Zyras (Zyras) brevilobatus Assing 2017, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Assing, Volker
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Zyras
Zyras brevilobatus

description: Zyras (Zyras) brevilobatus spec. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6C6FB4E9-8A7B-40FB-B1C9-938C01CCD505
(Figs 32, 68, 102, 203–205, Map 10)
Type material: Holotype ♂: “W. THAILAND: 300 m., Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuary. 15°30'N – 98°48'E. / Tak Province, Umphang District, Mae Chan – Mae Klong confluence. 27.iv.–6.v.1988. / Mixed riverside forest. M.J.D. Brendell. B.M. 1988-183 / Holotypus ♂ Zyras brevilobatus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016” (BMNH). Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ [both without aedeagus!]: same data as holotype (BMNH, cAss).
Etymology: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the conspicuously short ventral process of the aedeagus.
Description: Body length 6.0– 6.3 mm; length of forebody 2.5–2.7 mm. Coloration (Figs 32, 68, 102): head black; pronotum and elytra dark-brown; abdomen with segments II–V pale-reddish, segment VI reddish or brown with reddish margins, segment VII bicoloured with the anterior fourth pale-reddish and the posterior three-fourths blackish-brown, and segments VIII–X blackish-brown; legs pale-yellowish; antennae blackish-brown with antennomeres I–II dark-yellowish and the apex of XI slightly paler brown; maxillary palpi yellowish.
Head (Fig. 68) distinctly transverse, middle and posterior portion extensively impunctate; punctation in lateral and anterior portions sparse and moderately coarse. Eyes large and bulging, approximately twice as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 32) 1.8–2.0 mm long; antennomeres IV–V very weakly oblong, VI approximately as broad as long, VII–IX weakly transverse, X less than 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI longer than the combined length of IX and X, but shorter than the combined length of VIII–X.
Pronotum (Fig. 68) strongly transverse, nearly 1.3 times as broad as long and 1.2 times as broad as head, broadest in anterior half, distinctly tapering posteriad; lateral margins straight in posterior two-thirds (dorsal view); punctation coarse, moderately dense, and slightly irregularly distributed, antero-lateral portions of disc with an impunctate patch on either side; midline narrowly impunctate; lateral margins with four long dark setae.
Elytra (Fig. 68) approximately 0.9 times as long as pronotum; punctation coarse, moderately dense anteriorly and very sparse posteriorly. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I as long as, or slightly shorter than the combined length of II–IV.
Abdomen (Fig. 102) narrower than elytra, with moderately deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; anterior impressions of tergites III–V each with a row of moderately coarse non-setiferous punctures; tergite III with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with four setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergites IV–V with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VI with a somewhat irregular transverse band of rather sparse and fine non-setiferous punctures anteriorly, with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VII with sparse and fine non-setiferous punctation in anterior portion and with two transverse rows of setiferous punctures in posterior portion, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII with long black setae near posterior margin, the latter with distinct concavity in the middle.
♂: sternite VIII with convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 203–204) 0.8 mm long and with conspicuously short ventral process; paramere (Fig. 205) 0.9 mm long, with moderately long apical lobe.
Comparative notes: This species is characterized particularly by the conspicuously short ventral process of the aedeagus. It additionally differs from other species recorded from Thailand by the strongly transverse pronotum, by the coloration of the abdomen in combination with completely dark elytra, and by the punctation pattern of the abdomen.
Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated in West Thailand (Map 10). The specimens were collected in a mixed forest near a river at an altitude of 300 m, most likely with Malaise or flight interception traps, together with numerous specimens of Z. proximus and Z. novinversus.
description: Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2017, 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), pp. 117-192 in Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (1) on pages 152-153, DOI: 10.21248/contrib.entomol.67.1.117-192, http://zenodo.org/record/5742363