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

description: Zyras (Zyras) longilobatus spec. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 97F2CE8E-586F-458D-8B4C-26238AA1D870
(Figs 24, 53, 89, 156–160, Map 9)
Type material: Holotype ♂: “NE INDIA, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills, Mawsynram, 25°18'N, 91°29'E, 800± 100 m, P. Pacholátko leg. 5.–9.vi.2006 / BMNH (E) 29006-48 / Holotypus ♂ Zyras longilobatus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2016” (BMNH). Paratypes: 2 ♀♀: same data as holotype (BMNH); 1 ♀: “NE INDIA, Meghalaya, SW of Cherrapunjee, 25°13–14'N 91°40'E, 900 m, L. Dembický leg., 1–24.v.2005, BMNH 2006-48” (cAss).
Etymology: The specific epithet alludes to the conspicuously long apical lobe of the paramere.
Description: Body length 5.2–6.7 mm; length of forebody 2.5–2.9 mm. Coloration (Figs 24, 53, 89: head and pronotum black; elytra dark-yellowish with the posterolateral portions extensively black; abdomen black with the posterior margins of segments III–VI narrowly paler brown; legs pale-yellowish; antennae blackish with the basal two antennomeres pale-brown; maxillary palpi pale-brown with palpomere IV yellowish.
Head (Fig. 53) distinctly transverse, median portion extensively impunctate; punctures in lateral portions sparse and moderately coarse. Eyes distinctly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 24) approximately 2.0 mm long; antennomeres IV weakly oblong or as long as broad, V approximately as long as broad or weakly transverse, VI–X increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI approximately as long as the combined length of IX and X.
Pronotum (Fig. 53) approximately 1.15 times as broad as long and approximately 1.35 times as broad as head, broadest in anterior half, weakly tapering posteriad; lateral margins straight or weakly convex in posterior two-thirds in dorsal view; punctation rather coarse and moderately irregularly distributed, on either side of midline with extensive impunctate areas; midline broadly impunctate; lateral margins each with four long and erect black setae.
Elytra (Fig. 53) 0.80–0.85 times as long as pronotum; punctation rather coarse, dense, and defined, nearly regularly distributed, slightly less dense posteriorly than anteriorly; disc with short, fine, and depressed pale pubescence. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II–IV.
Abdomen (Fig. 89) slightly narrower than elytra, with rather deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; tergite II with moderately sparse non-setiferous punctation; anterior impressions of tergites III–IV each with a transverse row of rather weakly defined non-setiferous punctation; anterior impression of tergite V with a transverse band of somewhat irregular non-setiferous punctation; tergite III with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with four setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite IV with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with six setiferous punctures near posterior margin; tergite V with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with 6–8 setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VI anteriorly with a transverse band of non-setiferous punctures, with a lateral cluster of several setiferous punctures on either side, and with approximately ten setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VII anteriorly with a transverse band of non-setiferous punctures and posteriorly with two transverse rows of setiferous punctures, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII with long black setae in posterior third, posterior margin with sexual dimorphism.
♂: posterior margin of tergite VIII (Fig. 159) with a distinct median concavity, on either side of this concavity with a distinct acute process; sternite VIII (Fig. 160) nearly as long as broad, strongly tapering apicad, and with truncate posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.7 mm long and shaped as in Figs 156–157; paramere (Fig. 158) approximately 0.8 mm long, apical lobe very long and slender.
♀: posterior margin of tergite VIII with shallow median concavity, but without distinct process on either side of this concavity; posterior margin of sternite VIII distinctly concave in the middle.
Comparative notes: The conspicuously long and slender apical lobe of the paramere and the posteriorly strongly tapering male sternite VIII with a truncate posterior margin suggest that Z. longilobatus is somewhat allied to the Z. glabricollis group. It is, however, distinguished from other species of this group by distinctly shorter and less slender antennae, much less irregular punctation of the pronotum, a relatively larger pronotum, much more regularly distributed punctation of the elytra, distinctly shorter legs, much finer nonsetiferous punctation of the abdominal tergites III–V, and a less derived morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus.
Distribution and natural history: The specimens were collected in two localities in Meghalaya, Northeast India (Map 9), at altitudes of approximately 800– 900 m.
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 page 137, DOI: 10.21248/contrib.entomol.67.1.117-192, http://zenodo.org/record/5742363