On Zyras sensu strictu in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions, with a focus on the faunas of the Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sulawesi (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Lomechusini)
Authors: Assing Volker 
Published: December 2020

The species of the nominal subgenus of the lomechusine genus Zyras Stephens, 1835 of the Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sulawesi are revised. Additional species from other parts of the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions are addressed. In all, 40 species are described and/or illustrated, 14 of them for the first time: Zyras (Zyras) ambulans spec. nov. (Thailand), Z. (Z.) brevilobatus spec. nov. (Thailand), Z. (Z.) densihirtus spec. nov. (Sulawesi Utara), Z. (Z.) densissimus spec. nov. (Sulawesi Utara), Z. (Z.) latilobatus spec. nov. (South India), Z. (Z.) longilobatus spec. nov. (India: Meghalaya), Z. (Z.) luteipes spec. nov. (India: Meghalaya), Z. (Z.) morulus spec. nov. (Nepal: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna), Z. (Z.) nigrihirtus spec. nov. (Sulawesi Utara), Z. (Z.) parahirtus spec. nov. (Borneo), Z. (Z.) parvicollis spec. nov. (Thailand), Z. (Z.) russiceps spec. nov. (Thailand, Malaysia), Z. (Z.) titan spec. nov. (Sulawesi Utara), and Z. (Z.) truncatus spec. nov. (Nepal: Dhaulagiri). As many as 28 synonymies are proposed: Zyras alternans (Cameron, 1925) = Z. optimus Cameron, 1939, syn. nov.; Z. bartolozzii Pace, 2003 = Z. alboterminalis Pace, 2008, syn. nov.; Z. bettotanus Cameron, 1930 = Z. drescheri Cameron, 1939, syn. nov., = Z. atrapicalis Assing, 2016, syn. nov.; Z. brignolii (Pace, 1986) = Z. thainiger Pace, 2012, syn. nov.; Z. castaneus (Motschulsky, 1861) = Z. adulescens (Pace, 1987), syn. nov., = Z. britannorum Pace, 1992, syn. nov., = Z. fratrumkadooriorum Pace, 1998, syn. nov., = Z. chumphonensis Pace, 2004, syn. nov., = Z. dibrugarhensis Pace, 2011, syn. nov.; Z. preangeranus Cameron, 1939 = Z. louwerensi Cameron, 1939, syn. nov., = Z. chinkiangensis Bernhauer, 1939, syn. nov., = Z. setosipennis Scheerpeltz, 1965, syn. nov., = Z. alboantennatus Pace, 1986, syn. nov., = Z. sichuanorum Pace, 2012, syn. nov.; Z. geminus (Kraatz, 1859) = Z. indicus Cameron, 1944, syn. nov., = Z. shiva Pace, 1992, syn. nov., = Z. manjushri Pace, 1992, syn. nov., = Z. hongkongensis Pace, 1999, syn. nov., = Z. benenensis Pace, 2001, syn. nov., = Z. parageminus Pace, 2010, syn. nov., = Z. neoparageminus Hlaváč, Newton & Maruyama, 2011, syn. nov., = Z. subgeminus Pace, 2012, syn. nov., = Z. articollis Assing, 2016, syn. nov.; Z. parageminus Pace, 1998 = Z. nameriensis Pace, 2011, syn. nov.; Z. pindarae (Champion, 1921) = Z. ruficauda Cameron, 1939, syn. nov.; Z. proximus Cameron, 1939 = Z. drugmandi Pace, 2004; syn. nov. Zyras novinversus nom. nov. is proposed for the preoccupied name Z. inversus Pace, 2012, syn. nov. Lectotypes are designated for Zyras exasperatus Schubert, 1908, Z. drescheri Cameron, 1939, Z. gratellus Cameron, 1939, Myrmedonia perforata Champion, 1921, and Hygroptera castanea Motschulsky, 1861. Remarkable cases of colour polymorphism and of sexual dimorphism are discussed. A key to the Zyras sensu strictu species of the Himalaya, India, and Sri Lanka, a key to the species recorded from Thailand, and an updated catalogue of the Zyras sensu strictu species of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions are provided. Additional records of numerous named and several unnamed species are reported. The revised distributions of 37 species are mapped. The subgenus is currently represented in the Palaearctic and Oriental regions by a total of 124 described species. The countries with the greatest diversity are China (46 named species), Malaysia (20), India (20), Indonesia (18), Thailand (13), and Nepal (12). The subgenus is reported from Sulawesi for the first time (five named and two unnamed species). Based on a revision of type material, eleven species are not included in, or excluded from, Zyras sensu strictu, and Zyras unicolor Cameron, 1939 is tentatively moved to Drusilla Leach, 1819.

Nomenclatural Acts

Zyras (Zyras) ambulans spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FD33C1AE-F7D9-4E3A-A053-A2CAA7261CFE

Zyras (Zyras) brevilobatus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6C6FB4E9-8A7B-40FB-B1C9-938C01CCD505

Zyras (Zyras) densihirtus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E47C7587-9B06-4CD1-821D-6074284CA5BB

Zyras (Zyras) densissimus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C82B20D3-1259-446E-B077-0D026B057901

Zyras (Zyras) latilobatus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AD282BC4-9922-4004-97DE-0E84F5B8634F

Zyras (Zyras) longilobatus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:97F2CE8E-586F-458D-8B4C-26238AA1D870

Zyras (Zyras) luteipes spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1E837A27-748A-4E5A-BBBC-ABC78704B40D

Zyras (Zyras) morulus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6F52A4A8-EA4C-472C-AEA3-C3BF6A2C1795

Zyras (Zyras) nigrihirtus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4BCA38DF-D00B-4833-81D4-05557C34488E

Zyras (Zyras) parahirtus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AF0B4E37-02D6-4618-A7C4-3D21FD8A5063

Zyras (Zyras) parvicollis spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:317676A6-1E6A-495F-9864-B7DFA85717F4

Zyras (Zyras) russiceps spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0F8B55FE-9FAD-4393-8C10-94FBC35FCD77

Zyras (Zyras) titan spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:04E2A49E-E856-490E-AAB3-333A8F481D98

Zyras (Zyras) truncatus spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D18CCF00-B59C-4826-9750-E0991FFD871E

Zyras (Zyras) novinversus nom. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3BD2568F-509A-4132-9F55-131D59FE9405