and dense; interstices without microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

Aedeagus about 1.1 mm long, length/width = 2.7, weakly sclerotized, shaped as in Fig. 2C–E.

Malesternite VII (Fig. 2F) with posterior margin weakly and broadly concave, on either side of the middle with comb of stout, black, spine-like setae increasing in length and thickness laterad, margins of the concavity slightly depressed and glabrous; male sternite VIII (Fig. 2B) with semicircular, broad and relatively shallow posterior excision.

Females unknown.

The species name is the Latin adjective meaning superficial. It refers to the shallow posterior excision of the male sternite VIII of the new species.

Based the synapomorphic modifications of the male sternite VII (posterior margin bipectinate and notched in the middle) and the similar morphology of the aedeagus, the new species is closely allied to Pseudolathra bipectinata. For illustrations of Pseudolathra bipectinata see figures 17–18, 22–23 in Assing (2013). Like Pseudolathra bipectinata, Pseudolathra superficiaria belongs to the Pseudolathra nigerrima group and can easily be distinguished from other species of this group by the broad and shallow (not deep and narrow) excision of the male sternite VIII, and by the characteristic structure of the aedeagus.

In fact, the shallow and broad excision of the male sternite VIII was previously reported as a uniquecharacter of the monotypical Pseudolathra regularis group (Assing 2012), however, the exact shape of this shallow excision is different in both species. Besides, Pseudolathra superficiaria sp. n. differs from Pseudolathra regularis by the more transverse head with larger eyes, the much more transverse pronotum, and the shape of the aedeagus.

The only known specimen of Pseudolathra superficiaria sp. n. was found in the leaf litter of the forest of rubber trees near the center of Yaoqu, a town in Mengla County, Yunnan. It was collected in October by sifting leaf litter at an altitude of 1030 m.