Amaurodera fasciata Assing 2016, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Assing, Volker
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Amaurodera
Amaurodera fasciata

description: Amaurodera fasciata spec. nov.
(Figs 139, 146, 411–414)
Type material: Holotype ♂: “ Thailand [37] – Doi Inthanon, Khun Huay Hang, 18°34'N, 98°31'E, 1290 m, along stream, 11.I.2014, leg. Ob / Holotypus ♂ Amaurodera fasciata sp. n., det. V. Assing 2015” (cAss).
Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss); 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀: “ Thailand [2] – Doi Inthanon, Huay Saai Leung waterfall, 18°31'N, 98°27'E, 1010 m, 19.XII.2013, leg. Ob ” (cAss); 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀: “ Thailand [32] – Doi Inthanon, Siribuhm Waterfall, 18°33'N, 98°31'E, 1330 m, debris, 9.I.2014, leg. Ob ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “ Thailand [34] – Doi Inthanon, route to Mae Wang, 18°35'N, 98°31'E, 1580 m, 9.I.2014, leg. Ob ” (cAss); 2 ♂♂: “ Thailand [1] – Doi Inthanon, Maeaum, 18°32'N, 98°31'E, 1560 m, sifted near stream, 18.XII.2013, leg. Ob ” (cAss); 1 ♂, 1 ♀: “N-Thailand, Chiang Mai, Do Inthanon, Do Pui, 1100– 1500 m NN, 10.11.1995 P. Wunderle ” (cWun, cAss); 20 exs.: “ Thailand: Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep, 1400 m, 5.XI.1985, Burckhard-Löbl ” (MHNG, cAss); 1 ex.: same data, but “ 1450 m, 4.XI.1985 ” (MHNG); 6 exs.: same data, but “ 1550 m, 4.XI.1985 ” (MHNG, cAss); 1 ♀: “ Thailand 27.XII.86, prov. Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep 1320 m, P. Schwendinger ” (cAss); 1 ♂: “ Thailand, Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep, 1580 m NN, Laubstreu, 13.11.1995 P. Wunderle ” (cWun).
Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: striped) alludes to the usually slightly infuscate posterior margins of the abdominal tergites III and IV.
Description: Body length 4.5–5.0 mm; length of forebody 2.3–2.5 mm. Coloration: forebody reddish to darkbrown, often with the pronotum slightly paler than head and elytra; abdomen: tergites III–IV pale reddish, usually with the posterior portion of the paratergites and at least the sides of the posterior margins weakly to distinctly infuscate, rarely completely dark-brown, tergites V–VIII dark-brown to blackish-brown, usually with the anterior margin of tergite V and the posterior margins of tergites V–VIII reddish; legs yellowish with the profemora usually at least slightly and at least partly darker and with the apical halves of the meso- and metafemora weakly to distinctly infuscate; antennae dark-yellowish to pale-brown; maxillary palpi reddish to brown, with the terminal palpomere yellowish.
Head (Fig. 146) oblong, 1.10–1.13 times as long as broad, broadest across eyes, without appreciable sexual dimorphism; punctation sparse and extremely fine; interstices with practically obsolete microreticulation barely visible even at higher magnification. Eyes of moderate size, approximately 0.7 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna (Fig. 139) 2.7–2.9 mm long; antennomere IX twice as long as broad.
Pronotum (Fig. 146) 0.90–0.95 mm long, 1.45–1.50 times as long as broad, and approximately as broad as, or slightly broader than head, with or without weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism; with three or four erect lateral setae on either side anteriorly; dorsal and lateral surface not meeting at a distinct angle posteriorly; microreticulation immediately near lateral carinae shallow; narrow median furrow long, but reaching neither anterior nor posterior margins.
Elytra (Fig. 146) 0.52–0.56 times as long as pronotum; punctation fine and moderately sparse; interstices with shallow microreticulation; pubescence moderately long and depressed. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.
Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation fine and very sparse on all tergites; tergites III–V with shallow, but distinct microsculpture composed of transverse meshes, only traces of microsculpture visible on tergites VI– VIII even at high magnification; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly serrate.
♂: pronotum sometimes shallowly impressed on either side of anterior portion of median sulcus; median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 411–412) 0.65–0.72 mm long; ventral process strongly bulging, but not angular in the middle (lateral view); crista apicalis of moderate size.
♀: pronotum not or only indistinctly impressed on either side of anterior portion of median sulcus; spermatheca (Figs 413–414) 0.25–0.29 mm long, with weakly dilated distal portion and rather short proximal portion of the capsule, and with very small apical cuticular invagination.
Intraspecific variation: The material from Doi Inthanon is distinguished from that from Doi Suthep by on average darker coloration and slight differences in the shapes of the crista apicalis of the aedeagus and of the spermatheca. Since no other characters were found suggesting that these populations represent distinct species, these differences are interpreted as intraspecific variation.
Comparative notes: Amaurodera fasciata is distinguished from all the preceding species recorded from Thailand by the different coloration of the abdominal tergites III–IV, by the absence of a sexual dimorphism of the head, the sexually dimorphic pronotum, the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and the smaller apical cuticular invagination of the spermatheca.
Distribution and natural history: The specimens were collected in several localities in Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep, North Thailand, at altitudes of 1010–1580 m, in one locality together with A. thailandensis.
description: Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2016, On some Lomechusini of the Palaearctic and Oriental regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), pp. 13-111 in Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (1) on pages 88-89, DOI: 10.21248/contrib.entomol.66.1.13-111, http://zenodo.org/record/6421171