Acrolocha rogeri Shavrin, 2017, sp. n.
Creators: name: Shavrin, Alexey V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Acrolocha
Acrolocha rogeri

description: Acrolocha rogeri sp. n. (Figs. 1 −5)
Type material examined. Holotype ♂ [A plastic card with the last abdominal segment, abdominal tergite and sternite VIII, and the aedeagus mounted in Canada balsam was pinned under the card with specimen]: ‘ NEPAL: 8800`[underlined by yellow] | Kathmandu Dist., | Phulcoki, | 27.-31.v.1983.’ <rectangular label, printed>, ‘At MV | light’ <rectangular label, printed>, ‘M.J.D. Brendell | B.M. 1983-222’ <rectangular label, printed>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Acrolocha | rogeri sp.n. | Shavrin A.V. det. 2017 ’ <red rectangular label, printed> (BMNH).
Description. Measurements: WH: 0.42; LH: 0.28; LA: 0.56; LE: 0.15; LP: 0.35; WP: 0.45; LEl: 0.65; WE: 0.77; WA: 0.74; LAed: 0.32; TL: 1.87.
Head and abdomen dark brown; antennomeres VI̅XI, pronotum, elytra, paratergites and apical margins of tergites brown; posterior margins of pronotum yellow brown; mouthparts, ocelli, antennomeres I̅V and legs yellow. Punctation of head irregular and sparse, moderately deep, somewhat denser on infraorbital ridges and frons; punctation of pronotum irregular, larger and deeper than that on head; scutellum impunctate; median portion of each elytron with small punctures arranged in six uneven longitudinal rows, irregularly scattered basally and apically, lateral portions of elytra with small sparse punctation not arranged into distinct rows; abdomen without visible punctation. Forebody glossy; head with coarse microsculpture: longitudinal between ocelli, transverse on vertex and cellulate on infraorbital ridges; pronotum with strong transverse wavy microsculpture; scutellum with small transverse microsculpture; elytra with fine and regular longitudinal microsculpture between punctures; abdominal tergites with cellular microsculpture, distinctly coarser and larger on tergites IV–V.
Head 1.5 times as broad as long, with somewhat flattened frons and vertex, and slightly convex infraorbital ridges separated from vertex by straight longitudinal impressions merging with very short grooves beginning from anterior parts of each ocellus. Eyes large, convex; temples not apparent. Ocelli large, as large as diameter of two nearest punctures, distance between ocelli distinctly larger than distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Apical (4th) palpomeres of maxillari palpi more than three times as long as penultimate palpomeres. Antennae very short, not reaching posterior margin of pronotum when reclined; apical five antennomeres with dense pubescence; antennomeres with lengths × widths: 1: 0.10 × 0.05; 2: 0.05 × 0.05; 3: 0.03 × 0.02; 4̅5: 0.02 × 0.02; 6: 0.04 × 0.02; 7: 0.04 × 0.05; 8: 0.05 × 0.05; 9: 0.05 × 0.06; 10: 0.06 × 0.06; 11: 0.10 × 0.06.
Pronotum slightly convex, 1.3 times as broad as long, slightly broader than head, widest about middle, gradually rounded anteriad and slightly narrowing towards posterior obtuse angles; middle part of anterior margin straight; surface of disc with two wide elongated depressions beginning in apical third of pronotum and almost reaching posterior margin.
Elytra 1.2 times as broad as long, 1.8 times as long and 1.7 times as wide as pronotum, somewhat parallel-sided; hind margins of elytra straight.
Metatrochanter without projection. Apical metatarsomeres distinctly longer than four preceeding tarsomeres.
Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra, with two wide tomentose spots on abdominal tergite IV, with indistinct palisade fringe on apical margin of abdominal tergite VII.
Male. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII (Fig. 4) and sternite VIII (Fig. 5) very slightly emarginated. Aedeagus (Fig. 1) broad, with moderately narrow elongated median lobe; parameres cylindrical, thick, exceeding apex of median lobe, with four long apical setae; apex of aedeagus with pair of lateral auriculate processes distinctly exceeding level of apices of parameres and with pair of tooth-like processes on level of median lobe; endophallus large and complicated, as in Fig. 2. Aedeagus laterally as in Fig. 3.
Female unknown.
Comparative notes. Based on the flattened head between eyes and character of microsculpture on the elytra, with punctures arranged in longitudinal rows, the new species is similar to A. horiguchii Watanabe, 2007 from Japan and A. kanagawana Watanabe, 2007, described from central Honshu (Watanabe 2007). From both species it differs by smaller punctures on the elytra, by the metatrochanter and the male abdominal sternite VIII lacking projections, as well as by the shape and internal structure of the aedeagus.
The couplets 1 and 2 in the key to species of Acrolocha of the eastern Palaearctic Region in Shavrin & Smetana (2016) should be modified as follows:
1 Head between eyes flattened. Elytra without strong microsculpture, with punctures arranged in longitudinal rows .................. 2a
- Head between eyes distinctly convex. Elytra with strong microsculpture, with or without punctures............................................. 3
2a Metatrochanters and male abdominal sternite VIII (Fig. 5) lacking median projections. Aedeagus as in Fig. 3. Nepal ................... ..................................................................................................................................................................................... A. rogeri sp.n.
- Metatrochanters with posterior angulated projection (see Watanabe 2007: Figs 2, 7). Male abdominal sternite VIII with thin median projection. Japanese species ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Distribution. The new species is at present known only from the Phulcoki mountain in the vicinity of Kathmandu, Nepal. It is a new record of the genus for the Himalayan Region.
Etymology. Patronymic, the species is named after Roger G. Booth (London).
description: Published as part of Shavrin, Alexey V., 2017, New species and records of Omaliini from East Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae), pp. 94-100 in Zootaxa 4247 (1) on pages 94-96, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4247.1.14, http://zenodo.org/record/437997