Quedius (Raphirus) spissus Cai & Zhou, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Cai, Yan-Peng
name: Zhou, Hong-Zhang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Quedius
Quedius spissus

description: Quedius (Raphirus) spissus sp. nov.
(Figs. 4, 4-1)
Type material. Holotype ♂, CHINA: Sichuan Province: Songpan County, Huanglongsi Nature Reserve, 4000 m, 3. VII. 1990, coll. Huifu Wang.
Description. Head black; pronotum, scutellum and elytra dark brown; abdomen entirely dark brown, slightly iridescent; pubescence of elytra and abdomen dark brown; antennae brown, labrum and mandibles dark brown, maxillary and labial palpi brown; legs brown, with mid and hind tibiae darkened.
BL = 4.4 mm, BW = 0.9 mm, HL/PL/EL = 1.00: 1.42: 1.32, HW/PW/EW/AW = 1.00: 1.16: 1.27: 1.24, HW/ HL = 1.30, HEL/HTL = 6.24, PW/PL = 1.06, EW/EL = 1.25, ESL/EL = 0.48.
Head (Fig. 4 A) round, wider than long; eye very large and convex, nearly occupying entire lateral sides of head, in dorsal view tempora very short, markedly narrowed posteriad; no additional setiferous punctures between anterior frontal setiferous punctures; posterior frontal setiferous puncture situated before level of posteriomedial margin of eye, separated by distance about as long as diameter of puncture; temporal setiferous puncture touching posterior margin of eye, with several small setiferous punctures arranged in oblique curve behind and below it; one basal setiferous puncture situated about midway between posterior frontal setiferous puncture and nuchal constriction; head with fine and dense microsculpture of transverse and oblique waves. Antenna moderately long, with segment I longer than segment II or III, segment II and III nearly equal in length, segments IV–V, XI slightly longer than wide, segments VI–X slightly wider than long.
Pronotum (Fig. 4 B) slightly wider than long, slightly narrowed anteriad, posteriolateral and posterior margins continuously rounded, lateral margins not explanate; three setiferous punctures in each dorsal row and two setiferous punctures in each sublateral row, last sublateral row puncture situated before level of large lateral setiferous puncture; surface of pronotum with microsculpture similar to that of head.
Scutellum (Fig. 4 C) with several setiferous punctures, surface with very fine and dense microsculpture of transverse waves.
Elytra (Fig. 4 C) short, wider than long, slightly broadened posteriad, each elytron with surface covered with dense setiferous punctures, transverse interspaces between punctures slightly smaller than diameters of punctures; surface between punctures without microsculpture. Wings extremely reduced, nonfunctional.
Abdominal tergite II finely punctate and pubescent; setiferous punctures of other tergites distinctly finer and denser than those of elytra, becoming slightly sparser toward posterior margin of each tergite, and in general toward apex of abdomen; tergite VII without whitish apical seam of palisade setae.
Male with first four segments of foretarsus moderately dilated, sub-bilobed, each heavily covered with tenent setae ventrally, segment II slightly narrower than apex of tibia; tergite VIII with basal ridge complete, slightly arched backward in middle, with four long setae on each side; sternite VIII (Fig. 4-1 A) with basal ridge complete, slightly sinuate, with three long setae on each side, apical margin with a wide and moderately deep medioapical emargination, a small triangular area in front of the emargination impunctate; sternite IX (Fig. 4-1 B) with basal portion long and narrow, apical margin complete, widely rounded; tergite X (Fig. 4-1 C) with basal side broadly and deeply concave, apical margin rounded; aedeagus in lateral view (Fig. 4-1 D) with apex of paramere not quite reaching that of median lobe, median lobe with short median carina a little below apex facing parameral side; aedeagus in parameral view (Fig. 4-1 E) with paramere largely parallel-sided, entirely covering median lobe except for very apex, apical portion gradually narrowed into arcuate apex, median lobe quite narrow and elongate, apical portion narrowed into small and subacute apex (Figs. 4 E, 4-1G); apical portion of paramere with four apical setae at apical margin, and two similar setae on each lateral margin below apex, underside with about 12 sensory peg setae arranged in two short longitudinal rows along midline (Figs. 4 D, 4-1F).
Female unknown.
Distribution. Quedius spissus sp. nov. is at present known only from the type locality in northern Sichuan Province: Huanglongsi Nature Reserve, at high altitude of 4000 m. The specimen was collected in July.
Diagnosis. This brachypterous species of the muscicola group was discovered in Sichuan Province of China. It is most similar to Q. chion Smetana, 2011 discovered in Yunnan, by both having the paramere of the male aedeagus entirely covering median lobe except for very apex, but it can be distinguished from the latter by having the paramere wider, with fewer sensory peg setae arranged in shorter longitudinal rows, and median lobe of aedeagus narrower.
Etymology. The specific name is from the Latin adjective spissus (dense), referring to the dense pubescence on the elytra and the abdomen.
description: Published as part of Cai, Yan-Peng & Zhou, Hong-Zhang, 2015, Taxonomy of the subgenus Quedius (Raphirus) Stephens (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylinini: Quediina) with descriptions of four new species from China, pp. 151-196 in Zootaxa 3990 (2) on pages 160-163, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3990.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/245442